k2: Hurrah! IT is fini! Well, sorta. (laughs) Well, I'm a little disappointed that all my hard work only gave me two reviews last time, but I suppose that's okay. I guess. (sighs with a hint of depression)
MK: Uh, boy, here we go again.
k2: (glares at MK) NEwayz. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter; I want to thank my two reviewers for reviewing. Fey-chan? AS always, it's a joy to see you reading my stuff, I am glad you liked it, aside, from my problems with the deadline. That is the only reason it seems so rushed, and having several people hounding me to get off the puter doesn't help much. I mean…for goodness sake, I am a writer, I need to get this stuff done! I mean, if I didn't' have fans it wouldn't matter, right? But people are counting on me!
MK: Whoa, hey girl! You're starting to stress out again, calm down.
k2: Sorry. Anyway. I also want to thank Moonjava for reviewing, though it was a small and didn't say much it was a review nonetheless! And a bit of praise! I do, however, wish that MousyCoon was still reviewing, she had seen the previous version and I had hoped she coulda given me an insight about how much different this one actually was. So, if you happen to see this MousyCoon, I am dying, dying, to hear form you! Sorry for putting you on the spot.
MK: I wonder exactly how many chapters this is anyway?
k2: Figure it out later! It's time to let them read! Enjoy!
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Gundam Wing Generations:
The continued Epic of the Gundam Universe
St.1: New Types and Space hearts
Ch.4 pt.2: Discovering Fue, Answers Uncovered.
Rating: PG-13 (T)
General genre; Drama, Mystery, Action as sub genre.
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"And the whole complicated mess comes down to what we managed to get out of him before the electrodes in his brain overloaded from the pressure we didn't even know was building." Sally finished for the small group of individuals gathered in the private briefing room.
It had been nearly an hour since Duo had run into the infirmary with the bad news and it had only taken half that to determine the cause of Jaspers collapse in the first place. A matter Sally and Milliard knew they would have to discuss, finding relevance pertaining to the case.
"Now the question falls, 'what did you learn?' and 'How can it help us?'" Une countered
"We didn't learn much yet we learned more then enough." Milliard cited half philosophically.
"Mind clueing us in on just what that means Zechs?" Duo asked irritably.
Milliard shot an icy look in Duo's direction, a look that didn't phase the youth an ounce, and complied to his query. "In effect it means that we learned a lot from the criminal but nothing as to where to find Winner."
"What did you find out?" Une asked
"You're not going to like it." Sally's frown deepened. "It's a bit strange, more then a little bizarre. I started off by asking him his name, at first he refused to give it."
"You play the ol' good cop bad cop ploy?" Duo glanced at Milliard knowing just who the 'bad' cop would be.
"No." Milliard replied, his eyes still a cold icy blue as they continued to stare at Duo. Duo shifted a little in his chair, starting to feel, strangely, a bit uncomfortable.
"There was no need," Sally took over from there, "we could both tell this man had no loyalties to the mastermind behind this operation. The question, however, is 'how was his tongue being held?'" Sally glanced at Milliard, her eyes asking if he wished to take over from there but with a continued silence from him she continued on her own.
"It wasn't as hard to get him talking as I had originally thought it would be, truthfully. I offered him a safe house if he cooperated with us and he scoffed it, but after that he was telling us almost everything. Unfortunately it was nothing really useful."
"I don't get it." Duo stated
"He should have been dead the moment he had that first seizure." Milliard spoke up.
Silence fell. It was Wufei who spoke next, his strong voice lowered to an almost confused hush as he remembered the pain in the captive's eyes.
"He said that earlier. What is the meaning of it?"
"That is where the bizarreness comes in." Sally met his eyes and held them. She knew he wouldn't turn away no matter what, he never turned away when one met his eyes, it would be a sign of weakness. They both held their gazes, hers soft and affectionate, his stern and challenging, hiding some inner pain.
"Dr. Po, if you please?" Une asked, startling the young doctor out of her trance.
"Er, yes." Sally recollected herself and continued. "The group that abducted Quatre Winner is, in effect, a form of family unit. If you could call it that, of course. Jasper has three younger brothers, they are all in their mid to early twenties. All four of them are test tube babies made out of synthetic ovaries."
