Author: Tori Sakana
Summary: If you could see the future, what would you do? Would you start a war to save your friends? Or let them die to win peace? When all the paths lie in shadow, Heero must make a terrible choice...
Warnings: blood, violence, POV
Time frame: Five years after Endless Waltz...no, this isn't an AU.
Pairings: none
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters or plot or anything.
This fic was inspired by Frank Herbert's fabulous Dune series and Terry Pratchett's hilarious book/play Mort. Never read both in the same day if you value your sanity.
Now, on to the fic!
********************
Nexus
Part 1: Blind Choices
********************
I stand for the first time in a familiar room.
"Heero? You okay?" Duo is at my side, tugging at my sleeve. I'm frozen in place, unable to form a coherent thought.
"Hn."
He must sense my distraction, because he frowns. "All right. I'm gonna go find Quat, ok?"
Knowing no answer is forthcoming, he wanders off into the crowd.
The room is the entrance hall to Relena's estate. It is currently filled with a hundred diplomats, war heroes, politicians, influential businessmen, and world leaders. Nearly all of whom I've met. Some I've even met on the battlefield.
But that's not why this room is so familiar.
Zero showed me this room five years ago.
This is where I will die.
***
No one understands the Zero system.
No one ever will, except myself. Perhaps Zechs, or Quatre. But Zero did not speak to them as it did to me. It showed them their enemies, their paths. Their deaths.
Zero showed me the future.
But it doesn't work the way you'd expect. I don't know everything that will happen. I didn't know what Duo was going to say. Or that I would walk into this room today. I don't know what I'm going to have for dinner tomorrow night.
It is like reading a book next to a shuttered window. Light filters in, illuminating some words, but not enough to read the entire page.
And there isn't only one future. There are dozens of paths, choices and decisions. The face of the future is many paths, sometimes diverging or coming together, but everchanging.
This room is a nexus.
Every path comes to this room. Every path since the end of the war meets in this hall. Destiny has chosen this time and place.
And inside the writhing mass of possibilities and potentialities within this place, I am blind.
It lies in shadow.
The paths go in. A few jumbled images, where the paths cross. Then two clear paths emerging.
One to everlasting peace. The other to a more bloody and terrible war than has ever been faced by mankind.
********************
I narrow my eyes as I scan the ballroom.
Duo is busy trying to annoy both Relena and Wufei at the same time and succeeding with flying colors. Quatre and Trowa are watching with amusement.
They seem so at ease, so normal.
I wish I knew what was about to happen.
To taunt me further, Zero whispers in the back of my mind. *You know what will happen. I showed it to you long ago...*
An image superimposes itself over my vision. My broken and bleeding body sprawled out alone on the bloodstained marble floor of the empty hall.
*If that's what must happen to bring about true peace, so be it. * I answer calmly to the voice that has taken up a permanent residence in my head. *But I refuse to let the others die with me. *
My eyes rest on Duo as Relena prevents him from spiking the punch. The others are laughing. So much has changed since the war. We, who thought we would not survive, all now have lives to live.
*Who says they must die with you? That may lie on a different path...*
Another image in front of my eyes. The bloodstained floor again, but this time there are more bodies than just one. Duo, Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei obviously put up a fight, but couldn't stop what was happening. Relena, Dorothy, Hilde, Zechs, Noin, Sally, Sylvia Noventa, Lady Une, even little Mariemeia, all dead.
Everyone but me.
********************
I have tried to choose the correct path for the future.
During the war, it was easy to step between the paths. Win certain battles, sit out others. Let Quatre master the Zero system and his own demons. Allow Wufei to confront Treize alone. Everything but the last battle against Libra was clear.
That battle itself was in shadow.
It's strange how dependent I had grown on this second sight Zero has given me. I had only been able to see the future for a few months, but when I reached that shadowed battleground I was at a loss.
How could I fight when I couldn't see which path would lead us to peace and which to total destruction?
Just as I always had, of course. I did as my heart told me. And we survived.
But after the war the shadows faded. I could see further, clearer, and the choices became harder.
I allowed Mariemeia's rebellion to reach full strength before intervening, turning a small conflagration into a large one but uniting the people of Earth in a true desire for peace.
