Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.
I wrote this a long time ago, and haven't have the time to look over it. If this is a really trashy fic, I apologize ahead of time. I'm going to revamp it sometime, maybe in the summer. Welcome to the wonderful world of laptops, right?
There was a point upon approaching the colony that all the power in each gundam suddenly gave out. The only programs left online were for life support. The pilots did not see the brilliant light flood into space from inside the colony or the people that flooded the docking space inspecting their gundams. It took a few hours to finish, and then all at once, the pilots were ejected from their gundams. White fabric nets broke their falls.
It all happened too fast for them to register. One moment, they were in darkness and then the next, they were enveloped in bright white light. Hands gripped their arms and legs, restricting their movement. They were all besieged, cuffed, and being led out of the docking bay before they could understand what was going on.
Everything was gray and sterile looking much like a laboratory. The halls the pilots were lead through were very compact and cool. No one said a word, nor did they really feel the need to. Their captors were all clad in t-shirts and faded jeans but despite their attire, they carried themselves like soldiers. It was a little confusing. Their hair ranged interestingly as well from normal styles to colored spikes. They looked like a bunch of delinquents even though their body language said otherwise. They passed by very few people, men and women all similarly attired and very strong looking.
The pilots were beyond worrying about anything, everything seemed so surreal. After a while of walking, they came to a large green door with a keypad. One of the escorts ambled up to it, and his fingers danced across the keys like a spider. The door opened without a sound and the train of captors and captured continued onward. The ground was carpeted now, thick and green. There were many closed doors that they passed by.
They stopped at one, waited until the door opened and then proceeded inside. There were seven chairs lined up in front of a large metallic desk. A young man sat behind it watching them enter. He wore a faded blue t-shirt and black rimmed glasses that brought out his bright blue eyes. His hair was the color of the sun and his bangs curled a little as if he'd been tugging at them. He looked hawkish. "Sit," was the only thing he said before the five pilots were forced into the chairs presumably made of the same material as the desk. Their cuffed arms were brought out behind the backs of the chairs preventing them from leaning forward. The room was very plain and furnished with a dozen objects that the pilots could not put a name to.
The man behind the desk leaned forward, "I guess I'll start off with introductions. Don't bother to tell me who you are, I already know. My name is Erriji and I promise that no harm will come to any of you as long as you follow some simple instructions I'll explain to you in a little while. Now I will ask you a few questions and please answer them as honestly and to the best of your ability." The man didn't wait for a response before continuing tugging absentmindedly at an errant lock of hair. "Who made your mobile suits?"
Quatre frowned, "What will you do with the names?"
Erriji looked up surprised as if the question was incredibly stupid, "Keep them for reference, of course. Now, please answer."
Sighing slightly, Quatre complied, "Sunshine."
"Ryoukai."
"Ash."
"Canine."
"Fair."
"Any others?" Erriji asked seriously, the names not affecting him the slightest bit.
"Three, but we never got their names," Quatre said quietly.
"Great…next question, how did you find out about us?"
"The Alliance sent us over here to see what you guys are up to," Duo piped up.
"What do you think we're up to?"
"Thought you might want to tell me that," Duo grinned humorlessly.
"You'll have plenty of time to investigate. Next question, how challenging did you find the fight?"
"Hey! Don't rub it in, it's not very sportsman like of you," Duo chided squirming in his chair.
"It's nothing of the sort, honest. I just want to know."
"Your pilot is very skilled…" Quatre almost whispered shuddering at the thought of facing the red mobile suit again. "How did you train him to be so good?"
"Came that way, and you?" Erriji gestured towards Heero.
"I want to fight him again."
Erriji nodded thinking about it for a minute before turning to Wufei.
"He was holding back," the Chinese man growled.
"You should put a leash on him," Duo smirked.
"He's very smart," Trowa finished.
"…Funny how you all assume that the pilot you fought was a male. What would you say if I were to tell you that you'd been beaten by a woman?"
Five surprised sets of eyes locked on the man behind the desk who chuckled lightly, "Don't worry. You fought a guy. Your manhood is safe."
Wufei's eyes narrowed finding no humor in the joke.
"And that was it, now we get to go do the dirty work of the government to see about getting you guys back home. I hope you guys won't mind it here because you'll be here for a while. Think of it as a vacation, except, you'll be dragged around by people most of your stay," Erriji chirped. "Elzia, can you find these guys rooms?"
A very slender man that had been among the few to escort the pilots to the office answered in a very female voice, "Sure, Riji." With that, she dug into one of her sizeable pockets and extracted a pocket pc. Typing with nimble fingers, she made a small noise of disappointment. "Sorry, guy. There's only three rooms open. Titien's father got released this morning, Bijoe has been in need of a roommate for quite some time now, and Adra just got started with his simulators. It'd be a real crime to saddle Adra with a roommate just yet, so…that leaves Titien and Bijoe. Then it'd be really unfair to saddle one of them with three of these guys, so that leaves me with the only guy I can think of that didn't show up on the list…"
"I know who you're talking about," Erriji frowned. "But he's got something to take care of right now, chickita."
