Progress: 6 of 14
General Notes: New chapter up, w00t! I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter, although I have to say something now. I've pretty much finished the entire story and...wait for it...I'd have to be honest with you guys, there is surprisingly little 1x2. There's enough 1+2 for me to keep telling you guys that this is still a romance fic and all that, but yea...nothing particularly strong should I say? Urm..yea. Anyways, hope you guys still enjoy it despite the lack of lemons and such...
Music: The Battle – Gladiator OST; Only Time – Enya; Tsukihime OST

Covetousness

Chapter Six: Modifications

There was a loud rapping sound coming from the door, mingled with the sound of an irritable man, trying to attract the attention of the person who owned the apartment. With a frown on his face, he checked the address on the slip of paper in his hands, confirming that he was indeed knocking on the right door. He knocked again, louder this time, knowing full well that the girl across the hall had opened her door twice to see what all the commotion was about. The man growled, already feeling a great distaste for the man he was about to meet. There just could not be anything good about a person who could not keep appointments. With a sigh of exasperation, he fished out his cell phone, quickly punching in numbers and pressing the call button. He heard the ringing of a phone coming from within the apartment room, but nobody answered, and soon, the answering machine switched on with a cheerful "Either I'm out or too damn lazy to pick up the phone, so leave a message and I might just call you back." The man scowled again, pressing down on the hang-up button with much more force than required, before dialing a second number. With one ear pressed to his phone and the other pressed to the door, the man waited agitatedly for a response. Like the previous phone, he could hear the cell phone go off somewhere inside the house, although it was far softer than the other phone had been, implying that it was probably in a different room. Still, there was no response.

If it was possible to fully despise somebody before even having the chance to meet them, then that was his feeling.

For Wufei Chang, one of the most fundamental basics of life after courtesy, being strong and always supporting justice was to be punctual. In all his life, he had never been late once to a meeting or appointment. There had never been a single blemish next to his name during his years in school, and his work record was cleaner than a piece of plain paper. He prided himself in always being on time. It emphasized his professionalism, insured that he never missed out on anything vital, and most of all, it was common courtesy, and courtesy was also amongst the list of fundamental basics. Unfortunately, it appeared that his partner for this particular assignment had never learnt of such things, which was why he was still standing outside the door after twenty minutes of loud rapping and calling. That was another thing that irritated him: wasting time, and he had just wasted twenty minutes of his life, and as far as Wufei was concerned, no matter how good an agent this Maxwell was, he was not going to be able to give Wufei back the twenty minutes he had just wasted.

Yes, he knew he definitely hated this Maxwell now.

A very loud thump sounded from the room behind the door, followed by a loud crash and a stream of colorful curses. Wufei smiled irately, knowing that his new partner was finally awake. He pounded the door a few times extra, just to remind Maxwell that he was there and still waiting. Somebody (most likely Maxwell) grumbled loudly, and muttered something about waking up too early and the world being against him, before the door was wrenched open and Wufei found himself staring into a pair of sleepy violet eyes, both of which were screaming (despite their drowsiness) something along the lines of "piss off!" But Wufei only smirked before righting his posture and introducing himself.

'Agent Maxwell.' Wufei announced. 'Agent Wufei Chang, assigned to be your partner for this mission.'

'Mission?' Maxwell's eyes were almost completely closed, and his grip relaxed around the door handle, almost slipping off. 'What mission?'

'I have been told that the Chief of Security has briefed you previously.' Wufei said stoically. 'However, it would be much appreciated if you let me in so I can inform you of the full details regarding this task.'

'Task?' Maxwell asked, almost as if the word was foreign to him. 'What does "task" mean?'

'Get out of the way!' Wufei growled, pushing past Maxwell after feeling the final vestiges of his patience snap. Maxwell moved without complaint, closing the door behind Wufei as he entered. The Chinese man stood still for a moment, taking in the state of the lounge.

The lounge suite was covered in at least three layers of laundry, both dirty and clean. The coffee table before it held a bowl of fruit (which appeared plastic), a glass of half finished coffee, and a bowl of uncooked noodles, currently in the process of becoming a large chunk mush. Lying under all that was a mound of mismatched papers, some white and others in varying degrees of yellow. On the side, on top of a separate mound of papers was a picture of a man with cold, blue eyes and tousled, brown hair. The rest of the room was in a likewise state of chaos, almost as if an earthquake had struck, followed directly after by a tornado, then a second earthquake. Wufei breathed in deeply, feeling his temper fray.