"Synthetic ovaries?" Une balked, "How is that possible?"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Duo cried, cutting in with an outburst of his own. A few glares directed at him from various people silenced him, however.
"It was an experiment." Sally answered Une, ignoring Duo. "Jasper was, to be completely honest, nothing more then the first test run. The second test was in creating twins, successful as well, and the last brother is the final product of the research. Near total genius from what I was told, photographic memory, ruthless nature, he's essentially the pride and joy of the lunatic that created them. Unfortunately due to the circumstances of his birth, their birth, they needed neural implants in order to stimulate the brain cells-. Duo are you okay?"
Duo, obviously feeling a bit edgy, was unable to sit still in his chair, something that seemed to be distracting Sally. He grimaced apologetically and nodded. "I'm fine, it can wait until your finished."
Raising her eyebrow awkwardly Sally directed her attention back to everyone else and continued. "The thing is it wasn't just an implant, it was a bio chip made to receive commands. He made a remote that transferred commands to the chips. There were only two commands, however. One designed to punish, the other a self destruct command."
"That's just sick!" Duo growled. Next to him, Wufei sensed that this was bothering Duo for an entirely different reason, a reason associated to his earlier outburst.
"I agree." Sally responded to Duo's disgust with some of her own.
"So, in other words, that self destruct button was pushed?" Hiiro brought the conversation back on course.
"Yes, that is exactly what we are saying." Milliard replied
"Jasper believed that the youngest of the brothers, Cole, I believe his name was, disabled or disrupted the remote somehow. However, the reason of it is a touch ambiguous, I must admit, and he, Jasper I mean, felt that Cole had an ulterior motive that involved him to live. I wonder if there wasn't some sort of time delayed reaction though." Sally placed her chin in her hand, contemplating the matter. "The bio implant was sending a steady stream, small and relatively unnoticeable until it was too late, into his brain, that's what caused the pressure overload. From what I have been able to establish from my obvious little knowledge of the implant is that the self destruct essentially sends a much larger, much faster overload into he brain, effectively electrocuting the brain on the spot. And from the sound of Cole's intellect I believe the way in which Jasper was temporarily dispatched was highly intentional, I am guessing it was the only way Cole could rework the remote device. We may want to keep that in mind for now, though, for later usage. If this Cole is planning something behind their 'fathers' back it may involve Quatre now as well."
"Did you get their…'fathers' name?" Une asked, unsure if father was the correct term or not.
"Yes, actually. It was one of the last things we got out of him. An old man named Fue. No other name was ever given."
"No other name is needed."
All eyes turned to Duo whose narrowed eyed expression was staring straight at Sally, his fists held tightly at his side. His fidgeting had stopped, but the edginess he'd expressed was still there.
"I take it, then, that you know him?"
"Tch! Yeah I know him!" Duo shouted before he could stop himself. Duo's posture relaxed after that, his voice softening. Wufei glanced at Hiiro, both of them suspecting the same thing. Whatever connection Duo has, this conversation had gotten to him in a way that not very many have.
"Wufei, Hiiro, you recognize the name?" Duo asked suddenly
"Why would I know?" Wufei asked. Hiiro nodded once.
"Get Trowa in here, now."
"Why-."
"We all have a link, whether we know it or not, to this man!" Duo interrupted Sally before she could finish. "That link is the same link that links us to the gundams."
(AN-hehe, say that five times fast!)
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Relena and Dorothy both sat in silence, the latter fidgeting with her hands as the minutes ticked by into hours (though, that may be a slight exaggeration on my part). Relena risked a glance at the time again, noting that she had been there for quite some time now. She hoped they would at least have a few leads by now, for Dorothy's sake. In truth, Relena was confused. Dorothy had refused to elaborate on what she had said about Quatre being special, having promised him she would tell no one. And yet if it was really as integral as Dorothy had supposed:
"If it's that important to note then I will mention it when necessary, not until then." Dorothy had said to Relena when she pressed the matter.
They had fallen into this silence after that, a silence that had Relena feeling guilty. She had, after all, come here for Dorothy's sake, unsure how the slightly unstable blond would handle a situation of this magnitude. And if it was true, if Dorothy really was beginning to see just how dire the situation was beginning to progress then it was Relena's job as Dorothy's best friend, her only friend it sometimes seemed, to be there for her and help her through this.