"I'd hardly call that corpse anything worth looking after," Elzia puffed irately.
They continued talking as if they were the only people in the room for a while. Then they seemed to reach some sort of a resolution after they looked about ready to smack each other.
The resolution being Erriji adjusting an earpiece and dialing on a keypad integrated into his desk. "Jivehn!" He said after a long silence and began to talk in a foreign tongue that none of the pilots even attempted to distinguish.
"Alright, you guys need to pair up. One of you is going to be alone," Elzia said facing the pilots. "Tell me who you'll room with."
"May I share a room with Trowa?" Quatre asked stealing a quick look at him.
"Next pair," Elzia ordered.
"I'll bunk with Heero," Duo offered.
"So, that leaves Chang," the woman said writing on her notepad. She looked at him sympathetically. "Oh, I almost forgot. Words of advice: Don't ever try anything ie. Tampering with files, planting explosives, trying to run off in your gundams. Everyone in this colony is a soldier, and more than likely, your roommate will flatten you if they suspect anything. It's just safe to be good boys."
"He's on his way," Erriji said falling back into his chair. "Damned Jivehn wanted to keep him the rest of the day."
"He's coming, so….I'll be leaving," Elzia said and nodded to the others in the room to follow her out.
Erriji and the pilots waited in silence for what seemed like forever. Then, in a swift and surprising movement, the man behind the desk slammed his palm down upon his desk. All the pilots jumped at the sudden motion, slumping a little when the door opened. Stepping tentatively into the office was a youth undoubtedly, albino. His hair was styled, one half combed down and the other half spiked up. His gaze was to the floor preventing everyone from seeing his whole face, and he had on the baggiest clothes of anyone they'd yet seen, but that did nothing to hide his lean figure.
"Erriji," the youth said softly bowing at the waist. When he'd raised himself back up, he took a quick minute to adjust the yellow lens glasses he wore before bowing his head again when his superior acknowledged him. "You wanted to see me."
"Yes. You're going to be taking one of these home," Erriji said waving his hand at the five pilots behind them.
"Sir?" the youth mumbled turning just enough to get a glance at the pilots then turning back.
"You'll be guardian of Chang Wufei until we figure out what to do with him."
"I'll…collect him after my duties are finished. Sir."
"Will do…How are your duties coming along, Artax?"
"Five days, par our allotted time."
"Good to know. Dismissed."
"Thank you sir," the youth said bowing before he left casting a lingering look in Wufei's direction that was reciprocated in kind. Artax immediately focused his attention to his wrist and pressed a button on the band there, masking his shyness with indifference. Wufei was not fooled.
-
"Raise the temperature about one hundred twenty degrees," Artax ordered studying the read-outs.
"That'll fry it," Heliclos stated already beginning to process the command.
"I have a feeling, please."
"Alright, reaching mark…ten-nine-eight-seven-six…abnormal readings detected, structural integrity holding…three-two…And we have life. Damn!" Heliclos exclaimed. "Amrita is alive again!"
The pale youth sighed heavily setting his cup of tea down before taking a seat prepping for direct connection. His fingers rained upon the keyboard, stringing together numerous codes. He could feel his window of opportunity closing, and Amrita's responsiveness weakening. Just a few more codes and he'd have free access.
Too slow, his time was up right before his program could be fully uploaded. Amrita was now with free will until he could think of a new way to hold her. Artax ran his fingers through his hair and ordered everyone home for the remainder of the day.
His small team bade him their goodbyes and made off for home. Leaving him to stare at his puzzle for the rest of the afternoon wondering what to do. His hands rested on the keyboard he'd been hammering on furiously only a few moments before. Reluctantly, he shut down his workstation and left the room casting one last glance at his Amrita.
In the hallway, he saw Heliclos looking anxiously at him. Guilt tore at Artax and he said as he strode by, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Heliclos said, his words falling upon deaf ears. Artax disappeared around the bend of the hallway and Heliclos continued back inside the small lab to retrieve his coat.
-
Wufei sat alone waiting for his "guardian" to collect him. After leaving Erriji's office later in the morning, he and the other pilots had been sent to a very large medical facility. There, they'd been poked and prodded, given complete physicals. The doctors had clucked a little disapprovingly while they went about their work as if the condition the pilots maintained was very poor. Wufei had half a mind to thwart the lot of them but controlled himself and let them do what they would.
The artificial sun was now sitting upon the hills beyond the glass wall Wufei sat behind. The landscape of the colony was different from most. It seemed to mirror Earth. Most colonies had land tailored solely to their needs. It was practical to have a place specifically made for a certain type of work.
