Chasing Impossibilities
Part Four: Trowa Gets Involved
Heero sat in the back of the police car as it drove down to the station. No lawyer would help him now, he was sure of it. There was no way he could win with all the evidence against him, and if he told his story they would think he was crazy.
"I didn't do it."
"I wouldn't say anything that would incriminate yourself, Mr. Lowe."
The detective seemed familiar to Heero, but he couldn't place it. He debated his options inside his head, a little depressed when he didn't come up with that many. "I was set up."
"Really." The man seemed disinterested, almost patronizing even. "And who would do that?"
"I don't know. I think maybe J."
Triton looked up into the rearview mirror, staring at Heero. The guy didn't look crazy, but that didn't mean he wasn't a murderer. In fact, according to the evidence, it was almost certain that he was. "Yeah?"
Heero looked back at Triton through the mirror, moving his hands slightly in the cuffs. "I went to him this morning because I was having problems remembering things. He gave me a prescription. When I was going home my car was rammed into, I blacked out, and when I woke up I was in the bath tub in the motel, with the gun in my hand."
"And why would J do all that?"
Heero sat back, then remembered the pieces of paper in his pockets. He reached in with his fingers, pulling out two crumpled sheets. One of them was Cat's notes, the other J's prescription. "Cat found out something, and was about to tell me. But I was about to remember myself."
Triton looked back at the papers Heero was holding, making a note to take them for evidence. They drove on for a little longer in silence. Triton focused on driving while Heero contemplated what to do next. Really, he didn't have anything to lose now, and he was almost grateful for this officer's disinterest. At least this way he got a way to speak.
"Haven't you..." Heero swallowed, wondering if he should go through with this. "Haven't you ever gotten the feeling that there was something off about your life?"
Triton raised an eyebrow. "I heard you've been having mental problems lately, Mr. Lowe."
"Have you ever been to X-00198?"
Triton frowned slightly at the subject change, wondering what Heero was playing at. "Of course."
"Do you remember how you got there?"
"I took a shuttle. How else would you get there?"
"It's impossible. There are no shuttles going there. I don't think there ever were. I think some one's been tempering with our memories, and J knows what's going on. And I think the secret is on X-00198."
"Do you realize how crazy you sound?" Triton swerved, exasperated, into the police station. But for some inexplicable reason, he didn't outright dismiss Heero's ramblings.
"I'll prove it, if you take me to the colony."
Triton scoffed at that. "Now I know you're crazy."
Triton watched as other officers approached the car, pulling Heero out. He would be put into the cell until trial, probably without bail.
Something was still unsettling Triton, though, and he stepped into his office. Some other officer had confiscated those papers Odin had been playing with and had left them on his desk, and Triton took a moment to look at them.
The first one was full of nonsensical scribbling, but it looked familiar. Triton ruffled through the papers on his desk, coming up with something they had taken from Cat's office. The handwritings matched. Triton looked at the five letters at the top: J, G, O, H, S. The guy mentioned machines, lies, some person named Heero, and the colony Odin had bought up earlier. Triton looked at the other paper. A prescription. J's small signature was at the bottom, and it had express instructions to go to Dr. G's pharmaceuticals. G.
Triton held one paper in each hand. Cat had mentioned G. J obviously knew a G. On a hunch, Triton called the station's medical department.
"Allo."
Triton rolled his eyes at the department head's casual nature. He had never really gotten used to it, though he had a good rapport with the man himself. "Milly. I have prescription here, for tri-oxyl dynamine. Know what it does?"
"Oh, no." Triton could imagine Milly tossing back his excessively long platinum hair. "You can't get a prescription for that."
"You can't?"
"Most people don't even know what it is. Pharmacists wouldn't be able to stock it, and doctors can't prescribe it. It's an experimental drug gone bad. Nasty stuff."
"What does it do?"
"It messes up your head. You'd probably wake not knowing your own name."
"Like amnesia."
"Exactly. Except permanent, like."
"Thanks."
Triton hung up the phone, processing this new information. Odin had gone to get help for his memory problems, and J had given him an illegal prescription that would wipe his memory out completely. He ran a check through his computers on the other letters in Cat's note, and each one matched up with a doctor. And according to the records, J had never had any professional ties with G whatsoever, yet he had recommended him to Odin. It obviously didn't match up.
His mind wondered back to Cat Winner and his note. Lies. And what had Odin said... they had been playing with their memories. Triton wondered why he was pursuing this train of thought at all... it was so ludicrous. Most people wouldn't even have considered it, wouldn't be investigating it. But there was something about the whole thing that he couldn't shake off.
Triton turned back to his computer, typing in a few things. He remembered the time he had gone to X-00198. Strangely, he couldn't remember how he got there. He had assumed it was by shuttle... there was no other way, but he couldn't remember buying the tickets and he couldn't remember the ride. And he wondered, if he had had such a good time there, why he never felt to desire to go back. He called up the records of all the spaceports that served X-00198, surprised when he found none. He picked up the telephone, calling the port even as his fingers ran across the keyboard.
"Hello, L2 spaceport."
