Chapter 21

Aelis wearily slumped into the chair inside the cockpit of Epyon. Ever since she became a
Gundam pilot, she had often taken refuge inside of Epyon. She liked the privacy, even
though it was a little cramped, and she felt that by spending time with the thing, she
could somehow get it to "know" her better. Ever since Quatre had told her how Sandrock
had somehow spared his life when he had planned on self-detonating, Aelis felt sure that
whatever technology was in the Gundams made them border on sentience.

Aelis had enjoyed spending time with Epyon. She usually brought a good book or two with her
to read, or she brought along some of her poetry to work on.

Now, however, she always approached Epyon with dread. Today was no different. Aelis sat
in the chair, her muscles tense, her breathing labored, waiting. Waiting for-

BEEP BEEP

Grimly, she opened her eyes. A light was flickering on her console. "Incoming message,"
she murmured, then tapped in a code to access it.

The message popped up on the screen. She read it quickly, already knowing what it would
say, then closed it. She jumped out of the cockpit and ran off...

elsewhere...

Mariko, Thomas, Eva, Giselle, Rayan, Clare, and Wuli were clustered miserably in Jerry's
room. Eva sat by her unconscious brother, who was in bed; everyone else was scattered about
the room. Giselle was still sniffling, and Rayan and Clare were doing their best to
comfort her. Everyone's eyes looked glazed over.

They turned as the door opened. "Where were you, Wuten?" Thomas asked.

Wuten shut the door. "Shoving some sense into Geoffry's hard head," he responded. Thomas
raised an eyebrow. "And did you succeed?"

"Depends on your definition of success," Wuten sighed, and shook his head. "Poor
guy. I feel sorry for him."

"Oh?"

"He thinks he's a monster," Eva spoke up quietly. "He hates himself."

Rayan snorted. "Well, no offense, but the way he ranted at his own sister, well, he
could have fooled me!"

"Isn't that a bit harsh, Rayan?" Mariko asked gently. "He idolized his father, and
he tried to be like him. What he didn't realize was that he had grossly misinterpreted his
father. Zechs-jiisan is worthy to be idolized, yes, but not the way Geoffry thought."

"Still, gives him no reason to insult his own sister like that. Speaking of which,
where are they? Where are Geoffry and Aelis?"

Mariko frowned. "Aelis is probably in Epyon's cockpit, but I don't know about Geoffry."

Wuten cleared his throat. "He's, um, not here."

"Excuse me?" Wuli demanded. "What do you mean, he's not here?"

Thomas groaned. "Let me guess, he ran away."

"Exactly."

Thomas threw up his hands in frustration. "That's just like him! Whenever something was
frustrating him when we were little kids, he'd go and run off somewhere. He always tries
to isolate himself. Huh, you'd figure that after spending so many years with ME he'd
gotten over that habit of his."

There was a knock on the door, and Wufei came in. "Jerry still out cold?" he asked,
nodding at the supine figure in the bed.

"Hello, Tousan. And yes, he's definitely still out," Wuten said.

Wufei's mouth twitched as he looked around the room. "Where're Aelis and Geoffry?"

Silence

Wuli nudged Thomas. "He's YOUR friend," he mouthed.

Thomas rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks," he said sarcastically. "Er, Wufei-jiisan, he's
not here."

"WHAT?!"

Every single (conscious) occupant of the room jumped. Wufei looked furious. "Explain!
Where are they?!"

"We think Aelis is with Epyon, and um, Geoffry ran away," Mariko said quickly,
hoping to pacify the Chinese man.

It didn't work. Wufei nearly tore out his hair in frustration. "Ran away?! RAN AWAY?!
Do you have any idea how serious this is?!"

"Tousan, he's armed, he's got supplies and food, and I lent him my motorbike,"
Wuten said, hoping that that would calm his father down.

His words had the exact opposite effect. Wufei turned on his son. "You...you AIDED him
in this escapade of his?! How could you possibly be so STUPID?" he shouted.

Wuten was stung. "I was trying to do the right thing," he said stiffly, resisting the
urge to shout back. "He needed time off-"

"NO NO NO! Do you realize what you've done? Geoffry is out there alone! Do
you actually think the Neo-Rommefeller is just going to let him sit out there? NO!
Haven't you figured it out that they MONITOR our activity? They KNOW he's out there
alone!"

Wuten bit his lip. He hadn't thought of that, but he still didn't think he deserved to
be humiliated in front of all his friends.

Thomas saw the look on Wuten's face and stepped up. "Wufei-jiisan, I'm to blame too.
I knew he would pull a stunt like this, and I didn't tell anyone. I was the one that
prepared the supplies for him."

"And I prepared the food," Eva said meekly, also standing up.

Wufei was seeing red. "I...don't...believe...this..." he growled to himself. Inside, he
was screaming with frustration. How could they possibly not considered that option? he
thought angrily. It was common sense!

Because they really don't know better, a voice sang in his head. They weren't
brought up to fight; they were never SUPPOSED to even fight.

A knock on the door interrupted the tense situation. "What?" Wufei snarled.

The door opened. "Is that any way to greet your wife?" Meilai asked sarcastically,
stepping in. Wufei snorted. "Onna, we have a situation here. Pleasantries, for the
time being, will be temporarily absent."

"The name is Meilai, and of course I know we have a situation here!" she shot
back. "Aelis is missing-"

"WHAT?! Not her too!" Wufei shouted incredulously. "Geoffry-"

"TOO?! Just exactly what do you mean, 'too?'"

"Meilai, perhaps I should ask, WHICH situation are you talking about?"

Meilai looked dazed. "Which...situation...Oh God!" She finally shook herself out of it.
"Wufei, follow me. I'll explain it to you."

"Um, should we come?" Thomas asked nervously, eyeing Wufei nervously.

Meilai laughed harshly. "You'd better. All of you." Turning around briskly, she ran
back down the hall, Wufei at her heels.

The teenagers all looked at each other. Rayan shrugged. "C'mon, let's go hear some more
good news," he said sarcastically, and left. The rest followed.