What had possessed this colony to make a second Earth. This was what the Chinese pilot had been pondering since he'd gotten a good look at the outside. A high-tech colony such as this would all be sky-high buildings and gyms. But almost no synthetic structures marred the perfection of the land.
"Mr. Chang," a familiar voice hailed him making his insides stir with an unfamiliar feeling. Slowly, he turned to face the person that had interrupted his thoughts. It was the boy from before. He looked very tired on top of his normal sadness. The image he created seemed to just cry out for someone to hold him and take away all his ills. Wufei nodded at him and after a long uneasy pause, Atrax said, "Lets go home…"
He must have felt like a rat in a glass case under the steady gaze he was being subjected to, much similar to Wufei's feelings earlier when, he had been examined by many nameless people. It had been like going down an assembly line. One person had one sole purpose and when that was through, they'd send you down to the next person until you were finished.
Artax stepped forward and took Wufei's hand in his, locking eyes with him. Feeling almost guilty, Wufei noticed that through the yellow lenses of the youth's glasses, the iris in his right eye was white. He barely registered himself being lead out of the building as he stared blankly at the back of Artax's head.
Outside, he was lead to a long line of bikes. The surprise must've shown on his face when Artax lead him to a simple red bike because the pale youth tried to explain, "I was called on emergency this morning…" Which only served to confuse the Chinese boy more. Where were all the cars?
It was an ideal time to run somewhere, anywhere and ditch the youth while he unfastened his bike from the stand, but he was rooted to the spot. Trying to make conversation, the boy spoke while he worked, "Our crime rate is very low here, but we still need to fasten our bikes somewhere. The wildlife likes to come around then tip over and damage anything people forget to take care of."
"What about cars?" Wufei asked looking around from where he stood. There was nothing but bikes in the small lot. Plant life curled around some of the less used racks, everything was too dreamlike.
"Cars are unnecessary and would be more of a problem than anything," Artax replied wheeling out his bike. "Dependence on then makes one weak…Please sit here," he said indicating with his index finger. Wufei sat on the only seat and flinched a little when Artax got on behind him. "Hold on tight," he instructed as he leaned gripping the handles. Artax stood with his feet on the ground, holding the bike up while Wufei got adjusted. Then in one fluid movement, he kicked the petals and they were moving. The terrain was a little rough but well ridden, and it surprised Wufei how easily the youth pedaled. Even without an extra person, it was a challenging ride.
Wufei was so absorbed in thinking about the abilities of his guardian that he didn't even entertain a single thought about crashing the bike and making an escape.
-
It was dark when they reached the small clusters of apartments, the civilian area as Artax called it. Instead of stopping in there, he rode past into a different neighborhood. It was a small area of one-story houses on paved roads unlike the earthen roads they'd been traveling before. They rode into the drive of one of them and dismounted the bike much in the fashion they'd got on. Artax hadn't even broken a sweat from all that he put his body through. He lead his bike up the walk to the front door and hooked it up to the side of the house. Wufei strolled ahead to the door and waited for Artax who joined him momentarily.
"I thought that everyone lived in those apartments when we passed them by," Wufei commented while the youth opened the door.
"This is the residential area for seniors," Artax replied waving his charge inside. "I need the in home medical facilities these provide otherwise I'd live with everyone else in an apartment."
"You don't seem like someone with medical problems."
"I'm not," Artax replied as the lights in the main room flipped on and the door shut behind them. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it on the bed that was located conveniently to the left of the door. Immediately, Wufei noticed the reddened bandages on the youth's right arm. He thought about asking about them but then thought better of it and straightened himself out feigning indifference.
"It's late, do you want to learn about this colony tonight or tomorrow? What is expected of you from now until you leave," Artax asked using his left arm to tug the fold away bed under his out and raise it up. Then he sat on it, Wufei sat next to him.
"I'd like to be told now, thanks."
"Okay, what do you want to know?"
"How do you keep a colony like this running? This must be very expensive to keep running."
"We are self-sufficient."
"What do you do here?"
"What is expected of me."
"What am I supposed to do tomorrow?"
"Keep in my sights at all times. Come with me to work and stand around."
"Why?"
"We can't trust you."
"What would happen if I were to 'try anything?'"
"You'd be sorry, that's all I can say."
"How do you know that?"
"…" Artax stood up and looked down at Wufei coldly for a minute. "Lets continue this in the morning."
Wufei complied confusedly and lay back on the recently vacated spot that Artax had been resting on. He could feel secrets closing in around him like a plastic sheet.
-
Before the sun had risen, Wufei was awoken by light flooding his senses. He forced his eyes open slowly blinking hard. It took a moment to register where he was then the events from yesterday flooded his mind. He felt sick. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his guardian emerge from a room he hadn't taken the time to notice before. The uniformity and plainness of the colony was getting to him even though it wasn't too different from the environment he'd grown in. He raised himself up on his elbows trying to focus.
