Notes: A new character makes his appearance... see if you can find out who he is!
A/N: This also an alternate timeline. The current setting of the story is during AC 205. Incidentally, I've altered the characters' birth dates to fit with the timeline. I hope it's alright with you.
To Melody and Harmony, who encouraged me to keep this up. Hope you enjoy this!
Chapter Two – In pursuit of a fiend.
The next morning, Rashid was officially in charge of operation "Find a Fiend", as Auda affably dubbed it.
On first glance, it seemed easy, for L4 was literally plagued with fiends since things started going downhill for the colonies. However, it wasn't that simple, as Rashid's goal was a specific 'type' – for lack of a better term – of fiend whose exact outline was a hazy image in the giant's mind. Besides, he had to be discreet when asking help from his colleagues and could not tell them the purpose behind that fiend, which complicated things even more. To depend on his own instinct in a ferocious a world as they lived in was definitely not a good omen for the success of the mission. But Rashid was not a giant only on the outside; he stood his ground and fought his own battle, despite his severely lacked experience in knowing the precise characteristics of the prospective agent.
Experience remained the biggest obstacle in their way. The CA was still young in the field, yet it stood against the biggest, meanest and most experienced enemy of them all. Not that the UNES was a prodigy; their advancement was a mere resultant of the historical background of that organization.
After the Eve Wars, it transpired that the UEN was not an aftermath of the defeat; rather, it was the result of years of scheming. It is not unlikely that the idea of Zion had been harboured since the formation of the Alliance's "trusty" sidekick, Romefeller. Groups of prospective Zion citizens – not known as Zions at that time – were spread all over Earth Sphere and the colonies. Penetrating into the heart of those societies, they were able to possess a wellspring of information about them. So when the UEN was formed in AC199, its investigation bureau, the UNES, had only to join those groups to form one complete organization. It was still newly formed, yet had the experience and knowledge of many years past.
As a result, it was relatively easy to plant spies in the colonies, since they knew those societies inside out, not to mention their experience. But how were the colonists supposed to know anything about a society that had not yet been completely formed, nor had its own traditions and customs?
It was no laughing matter, and the chances of making it were nearly zero, but it never was impossible.
oo00oo
A question faced Rashid since the beginning: what kind of a fiend was he after?
It was inevitable that that person should be from the colonies, L4 specifically, as Rashid preferred to work with someone from his home colony. Loyalty was the main foundation here. And having the patience of his Bedouin ancestors, Rashid was quite ready to leave no stone unturned on the cluster.
Thus his hunt began via a group of men spread all over L4. It would have been easier if Rashid asked them to look for a 'thief' or a 'fraud', or even a 'mercenary'. But the word 'fiend' was something they were not crystal clear about, and even Rashid himself could not signify the meaning in a clear and final way.
And if the first condition for this fiend is his being from L4, the second was his being an L4 citizen who could pass for a Zion. L4 Zions had a certain way around them, acquired from the society they lived in. Aside from having characteristics easily recognized by the practiced eye, they all – no matter what their status was – were fluent in at least one language other than Arabic. French was the common language among L4 Zions. So where was Rashid going to find an L4 fiend who looked like a Zion, knew French as fluently as Arabic AND could easily speak yet another language?
These were the necessary limitations of his search, but Rashid couldn't reveal them to his assistants in the police force. His answer to any of their questions was basically "find a bloody fiend!".
Not only that, Rashid went down to the streets. Between the ups and downs of L4 society, Rashid mingled with all sectors of the community in pursuit of his object. Its precise definition was something that grew clearer as days went by, narrowing the scope of his search even more. In a nutshell, Rashid was looking for a person who basically was created by his imagination amongst the thousands of people that inhabited the main colony alone!
Weeks passed by...
And months passed by, giving the giant no hope in his quest. Several times he came upon someone who seemed eligible, but then would discover a drawback that forced him to discard the said person.
Until it was that night in August AC 205...
...
Three months had passed since Rashid and Auda watched that movie, and still the giant hadn't made any progress. He had come back from work and begun to rest when he received a phone call. It was one of his friends from prison X-591.
"Rashid, I have this strange boy I want you to see."
"What's his name?"
"I don't know." The answer came unexpected, capturing his attention immediately.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I really don't. We have several names; no one knows what his true name is!"
"Fine, what's his origin?"
"I don't know."
"Listen here, Osama –" began Rashid angrily.
"I swear no one knows what his ethnic origin is!" The officer was now beginning to panic for fear of provoking the dangerous combination of temper and bulk he was talking to.
"Can't you use your eyes?"
The image of the officer on the vid-phone shrugged. "He can be almost anything."
Rashid held on to his patience and asked, "What is he accused of?"
"I don't know."
Here the giant could take no more (what did the guy know, anyway?) and yelled, "Then why did you arrest him?!"
Unsurprisingly, the answer was, "I don't know."
"Is that possible?!"
"Look, we have several accusations: robbery, forgery, double-dealing... but these are related to different names. We do NOT know which one he is!"
Rashid realized that he was before a special case, and it just might be what he was looking for.