I was forced to stand by as several pacifist leaders were assassinated, because that was the spur to capturing a large terrorist group that, if left alone, would have eventually overthrown the Earth Sphere United Nation.
And now, my choice is obvious. I must find the path that leads to peace.
But what will lie along that path?
Do I have the strength to choose peace if it means my own death?
Do I have the strength to choose peace if it means the deaths of everyone I have ever called a friend?
Maybe I should be glad of my blindness in this room. I don't trust myself to make the right choice.
********************
"Oi! Heero! Come here!" Duo shouts and waves. Several dignitaries in the crowd cast him disdainful glances, shocked at his lack of manners. But the ones who know Duo just smile and shake their heads.
I wander over to the refreshments table and greet the others. Quatre's grown quite a bit since the war, as has Duo. Trowa probably won't stop till he reaches six foot or more. Wufei's only grown an inch or so, barely topping me. Yes, I'm the shortest, but not by much.
Relena curtsies, graceful and gracious as always, and I nod my head in return. She's matured since the Eve Wars. Her ideas on total pacifism are still idealistic, but tempered with a little more practicality. Right now it looks like she's on the right track to true peace.
The others are catching up on their lives since last year's anniversary ball, and I join in. At first, these annual events were nerve-wracking. Mariemeia's timing left us all paranoid on Christmas Eve. But after several peaceful parties, we had relaxed somewhat. We all still carried guns concealed in our tuxes, but we didn't jump at the slightest noises any more.
And we talked. Even Trowa. Even me. With the end of the wars came the end of our silence.
"So then Rashid walked up to the guy and said, "Can I help you?" in that menacing voice he only uses to scare people and the guy's eye level with his stomach--" Duo waves his hands animatedly, telling the story of his last visit to Quatre's colony construction effort as Quatre blushes in embarrassment.
Not that some of us were ever silent to begin with...
"Having fun?" Trowa asks, a sparkle of amusement in his green eyes.
"Hn."
I didn't say my vocabulary had expanded, just that I talked.
"I thought so. I was surprised you came." Just a hint of curiosity in his voice, not enough to sound like an invasion of privacy.
"Duo's idea. Besides, I haven't seen any of you since last year's party."
Unfortunately, we didn't keep in touch much after the war. Went our separate ways. I think we all needed to be alone to find our own lives. While the five of us shared a unique understanding, if we had been together we would have been overwhelmed by our memories of war. It was better this way.
But still lonely.
*So the Perfect Soldier admits he has friends...* Zero's insidious whisper is back.
*I never denied it. I just never showed it.* Friendships in war only complicate fighting. But without the battlefield to separate us, I'm free to call my comrades my friends.
*You're getting weak.*
Probably true. I am getting weak.
The question is, do I care?
*How can you fight if you're weak? How can you protect them if you can't fight?*
*I'll find a way. I always have.*
But the vision returns. A gun barrel pressed to Duo's forehead, his wide eyes locked on someone I can't see. His expression is terrifying; despair, determination, a depthless pain and the fierce mask he wears when he fights. But Duo isn't afraid to die...so why do I see fear in his eyes?
And why aren't I there to help him?
"Hey, Heero, you in there? Earth to Heero, weeooo!" Duo's knuckles tap against my forehead. The vision fades and I frown at him.
"What is it?"
"Geez, lighten up! This is a party! Go mingle, talk to people, have a drink! And stop looking like a lost puppy dog, ok?" The joking tone covers the concern that I can clearly see in his eyes. I must have zoned out again. He doesn't like when I stand staring into space; he says it brings back bad memories.
I don't like it either. But I can't help it. Not when Zero speaks.
Duo presses a glass in my hand before jaunting off into the crowd to dance with Relena. Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei have also disappeared off somewhere; I must have been dreaming for longer than I thought.
I look down at the glass in my hand. Clear, with ice and an obnoxious little umbrella stuck in it. Obviously alcoholic.
*Go ahead. You know you want to see more clearly.*
I shouldn't. I discovered that at the first of these parties. *No.*
*Don't you want to know what choice to make?*
No! I don't want to see, I don't want to know. If I knew, then I might have to...
*Choose for your friends to die?*
...yes...
*Ignorance is no excuse. You will be just as guilty if you choose that path as if you stand idly by and they die anyway.*
A quote from somewhere floats through my mind. "To choose not to choose is also a choice..."