"Good morning," Artax said quietly. His hair was all down and the part that had been spiked the day before was surprisingly long. It reached past his shoulders. He'd taken a shower that morning by the looks of it, and the gauze on his arm had been changed. It was bright white and almost blended into his skin. "If you want to wash up, the shower is there."
Of course, a straight walk from the front door was a clear shower stall. It was probably built there strategically so a person could shed their clothes at the door and walk right into the inviting world of water or it was put there to give people that ever decided to drop in a good show.
The thought of seeing Artax in the shower made Wufei want to leap under a cold waterfall. "Do I get any cover?" he asked hoping for a curtain or something.
"There's a tint program," Artax said making his way to the kitchen. "It's easy to operate."
-
Wufei undressed inside the stall after figuring out how to tint the glass and dropped his clothes just outside the door within easy reach. Everything was surprisingly easy to understand, so manipulating the controls of the stream and temperature wasn't too challenging. Everything was spelled out, definitely a shower made for people with Alzheimer's. There was a keypad with "warm" and "cold" with minus and plus signs. The tint controls had been just as straight forward.
Everything in the shower was standard like war rations: normal shampoo, conditioner, soap, and a washcloth. At least, the soap looked normal, it had the same plain label as everything else, but when Wufei applied it to his skin, it felt like he was washing himself with sand in a gel form. It felt so grainy and like it was rubbing his skin off. He rinsed it off quickly and finished up in the shower.
-
Overall, his shower took about five minutes. He reached outside the shower and grabbed what was outside there, a towel and a folded pile of clothing. The clothes were not his but they fit him, even though they were a little baggy. A dark green slightly bluish shirt and black pants that clung desperately to his hips, standard issue boxers and socks in their respective packages. He felt only a momentary twinge of annoyance at having his personal possessions tampered with, but was grateful for the clean clothes more than he was mad at not having his dirty ones.
The smell of good food wafted its way to Wufei and he walked robotically to the kitchen. Being woken up early always aroused a hideous hunger in him and the smell emanating from the kitchen was too tempting to ignore. It was a little too amusing for Wufei's tired senses to take seeing Artax with all his stylish, baggy clothes under a crisp white apron standing in front of a stovetop. He looked like a failing rebel. The corners of Wufei's lips curled into a very tired, dopey grin admiring the sight purely for early morning amusement.
"Do they fit?" Artax asked, adjusting the band on his wrist, not bothering to turn around. Instead turning to slice up some cucumbers and other vegetables.
Wufei almost didn't notice the boy's soft voice but picked up on it and answered an affirmative.
"I'm glad," Artax said tossing the contents inside the wok. Fried rice. Wufei's hunger pushed itself up into his throat, and he tried his best to rein it in.
"How early did you wake up this morning?" Wufei asked leaning on the doorframe. He felt like crumpling on the floor to smother the ache in his stomach but he stood upright looking about apathetically as he could manage.
"Four o'clock, it is now five-ten," Artax replied clicking off the burners and distributing the contents into separate bowls. He was fast and efficient like a soldier or a wife, or both. What exactly he was, Wufei would reserve for later judgment.
Artax balanced various plates and bowls on his arms and made his way to the small table that huddled in the corner of the kitchen, barely noticeable. It was pushed to alignment with the wall so that there were three sides to which a person might sit. And in the center of the table was a rotating island for sharing food.
At the table, Wufei tried to make conversation feeling a little uneasy not knowing anything about this person. "How did you injure your arm?"
Artax ate carefully with his left hand and paused a minute, "I got into a fight.""You don't strike me as a violent person."
"I don't think I am either."
"Then how did you get into a fight?"
"I had to go investigate something," Artax said. "I didn't want to hurt anyone. Then someone kicked me."
"Oh," Wufei said lamely. He'd begun picking at his food trying to piece something together that he didn't all together understand. To get his mind off of his scattered thoughts, he looked around the domicile noting the strange absence of personal belongings. "Does everyone in this colony keep their homes so empty?"
"I once went to my friend's apartment, it was very full of things. I don't know about anyone else though."
"Where are all your things?"
"I don't own anything."
Wufei eyed Artax critically who looked away and got up from the table taking his dishes with him. His attention focused on menial chores, he wouldn't have to worry about answering any more questions. Wufei watched the wrap on the youth's arm grow reddened as he worked as if he didn't know he was bleeding. Finally, unable to watch anymore, Wufei got up and began helping to clean.
-
For Wufei's benefit, they took the bike, riding to Artax's first job. It was barely six-thirty in the morning, and Wufei felt like dead weight. He slumped forward on the handlebars not paying any mind to the rugged terrain that threw him about in his seat. As soon as he'd done that, a strong arm pulled him back and into the safety of a warm chest. Sleepily, he fell back into it, feeling blissful in his half-conscious state.
