Shattered Reality Part 3
Program Malfunction
by
Sailor Janus
Hotaru looked blankly into Heero's cold blue eyes. "I'm aborting my mission." The Perfect Soldier blinked at her response.
"What do you mean, 'you're aborting your mission?" he inquired crossing his arms over his favorite green tank top. 'What is she trying to pull? Does she really expect us to be that stupid?'
"I have no idea why, but I do not desire to execute any of you. It's as if my urge to complete the mission is fading," the dark-haired girl answered as she glanced at the floor.
"Why might that be?" Heero asked sounding bored. 'What is she planning?' he thought while turning off his laptop. He didn't find anything useful anyway.
"I'm starting to remember my training among other things I had forgotten. As I said before, I was programmed to kill you ex-gundam pilots and apparently, that program is failing," Hotaru forcefully said. 'Why did the program have to die now? Couldn't it had happened when I was still at that damn airport?!'
"So let me get this straight, you were programmed to kill us and now that program has broke? A likely story but no, I'm not buying it. Nice try though," Heero said as he rolled his eyes.
The violet-eyed girl at this point was getting really frustrated. She was fighting on the wrong side. She knew it. She had been programmed and her mental abilities were manipulated as well by some device. Some device.
'Wait. What was Prof T. doing yesterday morning after training when that strange man came in? Ahh! Try to remember Hotaru! He was examining me but why?' the dark haired frowned as she stared at the floor. "Damn it!"
"Let me guess, now you are going to pled insanity," the dark-haired teen drawled as he watched Hotaru curse to herself tensing her face.
"No, I'm trying to recall something important which may perhaps give you incentive to believe me," the girl sighed biting her lip. 'Come on, I've got to remember! I was sitting on that cold table. He was doing something with my hair. I can remember his ice-cold hands on my face and ear. Ear. That's it.'
Hotaru took a deep breath, knowing that trying to convince Heero Yuy was going to be very difficult if not impossible. "Heero. May I ask you to untie my arms? I promise that I won't try to escape or kill you. In fact, you may kill me if I even stand up."
The teen looked coldly at the girl, "Why should I do you a favor you? You did attempt to execute my friends and myself after all. You do not deserve any charity."
The girl sighed as she refused to give up. She was already too close to finding the answers. "Please do not argue with me. I need to check something, which might explain a few questions. I won't ask you to trust me, but grant my one request. It is imperative that I do this now." Hotaru continued to plead with the pilot sitting in front of her. "I beg of you."
Heero sternly looked at the girl. She seemed earnest enough and even gave him permission to kill her but he still did not know whether or not to listen to Hotaru.
"It is important and may justify why I suddenly do not wish to take part in completing my mission but I must do it promptly before it completely malfunctions." Hotaru continued pressing on. "It's urgent!"
With a deep sigh, he rose from his chair and approached her, kneeling down so they were face to face, "Firefly, if you dare try anything I will kill you," he growled, staring into her eyes.
"I know," she whispered, feeling his hot breath leave her face as Heero moved behind the girl and loosened the constricting ropes.
With a wince, she stretched her stiff arms in front of her; as the blue-eyed boy never took his eyes off of the girl, gun ready.
Carefully, Hotaru brought her shackled hands to her right ear, and seemed to be trying to retract something from inside it.
'What is she doing?' the perfect soldier thought curiously as he watched her.
The girl suddenly cringed, shutting her eyes tightly as she slowly brought her hands away, holding a small black object in between her thumb and forefinger. It was about the size of a thumbtack, shaped similarly but wider around the top and instead of a thin body, this was thick ending in a fairly long sharp, pointed tip. Heero stared at the tiny device in shock.
"This is what programmed me with my mission. The round part has a disk in it, which data can be inputted and is then sent out. The sharp part is forced into a nerve in your ear, which sends signals to your brain. This then brings focus to the appointed mission and nothing more. Kind of like a form of brain washing, but more extreme because of the numerous tests in conjunction with other things which must be conducted," the violet-eyed girl explained as she looked at the horrible little machine in her hand. "It has given me so much torment," she softly said, breaking open the input drive and delicately, taking out a tiny disk. "This will tell you everything you need to know. Put it in your laptop and you'll learn exactly what I have experienced."
Slowly she held out the disk, which resembled a tiny contact lens to the bewildered pilot. Heero didn't say a word only looking at the girl as if trying to read her.
"It won't destroy your computer, if that is what you are worried about. Just place it in the micro disk drive and it will do the rest," Hotaru sighed as if she were very tired.
Heero finally managed regain his composure. "How do I know I can believe you?" he asked, starring at the miniature disk in the girl's hand.
The girl gazed into his blue eyes as she replied, "How do you know you can't?"
The two stared at each other as if daring the other to do something completely foolish.
"Just play the disk," Hotaru whispered.