'What the hell is this?' He asked calmly, although his eyes were burning with outrage.

'Some people call it a lounge.' Maxwell responded sleepily, tripping over a pair of jeans on the floor as he made his way towards the kitchen.

'This is a pig sty!' Wufei cried, pointing at the carpet of dirty laundry. 'When was the last time you did your laundry?'

'I can't actually remember…' Maxwell replied, nudging into the walls as he tried to make his way through the small distance between the kitchen bench and the other wall. 'I think it was about a month ago.'

'A month ago?' Wufei was speechless. Maxwell flashed him a grin from behind the kitchen counter, and he felt his head go faint. 'Why do I feel like I just stepped into a biohazard?'

'Oh, you have.' Maxwell responded brightly, rummaging through the fridge for something pre-made and not overdue. 'But don't worry, I'm sure you won't die from it.'

'Real comforting Maxwell.' Wufei responded weakly as he proceeded towards the couch, and nudged himself a small space amongst the dirty laundry with his handgun. Silently, he reminded himself to soak his gun in disinfectant as soon as he got home, even if it meant having to oil his gun thoroughly all over again. Bracing himself, Wufei sat himself down on the edge of the couch, hoping to get as little of Maxwell's possibly growing bacterial colonies on himself. A very thorough shower came to mind, and Wufei added it hastily to the list of things he must do as soon as he returns home.

'You want anything to eat Wuffi?' Maxwell asked from the kitchen, his voice slightly muffled from the packet of instant pumpkin soup he was carrying with his mouth.

'Not from this place.' Wufei responded stiffly. 'And my name is Wufei.'

'Aww, nothing wrong with my dump Wu.'

'Wufei.' The Chinese man responded, feeling a vein pulse near his temple. Maxwell only chuckled, returning moments later with a bowl of orange paste and a plate of toast. The braided man set his meal down immediately on the coffee table, not even bothering to look at the papers he was dropping his items down on, before taking a seat next to Wufei, completely ignoring the heap of clothing he was sitting on.

'So.' Maxwell smiled happily. 'Start talking Fei.'

'Wufei.' Wufei growled, before clearing his voice and launching into his briefing. 'Our mission is to capture the escapee, Heero Yuy, and return him to the 25th laboratory, dead or alive. We have five days to accomplish this, including today. Headquarters were not particularly specific about anything else, save that this is a top priority case, and that we were allowed to do everything in our power to find him. We are banned from speaking to anyone else about this case, and we are not to involve the public in any way. Conley was very specific about being as discrete as possible.'

'Lovely.' Duo yawned, grabbing a piece of toast from the top of his pile. 'Which brings me to the question: how are we supposed to find him?'

'Like we find any other man.'

'This guy doesn't have a memory.' Duo pointed out, tearing a corner off his toast and throwing it into his mouth. 'So he isn't exactly going to move around like a regular person.'

'I did some research on the matter.' Wufei pulled a silver flash-disk out of his pocket. 'You have a computer of some kind don't you?'

'Yea.' Duo pointed a finger in the direction of his room. 'It's in my bedroom, although you probably wouldn't feel comfortable going in there, considering your reaction to my lounge.'

'Let's just talk about it for the moment then.' Wufei said stiffly, tucking the flash-disk back into his pocket. 'We can um…clean your place up a bit after you finish eating, and then get some actual work done.'

'As you wish Wuffers.' Maxwell smirked, his violet eyes dancing with mirth.

'Wufei!' The Chinese man returned irritably, giving Maxwell an icy glare. 'The files on Yuy are very hard to find. I spent the night looking for information and barely found anything out of the ordinary. I must say that I was extremely surprised about that: the only people who have so little files on themselves are people in the spying business and shady underworld lords.'

'So Yuy is a shady underworld lord?' Maxwell asked, quirking his eyebrow for effect. Wufei gave him a glare that said in simple words that he was not finished.

'No.' Wufei growled. 'Even people in the underworld have more information than this guy. Besides, I wasn't finished. He could also be one more thing.'

'What?' Maxwell asked unconcernedly, reaching over to grab his pumpkin soup.