*Yes.* hisses Zero. *Exactly.*
Another image. Quatre this time. Shouting defiantly with tears running down his face unheeded. I can't hear the words, but the word "NO!" is clear on his lips. There's blood on his face and in his hair and on his hands and on the floor all around him. He's holding someone...Trowa... dead.
I shake my head and shut my eyes futilely. *Why are you doing this?*
*Because you must choose. And you must understand what it is you are choosing.*
A gun enters the image, clearly aimed at Quatre's head. He doesn't even blink, but keeps shouting soundlessly at his unseen assailant. Against my will, I automatically read his lips. "I said NO! I would rather die!"
The image fades before he can live up to that statement. But I know it all the same.
*Don't you want to find a way to stop this?*
God, yes... *No. Not if it means we finally achieve peace.*
*You're lying to yourself and you know it.*
Another image burns itself onto my eyes. Duo's motionless body, blood dripping to the floor underneath him. The pool is small; so this is an earlier image.
Even in my pain, I cannot stop analyzing.
Trowa and Wufei race up, dropping to their knees in the growing puddle of crimson. Trowa shakes Duo's shoulders, shouting incoherently. After a moment, he sags back in defeat. Wufei touches two fingers to Duo's neck, but his eyes show he doesn't really expect to find anything. Still, the simple action seems to light a fire in him. His fists clench and his shoulders shake. Trowa puts a hand on his arm to make Wufei meet his eyes. A glance even I can't read passes between them, and Trowa's eyes darken.
In one motion, they both pull out guns and fire at someone I can't see. Quatre runs up behind them, hand outstretched to them or Duo or both, then the image cuts out abruptly instead of fading like the others.
Zero does have some kindness after all. It won't show me the actual moment of death.
*No. I can't show it to you. Your mind won't allow it.*
Small relief.
*But I can still show you this...*
No!
A different path this time.
The path containing my death.
But the image is frustratingly limited. Just myself, running through this room, only it's empty. Somehow the others have gone. I see myself kick down one of the side doors and fire into the adjoining room. Six shots.
I expect the image to fade out like the others, but it doesn't. It remains terrifyingly clear as the first bullet hits my chest. Then two more as I watch myself fall slowly to the ground. The gun clatters as it skids across the floor. Another red stain spreads on the pink marble tile.
I can see my own eyes as I die.
Shock, then pain, fear, regret, a desperate hope. I can almost hear my thoughts, "Let the others be all right..." Then a horrible blankness.
********************
I don't fear death.
But that doesn't mean I want to die.
My own sightless eyes stare at me from my memory. I can laugh in the face of death, except when that face is my own. I want to be sick.
I don't want to die.
*So, Suicide Boy, what'll it be?*
Zero's openly mocking me now. Someday I'll find a way to destroy that thing...
*Not likely. After all, I didn't die when you destroyed Wing Zero. What makes you think you'll ever be rid of me?*
*Mission accepted.*
*Oooh, I'm really scared.* To hear that soulless mechanical voice chuckle makes my skin crawl.
*So what'll it be? Your own death or that of your friends? What would you do for peace?*
I would give my life for peace.
*Then why do you hesitate?*
Wait...wait! The visions only showed the deaths. Not the aftermath. I have no idea which path leads to peace and which to war. How can I choose when I don't know the truth?
In one swift decision I down the drink in my hand. Oblivious to those around me, I drop the glass so it shatters on the ground.
*Zero! Show me the future. Show me which path leads to peace and which to war.*
Zero doesn't answer. I feel the alcohol sweeping the shadows from my mind. My barriers removed, I can see clearly. Even those futures that I would give my life not to see.
*I had hoped to spare you...*
Zero?
*I had hoped you would choose your own death, blindly...*
*Why? So you could be free of my mind? So a war would start and you would be needed again?*
*...I didn't want you to have to go through this...*
The shadows are flying away from me and a thousand visions swirl before my eyes. Sights and sounds of peace and war and hate and love and hope press in around me.
I stumble back until I find a door. Desperate to be away from these people when the paths clear, I dash through and lock it behind me before I even look around.
It's the same room.
That's why the visions are separate. That's why I die alone, and everyone else dies without me.
*...I didn't want you to see this...*
And then the vision comes.