"I don't need Mollycoddled, Relena!" Dorothy had been adamant during the course of their conversation that Relena be the one to calm down. Dorothy was fine, she believed everything would be just fine and by the days end Quatre would return to her. But as the minutes ticked by, as time flashed away from them in minutes that threatened to consume her sanity, Dorothy began to grow much more fretful, much more fidgety.
"Relena, I can't take it anymore." Dorothy announced, breaking Relena from her trance.
Startled, Relena looked quickly to see that Dorothy had stood again and was staring at the door. "What?"
"I can't take it; the waiting, the not knowing. I have to have some answers and I know just how to get them.
Dorothy began a purposeful walk towards the door and Relena quickly stood, her hand reaching out reflexively.
"Dorothy, wait!"
The taller blond hesitated, her hand halfway to the door, and turned her face just enough to glance at Relena, a question in her eyes.
Relena, her own eyes shining with compassion, froze on the spot. Her mind went blank and she pulled her hand back towards her chest, biting her lip. She frowned, lowered her eyes. What could she say? Wait for them to come to you? That sounded cruel, she couldn't do that. She couldn't just make Dorothy stay locked in this room with no answers.
But I feel obligated to do something! Anything!
Coming to a decision almost immediately Relena set her jaw firmly and looked up at Dorothy with that all too familiar look of determination that always managed to sway even the coldest opponents in the political arena and, when she spoke, her voice rang with that same determination.
"I'm coming with you."
And Dorothy knew she would get some answers.
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Trowa Barton lay in the dimmed infirmary room and stared at the dull white ceiling, contemplating his existence. Or is that a little too poetical to say?
Having been ordered to rest due to his head injury the lights had been dimmed and the door closed, separating him from the rest of the infirmary wing. There were two other beds in the room and it was obvious by the size of the rest of the infirmary that this was the only recovery room they had. Not that it really needed any more then that, of course. This was the headquarters for the Cinq Kingdom branch of Preventers and, unbeknownst to the rest of the populous but the secondary leading earthbound branch as well. And definitely not a hospital.
Trowa would not have wanted to go to a hospital.
Was his mind wandering?
The young brunette found very little to think about while he stared at the ceiling, his mind was usually very focused and rarely ever wandered. He had heard the others (Zechs, Sally and Une) come in after a short time, the unconscious prisoner with them. After a diagnosis of his condition they put him on an opposite bed in the same room, placed a guard in the room as well ("Just in case" as Une had said) and left the room with a curtain drawn around the comatose 'Jasper'. Sally was very insistent they use the man's name.
Trowa personally didn't care what the mans name was, he didn't even care that the man was even here until they managed to arrange transportation to the hospital. Trowa especially didn't care for the guard Une had placed there either.
Yet he didn't quite understand why that bothered him so much….
After they had left, and after Trowa's growing irritation finally died down and he managed to rest again, he found his mind wandering past the ceiling and onto something far more important.
Quatre.
Trowa found he couldn't stop thinking of the blond, the first person Trowa had felt for since Midii.
And then he began to think of Midii (who in turn made him think about Duo's look-alike friend). The beautiful angel that had caused so much death because of her need to care for her family. A need Trowa had felt himself wishing for.
A wish fulfillment found through Catherine.
Catharine Bloom, the woman that believed he was her long lost brother Triton. DNA could answer that question easily but she refused to make him take it. Catharine had been adamant about believing in her heart and not needing science to confirm what she already knew. Nothing could change the way she felt for Trowa, he would always, always be her brother, no matter who said differently.
Catharine made three. Three angels in his life that changed him, shaped him into who he was now as apposed to what he had been before. Midii, (I wonder why she looks so much like her) giving him his first taste of love and betrayal. He had met Catherine next, but all she did was dote over him. It wasn't until after he had met Quatre that Catharine's impact on him became clearer. Catharine gave him something to protect, to care for and cherish. Quatre had opened that up to him, opened him up. Trowa had found himself fascinated with Quatre, more then fascinated. Feelings he hadn't felt since Midii (only their eyes are different) slowly began to surface. He found himself wanting to protect the fragile seeming blond but at the same time Quatre scared him. There was something strange about him that went beyond natural.
Trowa pondered the time he had first met Quatre, the strangeness that seemed to follow the youth without any real notice to anyone else.