"Hi, I was wondering about the shuttles going into X-00198."
Their was a pause, and Triton could hear the click clack of a keyboard. "Our shuttles don't go there. You'll have to take one out to L1, then to X-00198 from there."
"Could you transfer my call to an L1 port?"
"Oh. Okay."
Triton waited as music came on, then he heard a click and a voice.
"L1 spaceport, colony X-30004."
"Hi, I wanted to know about the shuttles you have going to X-00198."
"Um... it seems we don't have any."
"Where can I find a shuttle going there?"
There was more keyboard clicking before the voice came back. "All travel to that colony has been temporarily suspended."
"Do you know why?"
"Mmm... no idea, sir."
"Do you know when the block out started, or when it will end?"
"I'm sorry, the records don't say."
Triton hung up even as his eyes stayed in his computer screen. He had managed to get into the spaceport records for all of the tri colony area, and there had been never been any records of a flight into the colony.
* * *
Heero was jostled out of his cell, wondering where they were leading him. The handcuffs were slapped back on as he walked through the prison cells. Some of the other inmates watched, half interested, as the newbie left the area. He passed through drab gray corridors, finally being pushed into a seat. After shifting slightly in the hard metal chair, Odin looked up, surprised to see Max on the other side of a piece of glass.
Max gestured at the telephone at the side of the glass, and Heero picked it up and held it to his ear.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"You know, this is probably for the best."
Heero nodded. He could see why Max felt that way. He wondered of Max would believe him when he told him what had been happening, what he had been discovering throughout the day. "You know I didn't do it."
"I know. Our lawyer will be here soon, you don't need to worry."
"Max, they won't believe me." Heero shifted again, preparing to explain. He lowered his voice so that the prison guards couldn't hear him. "J and some others have been changing our memories. Cat found out, so they killed him, then I was about to find out, so they set me up for his murder. But Max, everything we've known is a lie. Our memories, our lives, our marriage, it's all a lie."
Max didn't know whether to be angry or depressed. He was silent for a little, and Odin wondered what he was going to say. He was staring off into the side of the glass as if something there was immensely fascinating, and then he reached out as if he could touch his spouse, fingers splayed against cool glass.
"Odin. That time I met you, I can't believe that was a lie. I know that what I felt was not a lie. Emotions can't be implanted into your psyche." Max paused, drawing in a shuddering breath as he raised his eyes to meet Heero's. "You can't lie about love."
Heero was lost. He subconsciously raised his hand to meet Max's, before he was jerked away by the guards, telephone falling onto the countertop.
Part Four: Trowa Gets Involved
Heero sat in the back of the police car as it drove down to the station. No lawyer would help him now, he was sure of it. There was no way he could win with all the evidence against him, and if he told his story they would think he was crazy.
"I didn't do it."
"I wouldn't say anything that would incriminate yourself, Mr. Lowe."
The detective seemed familiar to Heero, but he couldn't place it. He debated his options inside his head, a little depressed when he didn't come up with that many. "I was set up."
"Really." The man seemed disinterested, almost patronizing even. "And who would do that?"
"I don't know. I think maybe J."
Triton looked up into the rearview mirror, staring at Heero. The guy didn't look crazy, but that didn't mean he wasn't a murderer. In fact, according to the evidence, it was almost certain that he was. "Yeah?"
Heero looked back at Triton through the mirror, moving his hands slightly in the cuffs. "I went to him this morning because I was having problems remembering things. He gave me a prescription. When I was going home my car was rammed into, I blacked out, and when I woke up I was in the bath tub in the motel, with the gun in my hand."
"And why would J do all that?"
Heero sat back, then remembered the pieces of paper in his pockets. He reached in with his fingers, pulling out two crumpled sheets. One of them was Cat's notes, the other J's prescription. "Cat found out something, and was about to tell me. But I was about to remember myself."
Triton looked back at the papers Heero was holding, making a note to take them for evidence. They drove on for a little longer in silence. Triton focused on driving while Heero contemplated what to do next. Really, he didn't have anything to lose now, and he was almost grateful for this officer's disinterest. At least this way he got a way to speak.
"Haven't you..." Heero swallowed, wondering if he should go through with this. "Haven't you ever gotten the feeling that there was something off about your life?"
Triton raised an eyebrow. "I heard you've been having mental problems lately, Mr. Lowe."
"Have you ever been to X-00198?"
Triton frowned slightly at the subject change, wondering what Heero was playing at. "Of course."
"Do you remember how you got there?"
"I took a shuttle. How else would you get there?"
"It's impossible. There are no shuttles going there. I don't think there ever were. I think some one's been tempering with our memories, and J knows what's going on. And I think the secret is on X-00198."
"Do you realize how crazy you sound?" Triton swerved, exasperated, into the police station. But for some inexplicable reason, he didn't outright dismiss Heero's ramblings.
"I'll prove it, if you take me to the colony."
Triton scoffed at that. "Now I know you're crazy."
Triton watched as other officers approached the car, pulling Heero out. He would be put into the cell until trial, probably without bail.