"I'm on my way," he said firmly.
oo00oo
It was ten o'clock in the evening when Rashid arrived at the prison in question, and over the cups of tea offered to those present, the giant heard the story.
He was a seventeen-year-old boy whom the authorities arrested as an escaped Zion from L4, the name being Sammy Kohin. However, he had a perfectly genuine passport claiming he was an L2 citizen, Johnny Brad. On reaching L4, the examination of his fingerprints assured that he was an L4 citizen, under the name of Shaheen Fawaz. And from another place, reports stated that he had a case of fraud in one of L4 hotels, where he had a left a passport bearing the name of Carrè Gagnant, an L3 citizen. When they faced him with it, he merely answered in fluent French (which was as smooth as his English) "that's my name!"
Then came a revelation from one of L4 sub-colonies when the police force said that he was wanted there under the name of Hassan Arbad in a case of forgery. On seeking help from Earth authorities, it transpired that he was wanted all over several continents for different crimes, and that he had another couple of names to add to their already teeming pile.
What confused the inspectors even more was that identification technology was in bad shape since after the EW, and the passports were the only thing they could count on. Basically, that meant that the kid was a citizen of three bloody colony clusters, not to mention a couple of Earth cities and Zion. All attempts to discover who he really was came back with more questions than answers, which finally made them resort to Rashid. Perhaps the boy was the one he had been looking for the past months, and maybe he would be able to know who he was...
Having listened to every word that was said, Rashid said he wanted to see the boy in a normal hearing session, as was the usual, where he would appear as one of the low-ranked officers, thus being able to watch him unnoticed.
Thus a session was prepared in one of the larger rooms, sparsely furnished except for some chairs, a table and a record-laden cupboard. Rashid chose to sit beside the assistants, and as everyone was in civil outfits, their ranks couldn't be figured out, which was exactly what he wanted.
And so the person in question came in.
...
Though the files said that he was seventeen, Rashid doubted that the blonde youth before him was even sixteen, let alone the person who had dozens of police forces baffled. Of course, he couldn't be blamed as he gazed at twin azure orbs from under golden bangs. The worn clothes did not mask the pale complexion, nor the slight build. A small smile played on his lips, whether sarcastic or silly, it wasn't decipherable.
The boy slowly walked towards the table, his eyes passing over the people present in a manner of one who knew well what was going to happen. It was only when he passed by the nearly-inconspicuous (if that was humanly possible) figure of Rashid that the eyes stopped for a moment, twinkling along with the mysterious smile that quirked up on the boy's face.
He stood directly before the D.A, waiting.
"So, what's your name, boy?"
The only answer he got was a long-suffering sigh that clearly said, "Here we go again..."
"Answer the question!" yelled an officer nearby.
"And how many times will I have to do that, Colonel?"
That was the first time the boy had seen the officer, and he was wearing civil clothes. "How do you know I'm a colonel?"
Another unfathomable smile, and the D.A had to repeat his question.
"Sammy Kohin," the blonde replied in a bored voice.
The D.A flicked through the file before him:
"So you're not Hassan Arbad?"
"No, I'm not Sinbad either." (1)
The man brandished the L2 passport. "Then whose is this?"
"It's mine, sir," came the reply in a clear L2 accent.
"You're Johnny Brad?"
"Isn't that the name before you?"
Flipping through the pages again, the D.A pursed his lips,
"Then who is Carré Gagnant?"
"That's in L3." Again, a perfect French accent.
"And Shaheen Fawaz?"
"I told you that that was my name but you didn't believe me."
"You mean you're from L4?" As silence answered him, a tic was beginning to develop under his eye. "From L4 and your name is Kohin?!" (2)
"I'll change it if you want."
"Stop messing around, you..."
Minutes passed by, one after the other, till an hour and a half had taken their toll.
"This passport says you're from L2, and these identification papers are from L3, and these say you're an L4 citizen. What is your real origin?"
"Allah's land is vast!"
Patience reaching its limit, the D.A yelled, "What are you? A watermelon vendor?!" (3)
The D.A's shout sent everybody laughing, tension seeping off as they found a way to vent off their confusion. As they basked in refreshing mirth for a few seconds, the boy's half-closed eyes flew open, glowing with a strange, yet beautiful, light of their own as he looked at Rashid – and only Rashid.
"In fact, I think this is the first hearing I've had without a considerable load of watermelon, sir."
The colonel opened his mouth to scold him, but the boy beat him to it, "And so, there is no need for these cuffs." He said it as-a-matter-of-factly as the cuffs dangled from his fingers. Stepping lightly to the table, he gently placed them – still locked – for them to see, a challenging smile on his face. And here, only here, did Rashid sit up straighter.
Finding the cuffs to be locked, the colonel could contain his incredulity no longer as he muttered about devils and demented demons.
"Want to count what's in a magician's cape?" commented the blonde.
"What else can you do?" asked the officer dryly.
"Do you have a bank note?"
"Don't you dare think of that, you thief!"
"And where will I run from you?"
The boy was completely right, and so the man handed him one of L4's large banknotes. Taking it coolly he, he gestured at the cupboard.