'An assassin.' Wufei answered, reaching into his pocket to pull out his memory stick. He stared at it for a moment while Maxwell remained silent, save for the slurping noises he was making with the soup. He had not told Maxwell about how strange Yuy's files were, although Maxwell would find out soon enough as soon as he had the flash-disk in his computer. Wufei stood up quickly, startling Maxwell. 'Let's clean up your dump and make it easier to maneuver. The rest of Yuy's data would make more sense if I showed you first.'

'Roger that Fei Fei.' Duo said easily, placing down his half finished bowl of soup and marching towards his room. 'We'll start with my bedroom, I suppose.'

Duo and Wufei sat before a loading computer, with Wufei looking as if he was going to be ill and Duo feeling as if he had exercised way beyond his quota for the year. They had spent two hours in total cleaning up all the trash in his house before Wufei deemed it "vaguely hygienic", although the things they found during those two hours had left Wufei in a sort of agitated state. Duo had the feeling that the Chinese man was just itching to run off home and have a clean shower, and could not help but grin. He was not really a sadist, but Wufei was just plain amusing when he was neurotic.

The computer finally finished loading, and Wufei jammed his flash-disk into the USB slot quickly, eager to get things over and done with quickly so he could leave no doubt. Duo watched quietly as the other man worked, opening the folder to the external drive and selecting a document amongst the many there. The page opened, and revealed the very same document Duo had been presented with the previous day, although the part about being deceased had been changed. He highly suspected that the Chinese man did not know about Heero crime, or had been told something else just to keep him from asking. Somehow, that fact made Duo feel a great deal worse.

'Look here.' Wufei jabbed an impatient finger at the LCD panel. 'YUY, Heero. Born: 10th April. Family: YUY, Catherine; mother; deceased, LOWE, Odin; father; deceased. Occupation: Database Administrator for Romefeller Corp. Rest all unimportant.'

'I've seen that.' Duo responded with a yawn. Wufei made no objections to his behavior, although his hands clenched tighter around the mouse.

'Now look at this.' He opened yet another file. 'YUY, Heero. Born: 10th April. Family: YUY, Catherine; mother; deceased, LOWE, Odin; father; deceased. Occupation: Database Administrator for Romefeller Corp.'

'Wow Fei.' Duo commented dryly. 'They are so different.'

'They are identical to each other.'

'As files tend to be.' Duo gave the other man a stare.

'Now look at this.' Wufei opened yet another file, and once again, Duo found himself staring at the same information. He made an irritated noise at that before telling Wufei that he was wasting his time. He was just about to speak about how files tended to be the same despite what database since they would have been illegitimate, and hence untrustworthy had they not been when Wufei jabbed his finger at the screen again.

'What?' Duo asked, staring at Wufei repetitively tapping his finger over Heero's father's name.

'Notice something different.'

'No.'

'Notice how it doesn't say Odin Lowe.' Wufei asked slowly. 'But says Odin Yuy instead?'

'Oh, what do you know.' Duo leaned forwards in his seat for a better look. 'You're right.'

'This was what prompted me to flick through the database.' Wufei explained. 'I had come across so many identical files of Yuy, all of which said the same, boring things. No police charges, no recreational activities, no relationships save for two dead parents. I might have lived a clean life, but it doesn't even compare with this guy.'

'Maybe he's a nerd who spends his life at home.' Duo suggested.

'Take a look at his school records.' Wufei opened another document, this time concerning Heero's academic achievements. The first school was Lakeside Elementary, a name Duo had never even heard of before. Under it were many school reports, all of which stated that Heero was a good student, and that he performed his tasks efficiently. His attendance rate was almost perfect, and his grades were all brilliant, with nothing lower than a "A". Scrolling down, Duo found Heero's high school records, which were in a similar state of perfection. However, one thing that he noticed was that Heero never took part in any sports, clubs or other extra-curricular activities. It was strange, considering his impeccable grades.

'Smart ass.' Was all Duo could say after going through the document. 'So what?'

'What is unusual is that he never got anything below an "A".' Wufei commented obviously. 'And he never took part in anything, despite his grades.'

'Perhaps he was a recluse.' Duo suggested with a shrug. 'It collaborates with him not having a girlfriend.'