Something was still unsettling Triton, though, and he stepped into his office. Some other officer had confiscated those papers Odin had been playing with and had left them on his desk, and Triton took a moment to look at them.
The first one was full of nonsensical scribbling, but it looked familiar. Triton ruffled through the papers on his desk, coming up with something they had taken from Cat's office. The handwritings matched. Triton looked at the five letters at the top: J, G, O, H, S. The guy mentioned machines, lies, some person named Heero, and the colony Odin had bought up earlier. Triton looked at the other paper. A prescription. J's small signature was at the bottom, and it had express instructions to go to Dr. G's pharmaceuticals. G.
Triton held one paper in each hand. Cat had mentioned G. J obviously knew a G. On a hunch, Triton called the station's medical department.
"Allo."
Triton rolled his eyes at the department head's casual nature. He had never really gotten used to it, though he had a good rapport with the man himself. "Milly. I have prescription here, for tri-oxyl dynamine. Know what it does?"
"Oh, no." Triton could imagine Milly tossing back his excessively long platinum hair. "You can't get a prescription for that."
"You can't?"
"Most people don't even know what it is. Pharmacists wouldn't be able to stock it, and doctors can't prescribe it. It's an experimental drug gone bad. Nasty stuff."
"What does it do?"
"It messes up your head. You'd probably wake not knowing your own name."
"Like amnesia."
"Exactly. Except permanent, like."
"Thanks."
Triton hung up the phone, processing this new information. Odin had gone to get help for his memory problems, and J had given him an illegal prescription that would wipe his memory out completely. He ran a check through his computers on the other letters in Cat's note, and each one matched up with a doctor. And according to the records, J had never had any professional ties with G whatsoever, yet he had recommended him to Odin. It obviously didn't match up.
His mind wondered back to Cat Winner and his note. Lies. And what had Odin said... they had been playing with their memories. Triton wondered why he was pursuing this train of thought at all... it was so ludicrous. Most people wouldn't even have considered it, wouldn't be investigating it. But there was something about the whole thing that he couldn't shake off.
Triton turned back to his computer, typing in a few things. He remembered the time he had gone to X-00198. Strangely, he couldn't remember how he got there. He had assumed it was by shuttle... there was no other way, but he couldn't remember buying the tickets and he couldn't remember the ride. And he wondered, if he had had such a good time there, why he never felt to desire to go back. He called up the records of all the spaceports that served X-00198, surprised when he found none. He picked up the telephone, calling the port even as his fingers ran across the keyboard.
"Hello, L2 spaceport."
"Hi, I was wondering about the shuttles going into X-00198."
Their was a pause, and Triton could hear the click clack of a keyboard. "Our shuttles don't go there. You'll have to take one out to L1, then to X-00198 from there."
"Could you transfer my call to an L1 port?"
"Oh. Okay."
Triton waited as music came on, then he heard a click and a voice.
"L1 spaceport, colony X-30004."
"Hi, I wanted to know about the shuttles you have going to X-00198."
"Um... it seems we don't have any."
"Where can I find a shuttle going there?"
There was more keyboard clicking before the voice came back. "All travel to that colony has been temporarily suspended."
"Do you know why?"
"Mmm... no idea, sir."
"Do you know when the block out started, or when it will end?"
"I'm sorry, the records don't say."
Triton hung up even as his eyes stayed in his computer screen. He had managed to get into the spaceport records for all of the tri colony area, and there had been never been any records of a flight into the colony.
* * *
Heero was jostled out of his cell, wondering where they were leading him. The handcuffs were slapped back on as he walked through the prison cells. Some of the other inmates watched, half interested, as the newbie left the area. He passed through drab gray corridors, finally being pushed into a seat. After shifting slightly in the hard metal chair, Odin looked up, surprised to see Max on the other side of a piece of glass.
Max gestured at the telephone at the side of the glass, and Heero picked it up and held it to his ear.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"You know, this is probably for the best."
Heero nodded. He could see why Max felt that way. He wondered of Max would believe him when he told him what had been happening, what he had been discovering throughout the day. "You know I didn't do it."
"I know. Our lawyer will be here soon, you don't need to worry."
"Max, they won't believe me." Heero shifted again, preparing to explain. He lowered his voice so that the prison guards couldn't hear him. "J and some others have been changing our memories. Cat found out, so they killed him, then I was about to find out, so they set me up for his murder. But Max, everything we've known is a lie. Our memories, our lives, our marriage, it's all a lie."
Max didn't know whether to be angry or depressed. He was silent for a little, and Odin wondered what he was going to say. He was staring off into the side of the glass as if something there was immensely fascinating, and then he reached out as if he could touch his spouse, fingers splayed against cool glass.
"Odin. That time I met you, I can't believe that was a lie. I know that what I felt was not a lie. Emotions can't be implanted into your psyche." Max paused, drawing in a shuddering breath as he raised his eyes to meet Heero's. "You can't lie about love."
Heero was lost. He subconsciously raised his hand to meet Max's, before he was jerked away by the guards, telephone falling onto the countertop.