I wrote this a long time ago, and haven't have the time to look over it. If this is a really trashy fic, I apologize ahead of time. I'm going to revamp it sometime, maybe in the summer. Welcome to the wonderful world of laptops, right?
There was a point upon approaching the colony that all the power in each gundam suddenly gave out. The only programs left online were for life support. The pilots did not see the brilliant light flood into space from inside the colony or the people that flooded the docking space inspecting their gundams. It took a few hours to finish, and then all at once, the pilots were ejected from their gundams. White fabric nets broke their falls.
It all happened too fast for them to register. One moment, they were in darkness and then the next, they were enveloped in bright white light. Hands gripped their arms and legs, restricting their movement. They were all besieged, cuffed, and being led out of the docking bay before they could understand what was going on.
Everything was gray and sterile looking much like a laboratory. The halls the pilots were lead through were very compact and cool. No one said a word, nor did they really feel the need to. Their captors were all clad in t-shirts and faded jeans but despite their attire, they carried themselves like soldiers. It was a little confusing. Their hair ranged interestingly as well from normal styles to colored spikes. They looked like a bunch of delinquents even though their body language said otherwise. They passed by very few people, men and women all similarly attired and very strong looking.
The pilots were beyond worrying about anything, everything seemed so surreal. After a while of walking, they came to a large green door with a keypad. One of the escorts ambled up to it, and his fingers danced across the keys like a spider. The door opened without a sound and the train of captors and captured continued onward. The ground was carpeted now, thick and green. There were many closed doors that they passed by.
They stopped at one, waited until the door opened and then proceeded inside. There were seven chairs lined up in front of a large metallic desk. A young man sat behind it watching them enter. He wore a faded blue t-shirt and black rimmed glasses that brought out his bright blue eyes. His hair was the color of the sun and his bangs curled a little as if he'd been tugging at them. He looked hawkish. "Sit," was the only thing he said before the five pilots were forced into the chairs presumably made of the same material as the desk. Their cuffed arms were brought out behind the backs of the chairs preventing them from leaning forward. The room was very plain and furnished with a dozen objects that the pilots could not put a name to.
The man behind the desk leaned forward, "I guess I'll start off with introductions. Don't bother to tell me who you are, I already know. My name is Erriji and I promise that no harm will come to any of you as long as you follow some simple instructions I'll explain to you in a little while. Now I will ask you a few questions and please answer them as honestly and to the best of your ability." The man didn't wait for a response before continuing tugging absentmindedly at an errant lock of hair. "Who made your mobile suits?"
Quatre frowned, "What will you do with the names?"
Erriji looked up surprised as if the question was incredibly stupid, "Keep them for reference, of course. Now, please answer."
Sighing slightly, Quatre complied, "Sunshine."
"Ryoukai."
"Ash."
"Canine."
"Fair."
"Any others?" Erriji asked seriously, the names not affecting him the slightest bit.
"Three, but we never got their names," Quatre said quietly.
"Great…next question, how did you find out about us?"
"The Alliance sent us over here to see what you guys are up to," Duo piped up.
"What do you think we're up to?"
"Thought you might want to tell me that," Duo grinned humorlessly.
"You'll have plenty of time to investigate. Next question, how challenging did you find the fight?"
"Hey! Don't rub it in, it's not very sportsman like of you," Duo chided squirming in his chair.
"It's nothing of the sort, honest. I just want to know."
"Your pilot is very skilled…" Quatre almost whispered shuddering at the thought of facing the red mobile suit again. "How did you train him to be so good?"
"Came that way, and you?" Erriji gestured towards Heero.
"I want to fight him again."
Erriji nodded thinking about it for a minute before turning to Wufei.
"He was holding back," the Chinese man growled.
"You should put a leash on him," Duo smirked.
"He's very smart," Trowa finished.
"…Funny how you all assume that the pilot you fought was a male. What would you say if I were to tell you that you'd been beaten by a woman?"
Five surprised sets of eyes locked on the man behind the desk who chuckled lightly, "Don't worry. You fought a guy. Your manhood is safe."
Wufei's eyes narrowed finding no humor in the joke.
"And that was it, now we get to go do the dirty work of the government to see about getting you guys back home. I hope you guys won't mind it here because you'll be here for a while. Think of it as a vacation, except, you'll be dragged around by people most of your stay," Erriji chirped. "Elzia, can you find these guys rooms?"
A very slender man that had been among the few to escort the pilots to the office answered in a very female voice, "Sure, Riji." With that, she dug into one of her sizeable pockets and extracted a pocket pc. Typing with nimble fingers, she made a small noise of disappointment. "Sorry, guy. There's only three rooms open. Titien's father got released this morning, Bijoe has been in need of a roommate for quite some time now, and Adra just got started with his simulators. It'd be a real crime to saddle Adra with a roommate just yet, so…that leaves Titien and Bijoe. Then it'd be really unfair to saddle one of them with three of these guys, so that leaves me with the only guy I can think of that didn't show up on the list…"
"I know who you're talking about," Erriji frowned. "But he's got something to take care of right now, chickita."