******************** End Part 1 ********************
Summary: If you could see the future, what would you do? Would you start a war to save your friends? Or let them die to win peace? When all the paths lie in shadow, Heero must make a terrible choice...
Warnings: blood, violence, POV
Time frame: Five years after Endless Waltz...no, this isn't an AU.
Pairings: none
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters or plot or anything.
This fic was inspired by Frank Herbert's fabulous Dune series and Terry Pratchett's hilarious book/play Mort. Never read both in the same day if you value your sanity.
Now, on to the fic!
********************
Nexus
Part 1: Blind Choices
********************
I stand for the first time in a familiar room.
"Heero? You okay?" Duo is at my side, tugging at my sleeve. I'm frozen in place, unable to form a coherent thought.
"Hn."
He must sense my distraction, because he frowns. "All right. I'm gonna go find Quat, ok?"
Knowing no answer is forthcoming, he wanders off into the crowd.
The room is the entrance hall to Relena's estate. It is currently filled with a hundred diplomats, war heroes, politicians, influential businessmen, and world leaders. Nearly all of whom I've met. Some I've even met on the battlefield.
But that's not why this room is so familiar.
Zero showed me this room five years ago.
This is where I will die.
***
No one understands the Zero system.
No one ever will, except myself. Perhaps Zechs, or Quatre. But Zero did not speak to them as it did to me. It showed them their enemies, their paths. Their deaths.
Zero showed me the future.
But it doesn't work the way you'd expect. I don't know everything that will happen. I didn't know what Duo was going to say. Or that I would walk into this room today. I don't know what I'm going to have for dinner tomorrow night.
It is like reading a book next to a shuttered window. Light filters in, illuminating some words, but not enough to read the entire page.
And there isn't only one future. There are dozens of paths, choices and decisions. The face of the future is many paths, sometimes diverging or coming together, but everchanging.
This room is a nexus.
Every path comes to this room. Every path since the end of the war meets in this hall. Destiny has chosen this time and place.
And inside the writhing mass of possibilities and potentialities within this place, I am blind.
It lies in shadow.
The paths go in. A few jumbled images, where the paths cross. Then two clear paths emerging.
One to everlasting peace. The other to a more bloody and terrible war than has ever been faced by mankind.
********************
I narrow my eyes as I scan the ballroom.
Duo is busy trying to annoy both Relena and Wufei at the same time and succeeding with flying colors. Quatre and Trowa are watching with amusement.
They seem so at ease, so normal.
I wish I knew what was about to happen.
To taunt me further, Zero whispers in the back of my mind. *You know what will happen. I showed it to you long ago...*
An image superimposes itself over my vision. My broken and bleeding body sprawled out alone on the bloodstained marble floor of the empty hall.
*If that's what must happen to bring about true peace, so be it. * I answer calmly to the voice that has taken up a permanent residence in my head. *But I refuse to let the others die with me. *
My eyes rest on Duo as Relena prevents him from spiking the punch. The others are laughing. So much has changed since the war. We, who thought we would not survive, all now have lives to live.
*Who says they must die with you? That may lie on a different path...*
Another image in front of my eyes. The bloodstained floor again, but this time there are more bodies than just one. Duo, Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei obviously put up a fight, but couldn't stop what was happening. Relena, Dorothy, Hilde, Zechs, Noin, Sally, Sylvia Noventa, Lady Une, even little Mariemeia, all dead.
Everyone but me.
********************
I have tried to choose the correct path for the future.
During the war, it was easy to step between the paths. Win certain battles, sit out others. Let Quatre master the Zero system and his own demons. Allow Wufei to confront Treize alone. Everything but the last battle against Libra was clear.
That battle itself was in shadow.
It's strange how dependent I had grown on this second sight Zero has given me. I had only been able to see the future for a few months, but when I reached that shadowed battleground I was at a loss.
How could I fight when I couldn't see which path would lead us to peace and which to total destruction?
Just as I always had, of course. I did as my heart told me. And we survived.
But after the war the shadows faded. I could see further, clearer, and the choices became harder.
I allowed Mariemeia's rebellion to reach full strength before intervening, turning a small conflagration into a large one but uniting the people of Earth in a true desire for peace.
I was forced to stand by as several pacifist leaders were assassinated, because that was the spur to capturing a large terrorist group that, if left alone, would have eventually overthrown the Earth Sphere United Nation.