"I'll go behind that cupboard for ten seconds, then try and get the note out of me after that!"
It was a quite an unusual challenge between the officers and their prisoner; the officer nodded his acquiescence and the boy disappeared behind the cupboard for no longer than ten seconds, then he came back to them, arms spread apart.
"The note is with me, go ahead!"
With a sarcastic smile, the investigation officer began searching his person carefully. Minutes passed by, there was no sign of the note. The warden came up to help, and together they searched him again with the accuracy of professionals. They looked into his mouth, ears and nose without avail; even checking his undergarments was in vain...
"You must have eaten it!" said the officer confidently. The other shook his head,
"No, I have not eaten your note."
"Then where is the blasted thing?!"
Opening his mouth, the boy took out two artificial molars, from under which he produced the paper, folded in amazing preciseness.
And the show continued for a time not brief, the status of 'prisoner' completely forgotten as he entertained them till late after midnight...
Needless to say, they were not one step further in finding who he was. Was he Arabian, French, or American? Was he from Earth, or the colonies? And most importantly, was he Shaheen, Carrè, or Johnny?
oo00oo
Two weeks passed after that night...
After the hearing, Rashid had told the officer that he didn't really know whether the boy was what he wanted or not, and said that he needed to think about it. He left the prison with his mind busier than before, deep in though about the rather unusual personality he had just met.
The boy seemed to be truly from L4, but he also had the air of an L4 Zion. Besides, he seemed to be familiar with English and French, and obviously, Arabic was his first language. Moreover, it was the... feeling... around him. Though he wouldn't admit it, Rashid felt undeniably comfortable around the boy, even if he had met him for only a few hours. The magnetic personality, along with his looks, spoke of things in neon letters. Things that were perfectly compatible with the operation FAF.
Yet, before deciding whether he was suitable or not, Rashid had to answer the great question of who 'he' was in the first place...
...
When Rashid did not ask about the boy after the passage of a fortnight, the Warden assumed he was no longer interested in his case.
But it is certain that none of those who were gathered in the prison in that night of August AC 205 ever heard about the boy again, and that they forgot him amidst the sea of faces they saw every day. The order that came not long after that to change the boy's location was strange, but stranger still, the files that accompanied him were downright vague, and none of the officers that received him knew who the prisoner was, nor what he was accused of. Then another order was issued, and the D.A. was quite happy to get rid of a prisoner with no crime.
The scenario was repeated a couple of times in the course of the following months, till he finally reached a police station in L4's main city. But instead of being put in a cell, he was told to wait for the D.A. to arrive – with handcuffs still on.
The man arrived the following morning, after a night spent sleeping in a rickety wooden chair. The boy contemplated removing the damn cuffs in the course of the night, but he decided it wasn't worth the fuss it would create.
Azure orbs eyed the D.A. thoughtfully, albeit surreptitiously. He seemed to be newly installed, the type that preferred to work with bigger cases, not insignificant unknowns...
"You're Hassan Arbad?" the man suddenly asked.
He was about reply when the officer grumbled incoherently and yelled,
"Released with a bail of hundred pounds."
Wondering at what was happening, the blonde shook his head. "I don't have that money."
The man glared at him, practically radiating annoyance when a voice from behind interrupted.
"I have the money ready here, sir."
Whirling round, the boy turned to stare at the towering form of Rashid Kurama.
"Who the hell are you?" asked the officer rudely.
"I'm his cousin, officer," replied Rashid. "It isn't the first time," he added with a complementary glare at the youth beside him. The youth who was completely at sea, of course.
...
Ten minutes later found and the boy and his huge companion walking to a funny little car parked in a corner. The car proved its ability in accomplishing the seemingly impossible task of accommodating the giant, and they were off. Once reaching a relatively quiet area, Rashid turned to face the blonde.
"Now, I want you to tell me one thing."
"And what is that, sir?"
"Who are you?" he enunciated as he glared into unflinching blue eyes.
"I suppose I should ask you that question."
--end of chapter two—
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its charactersdo not belong to me, and I am making no profit whatsoever of this piece of fiction.
Notes:
(1) Like Sinbad, Shattir Hassan was also an Arabian story hero.
(2) Actually, L4 colony cluster is inhabited by Arabs. The official gundam website mentions the Middle East's contribution to the building of the colonies, so L4 is basically a part of the Arabian world. And as Kohin is not an Arabian name, it seemed strange.
(3) Heh, for those who haven't read "Once and again", watermelon, in Egyptian dialect, can also mean crap or nonsense. (, weissangel24!)
Right... most of you are probably wondering why I do not refer to the boy as Quatre. That is simply because Quatre Raberba Winner has not been introduced yet. You'll understand as the story progresses. Besides, I am currently portraying Quatre as in his Episode Zero. That is, he thinks himself worthless and dispensable, and isn't in "leading Quat mode" yet. Don't worry though; I'll have our blonde up and about soon.
Thanks for staying this far. Hope to see you later. Please spare sometime to leave a note.
Free Skylark. 31 October 2004.