"I'd hardly call that corpse anything worth looking after," Elzia puffed irately.
They continued talking as if they were the only people in the room for a while. Then they seemed to reach some sort of a resolution after they looked about ready to smack each other.
The resolution being Erriji adjusting an earpiece and dialing on a keypad integrated into his desk. "Jivehn!" He said after a long silence and began to talk in a foreign tongue that none of the pilots even attempted to distinguish.
"Alright, you guys need to pair up. One of you is going to be alone," Elzia said facing the pilots. "Tell me who you'll room with."
"May I share a room with Trowa?" Quatre asked stealing a quick look at him.
"Next pair," Elzia ordered.
"I'll bunk with Heero," Duo offered.
"So, that leaves Chang," the woman said writing on her notepad. She looked at him sympathetically. "Oh, I almost forgot. Words of advice: Don't ever try anything ie. Tampering with files, planting explosives, trying to run off in your gundams. Everyone in this colony is a soldier, and more than likely, your roommate will flatten you if they suspect anything. It's just safe to be good boys."
"He's on his way," Erriji said falling back into his chair. "Damned Jivehn wanted to keep him the rest of the day."
"He's coming, so….I'll be leaving," Elzia said and nodded to the others in the room to follow her out.
Erriji and the pilots waited in silence for what seemed like forever. Then, in a swift and surprising movement, the man behind the desk slammed his palm down upon his desk. All the pilots jumped at the sudden motion, slumping a little when the door opened. Stepping tentatively into the office was a youth undoubtedly, albino. His hair was styled, one half combed down and the other half spiked up. His gaze was to the floor preventing everyone from seeing his whole face, and he had on the baggiest clothes of anyone they'd yet seen, but that did nothing to hide his lean figure.
"Erriji," the youth said softly bowing at the waist. When he'd raised himself back up, he took a quick minute to adjust the yellow lens glasses he wore before bowing his head again when his superior acknowledged him. "You wanted to see me."
"Yes. You're going to be taking one of these home," Erriji said waving his hand at the five pilots behind them.
"Sir?" the youth mumbled turning just enough to get a glance at the pilots then turning back.
"You'll be guardian of Chang Wufei until we figure out what to do with him."
"I'll…collect him after my duties are finished. Sir."
"Will do…How are your duties coming along, Artax?"
"Five days, par our allotted time."
"Good to know. Dismissed."
"Thank you sir," the youth said bowing before he left casting a lingering look in Wufei's direction that was reciprocated in kind. Artax immediately focused his attention to his wrist and pressed a button on the band there, masking his shyness with indifference. Wufei was not fooled.
-
"Raise the temperature about one hundred twenty degrees," Artax ordered studying the read-outs.
"That'll fry it," Heliclos stated already beginning to process the command.
"I have a feeling, please."
"Alright, reaching mark…ten-nine-eight-seven-six…abnormal readings detected, structural integrity holding…three-two…And we have life. Damn!" Heliclos exclaimed. "Amrita is alive again!"
The pale youth sighed heavily setting his cup of tea down before taking a seat prepping for direct connection. His fingers rained upon the keyboard, stringing together numerous codes. He could feel his window of opportunity closing, and Amrita's responsiveness weakening. Just a few more codes and he'd have free access.
Too slow, his time was up right before his program could be fully uploaded. Amrita was now with free will until he could think of a new way to hold her. Artax ran his fingers through his hair and ordered everyone home for the remainder of the day.
His small team bade him their goodbyes and made off for home. Leaving him to stare at his puzzle for the rest of the afternoon wondering what to do. His hands rested on the keyboard he'd been hammering on furiously only a few moments before. Reluctantly, he shut down his workstation and left the room casting one last glance at his Amrita.
In the hallway, he saw Heliclos looking anxiously at him. Guilt tore at Artax and he said as he strode by, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Heliclos said, his words falling upon deaf ears. Artax disappeared around the bend of the hallway and Heliclos continued back inside the small lab to retrieve his coat.
-
Wufei sat alone waiting for his "guardian" to collect him. After leaving Erriji's office later in the morning, he and the other pilots had been sent to a very large medical facility. There, they'd been poked and prodded, given complete physicals. The doctors had clucked a little disapprovingly while they went about their work as if the condition the pilots maintained was very poor. Wufei had half a mind to thwart the lot of them but controlled himself and let them do what they would.
The artificial sun was now sitting upon the hills beyond the glass wall Wufei sat behind. The landscape of the colony was different from most. It seemed to mirror Earth. Most colonies had land tailored solely to their needs. It was practical to have a place specifically made for a certain type of work.