Or so Trowa had thought. A few of those around Quatre, close and personal, had also noticed. Trowa, who had no idea what a Spaceheart was at the time, didn't understand, though he had a file stashed away somewhere, nearly forgotten, holding information, an old study really of the Spaceheart Newtype connection. It had been a file he had found while doing a hack job eight years ago at a research facility that had been destroyed the following day. At the time he had thought it may be important to someone, but he never found anyone with any real interest in it and it managed it's way into not being destroyed somehow. Trowa supposed his subconscious just didn't want to give up the information yet.
After meeting Quatre the disk just became that more valuable to Trowa and he wondered how to bring the topic up without sounding like he was prying into a new friends life. HE never got the chance, however.
After the war was over Trowa found himself over hearing a conversation between Quatre, who was still recovering from Dorothy's stab wound, and instructor H, the scientist that had instructed Quatre in the Operation Meteor project.
"I should have told you sooner Quatre, I am sorry."
He had informed Quatre that the insanity he had been going through was in part because of a power that had awakened in him, a power that awakens in so few of those born in space, though almost everyone has the potential for it. The power belonging to the Spaceheart, and no. It is no mere legend Quatre.
Quatre had insisted it was for the better that H hadn't told him, however, and set the old man's worries at ease. H had offered to give Quatre a hand at learning control, saying that he had something Quatre could use and it had turned out to be a file disk. During the course of their conversation Trowa remembered the disk he had and, when they had finished the conversation Trowa ambushed the old man outside the recovery room and took him aside, asking him if he knew what a Newtype was and what the relationship was between them and the Spaceheart.
The look of utter fear and surprise on the old man's face told Trowa all he needed before they had isolated themselves in another room to talk.
As Trowa thoughts returned to the present he, uncharacteristically, let a soft breathe escape him as he sat up, the guard on the other side of the room becoming more alert as he did.
Three angels. Each one coming into his life at different points, only two of them left to care about. And now he had lost one of them.
I'm going to get Quatre back. No matter what.
The door leading to the recovery room opened and both Trowa and the guard looked up to see Dr. Norton entering the room, the usual doctor-to-patient friendly smile plastered on his face. Trowa returned his smile with his usual stone faced calm, only his eyes showing any resemblance to curiosity as to why the doctor was there.
"Just wanted to check in on you Mr. Barton." Dr. Norton said easily, "I also need to check on, err…what did Sally say his name was again?" Silence answered him. "Err…yes, of course I should expect that from you, shouldn't?"
Trowa looked away from Dr. Norton and over to the curtain where Jasper lay. The guard returned Trowa's expressionless gaze with one of his own. "When I can I leave?"
"As soon as I have surmised that you've rested enough and that you are in no more danger from that head wound, fair enough?"
Silence was his answer.
"Dr. Norton!"
At the sound of Sally's voice both Dr. Norton and Trowa looked outside the room, Trowa having to bend sideways to see under the good doctors shoulder. She stood in the doorway of the infirmary with a serious expression and, noticing where the doctor was, she hurried over to look inside.
"Trowa, your needed in the briefing now."
"But I haven't even determined if he's physically able-."
"Doctor, he may hold key information we need."
At this Trowa's eyes widened, visibly surprised by this, and quickly stood.
"What do you mean?"
"You'll find out when we get back, Duo's the one who told us."
"Duo?"
"But Sally, you know what could-."
"He's not going to be doing anything strenuous sir." Sally interrupted, "And if he shows any sign of trouble I have my bag with me. You do trust me, don't you?"
"Err…yes." Dr. Norton lowered his head, admitting defeat. "Yes, I trust you Dr. Po. Your skills are exceptional for one so young."
"Thank you Dr. Norton." Sally nodded to him before turning back to Trowa. "Well? What are you waiting for? We need to hurry."
"Right." Trowa hurried past Dr. Norton and followed Sally out of the room, his mind running along the course of that odd conversation. As he did he found himself wondering something that never occurred to him before.
"Sally, tell me something."
"Yes?" Sally turned out of the infirmary hall and passed the interrogation corridor heading out of the south wing of the building.
"You're three years older them me, correct?"
"Yes. That would make me twenty-one. I would assume your question is why am I not in medical school?"
"It's a valid query."