And now, my choice is obvious. I must find the path that leads to peace.
But what will lie along that path?
Do I have the strength to choose peace if it means my own death?
Do I have the strength to choose peace if it means the deaths of everyone I have ever called a friend?
Maybe I should be glad of my blindness in this room. I don't trust myself to make the right choice.
********************
"Oi! Heero! Come here!" Duo shouts and waves. Several dignitaries in the crowd cast him disdainful glances, shocked at his lack of manners. But the ones who know Duo just smile and shake their heads.
I wander over to the refreshments table and greet the others. Quatre's grown quite a bit since the war, as has Duo. Trowa probably won't stop till he reaches six foot or more. Wufei's only grown an inch or so, barely topping me. Yes, I'm the shortest, but not by much.
Relena curtsies, graceful and gracious as always, and I nod my head in return. She's matured since the Eve Wars. Her ideas on total pacifism are still idealistic, but tempered with a little more practicality. Right now it looks like she's on the right track to true peace.
The others are catching up on their lives since last year's anniversary ball, and I join in. At first, these annual events were nerve-wracking. Mariemeia's timing left us all paranoid on Christmas Eve. But after several peaceful parties, we had relaxed somewhat. We all still carried guns concealed in our tuxes, but we didn't jump at the slightest noises any more.
And we talked. Even Trowa. Even me. With the end of the wars came the end of our silence.
"So then Rashid walked up to the guy and said, "Can I help you?" in that menacing voice he only uses to scare people and the guy's eye level with his stomach--" Duo waves his hands animatedly, telling the story of his last visit to Quatre's colony construction effort as Quatre blushes in embarrassment.
Not that some of us were ever silent to begin with...
"Having fun?" Trowa asks, a sparkle of amusement in his green eyes.
"Hn."
I didn't say my vocabulary had expanded, just that I talked.
"I thought so. I was surprised you came." Just a hint of curiosity in his voice, not enough to sound like an invasion of privacy.
"Duo's idea. Besides, I haven't seen any of you since last year's party."
Unfortunately, we didn't keep in touch much after the war. Went our separate ways. I think we all needed to be alone to find our own lives. While the five of us shared a unique understanding, if we had been together we would have been overwhelmed by our memories of war. It was better this way.
But still lonely.
*So the Perfect Soldier admits he has friends...* Zero's insidious whisper is back.
*I never denied it. I just never showed it.* Friendships in war only complicate fighting. But without the battlefield to separate us, I'm free to call my comrades my friends.
*You're getting weak.*
Probably true. I am getting weak.
The question is, do I care?
*How can you fight if you're weak? How can you protect them if you can't fight?*
*I'll find a way. I always have.*
But the vision returns. A gun barrel pressed to Duo's forehead, his wide eyes locked on someone I can't see. His expression is terrifying; despair, determination, a depthless pain and the fierce mask he wears when he fights. But Duo isn't afraid to die...so why do I see fear in his eyes?
And why aren't I there to help him?
"Hey, Heero, you in there? Earth to Heero, weeooo!" Duo's knuckles tap against my forehead. The vision fades and I frown at him.
"What is it?"
"Geez, lighten up! This is a party! Go mingle, talk to people, have a drink! And stop looking like a lost puppy dog, ok?" The joking tone covers the concern that I can clearly see in his eyes. I must have zoned out again. He doesn't like when I stand staring into space; he says it brings back bad memories.
I don't like it either. But I can't help it. Not when Zero speaks.
Duo presses a glass in my hand before jaunting off into the crowd to dance with Relena. Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei have also disappeared off somewhere; I must have been dreaming for longer than I thought.
I look down at the glass in my hand. Clear, with ice and an obnoxious little umbrella stuck in it. Obviously alcoholic.
*Go ahead. You know you want to see more clearly.*
I shouldn't. I discovered that at the first of these parties. *No.*
*Don't you want to know what choice to make?*
No! I don't want to see, I don't want to know. If I knew, then I might have to...
*Choose for your friends to die?*
...yes...
*Ignorance is no excuse. You will be just as guilty if you choose that path as if you stand idly by and they die anyway.*
A quote from somewhere floats through my mind. "To choose not to choose is also a choice..."