What had possessed this colony to make a second Earth. This was what the Chinese pilot had been pondering since he'd gotten a good look at the outside. A high-tech colony such as this would all be sky-high buildings and gyms. But almost no synthetic structures marred the perfection of the land.
"Mr. Chang," a familiar voice hailed him making his insides stir with an unfamiliar feeling. Slowly, he turned to face the person that had interrupted his thoughts. It was the boy from before. He looked very tired on top of his normal sadness. The image he created seemed to just cry out for someone to hold him and take away all his ills. Wufei nodded at him and after a long uneasy pause, Atrax said, "Lets go home…"
He must have felt like a rat in a glass case under the steady gaze he was being subjected to, much similar to Wufei's feelings earlier when, he had been examined by many nameless people. It had been like going down an assembly line. One person had one sole purpose and when that was through, they'd send you down to the next person until you were finished.
Artax stepped forward and took Wufei's hand in his, locking eyes with him. Feeling almost guilty, Wufei noticed that through the yellow lenses of the youth's glasses, the iris in his right eye was white. He barely registered himself being lead out of the building as he stared blankly at the back of Artax's head.
Outside, he was lead to a long line of bikes. The surprise must've shown on his face when Artax lead him to a simple red bike because the pale youth tried to explain, "I was called on emergency this morning…" Which only served to confuse the Chinese boy more. Where were all the cars?
It was an ideal time to run somewhere, anywhere and ditch the youth while he unfastened his bike from the stand, but he was rooted to the spot. Trying to make conversation, the boy spoke while he worked, "Our crime rate is very low here, but we still need to fasten our bikes somewhere. The wildlife likes to come around then tip over and damage anything people forget to take care of."
"What about cars?" Wufei asked looking around from where he stood. There was nothing but bikes in the small lot. Plant life curled around some of the less used racks, everything was too dreamlike.
"Cars are unnecessary and would be more of a problem than anything," Artax replied wheeling out his bike. "Dependence on then makes one weak…Please sit here," he said indicating with his index finger. Wufei sat on the only seat and flinched a little when Artax got on behind him. "Hold on tight," he instructed as he leaned gripping the handles. Artax stood with his feet on the ground, holding the bike up while Wufei got adjusted. Then in one fluid movement, he kicked the petals and they were moving. The terrain was a little rough but well ridden, and it surprised Wufei how easily the youth pedaled. Even without an extra person, it was a challenging ride.
Wufei was so absorbed in thinking about the abilities of his guardian that he didn't even entertain a single thought about crashing the bike and making an escape.
-
It was dark when they reached the small clusters of apartments, the civilian area as Artax called it. Instead of stopping in there, he rode past into a different neighborhood. It was a small area of one-story houses on paved roads unlike the earthen roads they'd been traveling before. They rode into the drive of one of them and dismounted the bike much in the fashion they'd got on. Artax hadn't even broken a sweat from all that he put his body through. He lead his bike up the walk to the front door and hooked it up to the side of the house. Wufei strolled ahead to the door and waited for Artax who joined him momentarily.
"I thought that everyone lived in those apartments when we passed them by," Wufei commented while the youth opened the door.
"This is the residential area for seniors," Artax replied waving his charge inside. "I need the in home medical facilities these provide otherwise I'd live with everyone else in an apartment."
"You don't seem like someone with medical problems."
"I'm not," Artax replied as the lights in the main room flipped on and the door shut behind them. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it on the bed that was located conveniently to the left of the door. Immediately, Wufei noticed the reddened bandages on the youth's right arm. He thought about asking about them but then thought better of it and straightened himself out feigning indifference.
"It's late, do you want to learn about this colony tonight or tomorrow? What is expected of you from now until you leave," Artax asked using his left arm to tug the fold away bed under his out and raise it up. Then he sat on it, Wufei sat next to him.
"I'd like to be told now, thanks."
"Okay, what do you want to know?"
"How do you keep a colony like this running? This must be very expensive to keep running."
"We are self-sufficient."
"What do you do here?"
"What is expected of me."
"What am I supposed to do tomorrow?"
"Keep in my sights at all times. Come with me to work and stand around."
"Why?"
"We can't trust you."
"What would happen if I were to 'try anything?'"
"You'd be sorry, that's all I can say."
"How do you know that?"
"…" Artax stood up and looked down at Wufei coldly for a minute. "Lets continue this in the morning."
Wufei complied confusedly and lay back on the recently vacated spot that Artax had been resting on. He could feel secrets closing in around him like a plastic sheet.
-
Before the sun had risen, Wufei was awoken by light flooding his senses. He forced his eyes open slowly blinking hard. It took a moment to register where he was then the events from yesterday flooded his mind. He felt sick. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his guardian emerge from a room he hadn't taken the time to notice before. The uniformity and plainness of the colony was getting to him even though it wasn't too different from the environment he'd grown in. He raised himself up on his elbows trying to focus.