"Why are you so insistent?" Heero questioned Hotaru, as he narrowed his eyes.
"Why do you ask so many questions?" she challenged him back.
The dark brown-haired teen glared at Hotaru as she held her ground. At this time, Trowa had awakened and was walking towards the two.
"What's going on?" the green-eyed pilot asked glancing at Hotaru before returning his attention to Heero.
"She says, this small disk contains the program which brainwashed her into trying to killing us," the other boy said in his usual monotone voice.
"Have you tried the disk?" Trowa thoughtfully asked.
"No. It probably contains a virus which will destroy the hard drive or something." Heero speculated as Hotaru rolled her eyes.
The circus performer shrugged, "Try it anyway. You can always get a new laptop."
"Hn." Reluctantly, Heero popped the practically microscopic disk into the computer as the three teens intently listened.
"Code Name: Firefly. Your mission is to destroy the gundam pilots, Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Quatre Winner, Trowa Barton, and Chang Wufei. You must eliminate the ex-gundam pilots without failure. Destroy them anyway possible. They are devious and will corrupt our plans for the future. Do not destroy our future, Firefly. Kill the gundam pilots. Eradicate them anyway possible. Do not fail......"
Abruptly, Heero shut the program off before turning towards the girl still partway bound to a chair. She did not say a word and only studied at the two boys' faces, in hopes they may consider accepting what she had to say as the truth. However, no one said a word for a long time, as if all sound in the world had disappeared, leaving only silence.
Finally Hotaru found her voice as memories of the torturing procedures she had to under go, began to haunt her. "Try listening to that at high intervals echoing in your head as if you were a schizophrenic hearing voices. Very affective, but disabling with every other function that does not concern your mission," Hotaru bitterly said. "They knew how to train me in everything to perfection, except they never had control. I was rather relentless went it came to certain missions. If I felt the intentions were not correct, I would refuse to follow through so as a result they used that horrible device to regulate my actions. Needless to say, I became a puppet."
"I still do not know whether to believe you or not. You could have conveniently set this up," Heero finally said, refusing to allow himself to let up on the girl.
"No, I did not. It must have busted when I slammed my headed against the wall after being tripped. Anyway, if you will allow me, I want to join you guys," Hotaru announced as the two guys once again stared at her words. "I want revenge, not to mention, they are planning something very devious which must be prevented before it is too late. Let's just say, Prof. T. was rather hell bent on you guys being dead."
"Why the sudden change?" Heero challenged as he glared at the girl.
"I already told you. That electronic device from hell must have blown a fuse when I was sent flying into the wall thanks to Chang Wufei. Believe it or not, I can help all of you," The violet-eyed girl stated as her frustration increased.
"And how can you help us?" Trowa questioned the girl whose eyes suddenly had a gleam to them.
"How do you feel about gaining free access into the headquarters where I came from? I still have all the security codes and from there, you can get your answers," Hotaru smugly said as the two gundam pilots exchanged glances.
"How do we know you are not setting us up?" the Perfect Soldier remarked as Hotaru sighed, growing sick of Heero's third degree.
"Because I'll come with you not to mention I want to repay them for what they did to me. My memory is coming back a lot more clear now that this damn machine is out of my head, and it is not exactly roses and fuzzy kittens," the girl harshly said as a menacing, yet pained look flashed in her eyes. "They can't treat a human being like that ever again. Ever."
Trowa examined the girl's now hardened features as she looked away, clenching her fists tightly. 'Something happened to her. Hotaru must have been put through something dreadful, possibly degrading. She has experienced a lot more than she is convincing us to believe. She's dead serious.'
Quietly, the green-eyed teen turned to his friend whispering, "I think we should listen to her. Hotaru seems to have a lot of vengeance in her right now. That girl is willing to kill whoever was involved with whatever was done to her, even with her bare hands if she has to."
After contemplating what Trowa just told him, Heero decided that it'd be best to have a few more opinions, which meant, waiting for the other ex-gundam pilots to wake up. "Fine, but let's hear what the others have to say. I know Quatre is presumably going to agree with you, Wufei will argue that she is just a weak girl, which we do not need aid from, and Duo will, actually, who knows with him but it'd reasonable to hear their responses anyway."
"Good point." Trowa nodded.
'And of course I get a trial,' Hotaru thought, still holding the mind controlling device tightly in her hand. 'I don't blame them. I'd probably do the same if I were in their position.'
*~*~*~*
Author's Notes: I am so glad all of you like this story. I am just so overwhelmed by the responses, totally floating on cloud nine right now! The more reviews I get, the more encouraged I am to continue. I'm still debating on whether or not it will go R after the next few chapters because it's going to get really dark fast, but Gundam Wing isn't exactly the sugar-coated show anyway.
I hope to get chapter 4 out Sat/Sun since I'll have more time to work on it since I have all these tests to study for, but I'll get it out as soon as I can.