Personally, Duo knew that he was only making excuses and prodding at Wufei's strong contention. He knew Wufei knew it too, which was probably the only reason why the other man had not screamed at him for being inobservant yet.

'I'm not sure what kind of schooling you had.' Wufei started with a small frown. 'But in normal schools, if a student turns out to be exceptionally gifted, as these reports seem to indicate, then they are instantly assigned to certain clubs and teams, no questions asked. How else do you think schools make "unbeatable" teams? The physics guru of the school won't necessarily join the Physics Olympiad, so the teachers force them to. From Yuy's records, he should have been involved in at least a few teams or competitions.'

'But he isn't.' Duo sighed. 'So, what's your diagnosis?'

'Forgery.' Wufei declared confidently. 'From what I can tell, none of these details are real. I also checked up on his parent's files, and although they are authentic, my check into the database told me that these details were all modified within the past forty-eight hours. Unfortunately, all of the original data was destroyed, so I have no clue where we are going to get some reliable information.'

'Aye…' To say that Duo had not been expecting it would have been a lie. The instant he saw the misprint of Heero's father's last name, he knew there would be some forgery going on. A person would normally take on the last name of their father, however, it seemed that in Heero's case, he had taken after his mother's last name. Needless to say, whoever had been changing the files had not been particularly careful there, and let habit take over. Either that, or there had been more than one person changing the files, and this one was more careless than the others. Duo had a suspicion that it was the latter, and he had a feeling he knew who it was. He turned to stare at Wufei, who was currently glaring daggers at he computer screen. Wufei definitely did not know the truth behind the case, and the military were trying their hardest to keep it that way. Unfortunately, it was going to make their job that much harder. Silently, Duo wondered whether it was going to throw Heero's own recovery from amnesia off kilter if all information regarding him had been altered, not that Heero should be able to access the database anyway, unless he learnt (or could still remember, depending on what he was before) how to access it. 'So, should we do some hacking?'

'I've tried.' Wufei admitted. 'Ever since I discovered this discrepancy last night, I've been trying to find an original copy somewhere. But, well, the system doesn't really keep a copy once a file has been overwritten.'

'Can't we somehow access the backup system?' Duo asked, leaning forward in his chair to minimize the windows Wufei had opened. 'I'm not sure about all of them, but I know that the main Human Resource Database (1) creates a backup copy twice a week, and it overwrites each time. If we are lucky, then we can find the file in the backup copy before the next backup procedure runs and that gets overwritten.'

'I was thinking about that.' Wufei sighed. 'Unfortunately, the security around the backup procedure is a bit too intense for my hacking abilities, and this is a violation of the law, so we can't leave any tracks. Conley did give the discrete order.'

'Damn straight.' Duo stretched. 'I know a bit about hacking, so perhaps I'll get started. In the meantime, you can do a little research on the fake identification front. You know, confirm that he really didn't attend those schools, and check up on the deceased parents and such.'

'That an order Maxwell?' Wufei asked with a hint of sarcasm.

'You know it!' Duo grinned, before batting a hand in Wufei's face, urging the other man to leave. The Chinese man snorted, but rose and left as ordered with a word that he would be back soon. Duo nodded unconcernedly, already opening command prompt and getting ready to work. There was a loud bang as the front door closed, followed by the sound of footsteps, slowing fading. Duo smiled and stretched himself, cracking his knuckles while he was at it. Silently, he wished Heero luck. A glance at the clock on the wall told him that it was two-thirty in the afternoon. Without really paying attention to what he was doing, Duo grabbed one of his many multi-purpose alarm clocks and rest the timer before placing it back down on the desk beside him, and returning back to the computer screen, all silliness completely dispelled from his face as he began working.

The red digits of the alarm clock displayed the digits 105:29:35.

A countdown for Heero Yuy.

Endnotes:

(1) I don't actually know what that database is called…but yea, bear with me please! And if anyone knows what it's really called, then tell me and I'll change it.

There was a little too much dialogue in this chapter, but well, couldn't help it. I tried to make Wufei as in character as I could, but he still turned out a little too…well, he wasn't as Wufei as I would have liked him to be. And he hasn't cried "injustice" yet, so yea…seriously lackatude. On another note, I am pretty much computer illiterate, and the only things I know about hacking and such I learnt from television, which is a pretty good source but tends to exaggerate things a little. So yea, you guys will have to bear with me once again.