Sally halted a moment, glanced back at Trowa and frowned. "You learn a lot when you need too. Both my parents were doctors and I learned from watching them. We were helping in battle situations even before the war officially started and I effectively got my field promotion at sixteen. Schooling now would only be a formality and time wasted. I'm needed where I am now."
Trowa nodded, accepting that as 'as good an answer' as he was going to get, and they continued walking now that his curiosity was sated. As he looked forward again, however, he caught sight of a pair of shadows ducking back into the corridor turn off that lead to the main lobby/waiting rooms. A glance at Sally suggested that she hadn't noticed and, considering the shadows had looked decidedly feminine, he decided it wasn't all that important to take note of. Besides, if it was who he thought it was it didn't matter much anyway and was probably for the better.
As the two of them reached the end of the hall and made their turn into the briefing corridor Trowa felt a slight wash of dizziness pass over him, forcing him to reach for the wall.
"Trowa?" Sally asked quickly when she noticed he had stopped.
"Fine." Trowa replied, "A bit dizzy. It'll pass."
"Right. We're almost there, you can rest inside."
Sally helped Trowa back to his feet and they made their way to the appropriate briefing room together, entered, and Trowa found himself leaning on the wall again as the door slowly swung closed.
"Trowa?" Duo asked awkwardly, "You okay man?"
"Just dizzy." Trowa explained and fell silent again.
"The door didn't latch." Hiiro stated, glancing at the door. Trowa looked behind him, saw that it was cracked a little, and shrugged.
It's fine."
I see the point. Trowa thought to himself as he looked away from the door, They would get a sugarcoated version.
Hiiro nodded and left it at that, but Une, however, didn't approve.
"I would prefer-."
"It's fine." Trowa repeated as he grabbed a chair to sit down.
"Okay," Duo began, grabbing the attention of the rooms occupants, "I'll start by asking an important question. Who all remembers ever, even once, hearing the name 'Fue' spoken by their respective obligatory scientist?"
At first no one spoke. Wufei gave Duo a look of absurdity, unsure of the relevance and hoping Duo would explain soon. Trowa, his face expressionless, said nothing. It was Hiiro who broke the silence, confirming for Duo that at least one other person had heard the name if only once.
"Dr. J told me he was insane."
"So you know of him then?" Duo asked quickly.
"I met him twice." He nodded his reply; "He's a complete and utter psychopath with no redeeming qualities. He's megalomaniacal and a self-proclaimed genius geneticist. When I was ten Dr. J informed me that he used to be an associate of his along with four others. That was after Dr. J personally kicked him out and told him never to come back. That had also been the first time I met him."
"The second?" Duo asked curiously.
"I was fourteen."
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Both Relena and Dorothy had felt relieved when Trowa, both of them aware that he apparently knew they were there and now Hiiro most likely as well, allowed the door to stay open just a crack. Though they could not see anything specific, if at all, they could still at least hear. Relena had felt it best if they listened in for now before making their presence known, something Dorothy found irritating but also agreed too. They both knew that if Milliard and Une, either one of them, saw the two young women they would be sent back to the waiting room and get a sugar coated version of the story. Something Dorothy would not be able to handle without blowing up out of sheer irritation.
However, when the meeting began Relena had found herself surprised. The name 'Fue' did ring a bell with her, but only because it was part of a conversation she had had with Hiiro late one night before they parted for their separate bedrooms (only across the hall from each other, to Milliards obvious resentment). Though hearing the name Fue hadn't been what surprised the woman, it was the age Hiiro had given. Fourteen was the year in which Hiiro's life went the ashes, when his 'retraining' had begun.
"A year before the war started." Duo's observation cut into Relena's thoughts and she realized they were continuing. It wouldn't be wise to miss any of what they said, all of it could be important.
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Hiiro, not caring to go on, stared at the waiting faces of those around him. He knew, of course, he didn't have to explain anything personal, but anything regarding his life before the age of fourteen had been nearly wiped from his memory. He could only remember bits and pieces here and there. Excerpts from his life, vague images that must have been people he knew. Of course he remembered nearly everything from the time he was fourteen, and that was what bothered him so much. He could still see that little girl laughing, smiling in his minds eye, asking him if he wanted to play.
"A year before the war started." Duo observed, catching on that Hiiro had been reflecting. He didn't want to push the emotionally distant pilot but at the same time they needed to hear what Hiiro knew of the man known as Fue.