"Good morning," Artax said quietly. His hair was all down and the part that had been spiked the day before was surprisingly long. It reached past his shoulders. He'd taken a shower that morning by the looks of it, and the gauze on his arm had been changed. It was bright white and almost blended into his skin. "If you want to wash up, the shower is there."
Of course, a straight walk from the front door was a clear shower stall. It was probably built there strategically so a person could shed their clothes at the door and walk right into the inviting world of water or it was put there to give people that ever decided to drop in a good show.
The thought of seeing Artax in the shower made Wufei want to leap under a cold waterfall. "Do I get any cover?" he asked hoping for a curtain or something.
"There's a tint program," Artax said making his way to the kitchen. "It's easy to operate."
-
Wufei undressed inside the stall after figuring out how to tint the glass and dropped his clothes just outside the door within easy reach. Everything was surprisingly easy to understand, so manipulating the controls of the stream and temperature wasn't too challenging. Everything was spelled out, definitely a shower made for people with Alzheimer's. There was a keypad with "warm" and "cold" with minus and plus signs. The tint controls had been just as straight forward.
Everything in the shower was standard like war rations: normal shampoo, conditioner, soap, and a washcloth. At least, the soap looked normal, it had the same plain label as everything else, but when Wufei applied it to his skin, it felt like he was washing himself with sand in a gel form. It felt so grainy and like it was rubbing his skin off. He rinsed it off quickly and finished up in the shower.
-
Overall, his shower took about five minutes. He reached outside the shower and grabbed what was outside there, a towel and a folded pile of clothing. The clothes were not his but they fit him, even though they were a little baggy. A dark green slightly bluish shirt and black pants that clung desperately to his hips, standard issue boxers and socks in their respective packages. He felt only a momentary twinge of annoyance at having his personal possessions tampered with, but was grateful for the clean clothes more than he was mad at not having his dirty ones.
The smell of good food wafted its way to Wufei and he walked robotically to the kitchen. Being woken up early always aroused a hideous hunger in him and the smell emanating from the kitchen was too tempting to ignore. It was a little too amusing for Wufei's tired senses to take seeing Artax with all his stylish, baggy clothes under a crisp white apron standing in front of a stovetop. He looked like a failing rebel. The corners of Wufei's lips curled into a very tired, dopey grin admiring the sight purely for early morning amusement.
"Do they fit?" Artax asked, adjusting the band on his wrist, not bothering to turn around. Instead turning to slice up some cucumbers and other vegetables.
Wufei almost didn't notice the boy's soft voice but picked up on it and answered an affirmative.
"I'm glad," Artax said tossing the contents inside the wok. Fried rice. Wufei's hunger pushed itself up into his throat, and he tried his best to rein it in.
"How early did you wake up this morning?" Wufei asked leaning on the doorframe. He felt like crumpling on the floor to smother the ache in his stomach but he stood upright looking about apathetically as he could manage.
"Four o'clock, it is now five-ten," Artax replied clicking off the burners and distributing the contents into separate bowls. He was fast and efficient like a soldier or a wife, or both. What exactly he was, Wufei would reserve for later judgment.
Artax balanced various plates and bowls on his arms and made his way to the small table that huddled in the corner of the kitchen, barely noticeable. It was pushed to alignment with the wall so that there were three sides to which a person might sit. And in the center of the table was a rotating island for sharing food.
At the table, Wufei tried to make conversation feeling a little uneasy not knowing anything about this person. "How did you injure your arm?"
Artax ate carefully with his left hand and paused a minute, "I got into a fight.""You don't strike me as a violent person."
"I don't think I am either."
"Then how did you get into a fight?"
"I had to go investigate something," Artax said. "I didn't want to hurt anyone. Then someone kicked me."
"Oh," Wufei said lamely. He'd begun picking at his food trying to piece something together that he didn't all together understand. To get his mind off of his scattered thoughts, he looked around the domicile noting the strange absence of personal belongings. "Does everyone in this colony keep their homes so empty?"
"I once went to my friend's apartment, it was very full of things. I don't know about anyone else though."
"Where are all your things?"
"I don't own anything."
Wufei eyed Artax critically who looked away and got up from the table taking his dishes with him. His attention focused on menial chores, he wouldn't have to worry about answering any more questions. Wufei watched the wrap on the youth's arm grow reddened as he worked as if he didn't know he was bleeding. Finally, unable to watch anymore, Wufei got up and began helping to clean.
-
For Wufei's benefit, they took the bike, riding to Artax's first job. It was barely six-thirty in the morning, and Wufei felt like dead weight. He slumped forward on the handlebars not paying any mind to the rugged terrain that threw him about in his seat. As soon as he'd done that, a strong arm pulled him back and into the safety of a warm chest. Sleepily, he fell back into it, feeling blissful in his half-conscious state.