*Yes.* hisses Zero. *Exactly.*
Another image. Quatre this time. Shouting defiantly with tears running down his face unheeded. I can't hear the words, but the word "NO!" is clear on his lips. There's blood on his face and in his hair and on his hands and on the floor all around him. He's holding someone...Trowa... dead.
I shake my head and shut my eyes futilely. *Why are you doing this?*
*Because you must choose. And you must understand what it is you are choosing.*
A gun enters the image, clearly aimed at Quatre's head. He doesn't even blink, but keeps shouting soundlessly at his unseen assailant. Against my will, I automatically read his lips. "I said NO! I would rather die!"
The image fades before he can live up to that statement. But I know it all the same.
*Don't you want to find a way to stop this?*
God, yes... *No. Not if it means we finally achieve peace.*
*You're lying to yourself and you know it.*
Another image burns itself onto my eyes. Duo's motionless body, blood dripping to the floor underneath him. The pool is small; so this is an earlier image.
Even in my pain, I cannot stop analyzing.
Trowa and Wufei race up, dropping to their knees in the growing puddle of crimson. Trowa shakes Duo's shoulders, shouting incoherently. After a moment, he sags back in defeat. Wufei touches two fingers to Duo's neck, but his eyes show he doesn't really expect to find anything. Still, the simple action seems to light a fire in him. His fists clench and his shoulders shake. Trowa puts a hand on his arm to make Wufei meet his eyes. A glance even I can't read passes between them, and Trowa's eyes darken.
In one motion, they both pull out guns and fire at someone I can't see. Quatre runs up behind them, hand outstretched to them or Duo or both, then the image cuts out abruptly instead of fading like the others.
Zero does have some kindness after all. It won't show me the actual moment of death.
*No. I can't show it to you. Your mind won't allow it.*
Small relief.
*But I can still show you this...*
No!
A different path this time.
The path containing my death.
But the image is frustratingly limited. Just myself, running through this room, only it's empty. Somehow the others have gone. I see myself kick down one of the side doors and fire into the adjoining room. Six shots.
I expect the image to fade out like the others, but it doesn't. It remains terrifyingly clear as the first bullet hits my chest. Then two more as I watch myself fall slowly to the ground. The gun clatters as it skids across the floor. Another red stain spreads on the pink marble tile.
I can see my own eyes as I die.
Shock, then pain, fear, regret, a desperate hope. I can almost hear my thoughts, "Let the others be all right..." Then a horrible blankness.
********************
I don't fear death.
But that doesn't mean I want to die.
My own sightless eyes stare at me from my memory. I can laugh in the face of death, except when that face is my own. I want to be sick.
I don't want to die.
*So, Suicide Boy, what'll it be?*
Zero's openly mocking me now. Someday I'll find a way to destroy that thing...
*Not likely. After all, I didn't die when you destroyed Wing Zero. What makes you think you'll ever be rid of me?*
*Mission accepted.*
*Oooh, I'm really scared.* To hear that soulless mechanical voice chuckle makes my skin crawl.
*So what'll it be? Your own death or that of your friends? What would you do for peace?*
I would give my life for peace.
*Then why do you hesitate?*
Wait...wait! The visions only showed the deaths. Not the aftermath. I have no idea which path leads to peace and which to war. How can I choose when I don't know the truth?
In one swift decision I down the drink in my hand. Oblivious to those around me, I drop the glass so it shatters on the ground.
*Zero! Show me the future. Show me which path leads to peace and which to war.*
Zero doesn't answer. I feel the alcohol sweeping the shadows from my mind. My barriers removed, I can see clearly. Even those futures that I would give my life not to see.
*I had hoped to spare you...*
Zero?
*I had hoped you would choose your own death, blindly...*
*Why? So you could be free of my mind? So a war would start and you would be needed again?*
*...I didn't want you to have to go through this...*
The shadows are flying away from me and a thousand visions swirl before my eyes. Sights and sounds of peace and war and hate and love and hope press in around me.
I stumble back until I find a door. Desperate to be away from these people when the paths clear, I dash through and lock it behind me before I even look around.
It's the same room.
That's why the visions are separate. That's why I die alone, and everyone else dies without me.
*...I didn't want you to see this...*
And then the vision comes.
******************** End Part 1 ********************