"Right after my last session of training with J." Hiiro continued as if nothing was amiss. "Fue had wanted to see me, examine me I think, but J refused to let him. I was in another room but could hear everything; I hadn't been told not to listen in. Fue was furious that J had found 'The File' and insisted that he at least share the benefits of his research if he wasn't going to outright give the information to him. It had something to do with a new type of project, something J deleted after that encounter, however. Only he knows where to find anything pertaining to it."
"Man, your so close when talking about that yet so far away from the truth."
The room fell to silence. Outside Relena was sure that everyone was staring at Duo in surprise and, as a matter of fact, she was right. It was rare when someone, let alone Duo of all people, told Hiiro he was wrong about something, not to mention how wrong. Especially considering this was something Hiiro would know and no one else. Right?
"What are you getting at Maxwell?" Wufei demanded, his sharp obsidian eyes flashing the confusion away to demand an answer.
"It's not a new type of project," Duo began in a less then polite tone, "in fact it's an old, old, old project stemming back to the UC ere. And if I remember correctly it is the Newtype project. The synthetic one to be precise." With a grin on his face, a twinkle in his eye (all of which was not happy but actually the dead seriousness of a man who knew what he was talking about), Duo turned to face Hiiro. "Hiiro, you're a synthetic Newtype. You really are designed to be the perfect soldier."
"That's impossible!" Une argued passionately, rising to her feet. "Any information involving synthetic Newtypes has been lost since before the end of the Universal Calendar! It was destroyed over three hundred years ago! And for good reason!"
"You mean to tell me that all of that really happened?" Milliard demanded, disbelief reflecting off his steely gray blue eyes.
"Yeah, that's what I mean to tell you all right." Duo's cynical grin and tone still held that undertone of seriousness that made this conversation anything but a joke. "Guess it's still happening today, in fact. Hiiro is living proof of that, though I do believe it may have been a one time deal."
"What does this have to do with Quatre?" Wufei brought up a good point and everyone turned to look at Duo again, expecting a good answer from him that would live up to the rest of his good answers.
They weren't expecting the following.
"That is a good question. If Fue is the one that has Quatre almost anything could be the reason. Hiiro said he was a geneticist, he didn't tell you what kind."
"What are you talking about?" Milliard asked, his tone clearly skeptical.
Trowa chose that time to bring something he felt would be quite prudent to point out.
"Quatre is a Newtype."
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Dorothy leaned against the wall, feeling a pressing sensation in her chest as she listened to the conversations within. It had taken them a bit of time but they had finally reached the topic of her concern and she was impatient to find out about her kitten. But the words Trowa spoke were not what she was expecting. Of course, she didn't even know what a Newtype was but that didn't excuse the fact that it had something to do with Hiiro and the reason he is who he is, a concept that scared her deeply.
And apparently she wasn't the only one startled by this strange revelation as the sound of a chair toppling over as someone (presumably Duo) came to their feet before screaming out "Hell no!"
Dorothy didn't know what was going on but she was beginning to distinctly dislike everything she was hearing and she began to slide down the wall to the floor. Beside her Relena knelt down and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, her eyes questioning, wondering if this had been the secret she had been keeping. From the confusion on Dorothy's face, however, it was apparently not. As it was Dorothy was fighting with herself, trying to determine exactly what she was feeling in regards to all this while inside the room Trowa continued on the same note.
"An evolved one at any rate. Or devolved, it's all in how you look at it really."
"You have got to be kidding me!" Duo's protests did nothing to ease Dorothy's misgivings and she had to clench her fists to keep from jumping up, storming in, and demanding that they tell her everything. All she could do was wait, and listen.
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Lady Une, unconvinced, stared at Trowa in her oft used command state, though without the twin buns and her glasses it didn't seem to bring the right amount of intimidation that she would usually commanded. (Not that it would have done a wit of good concerning the five men in the room with her.) It was more out of reflex then anything else really.
But more to the point, she was unconvinced. And it was going to take a lot more then that to convince her that anything pertaining to Newtypes still exists today. Though with Trowa's obvious instance (as well as Duo's regarding Hiiro) she was beginning to grow impatient with the matter.
"There hasn't been a Newtype-."
"They are the Spacehearts."
Une's mouth clamped shut before opening again as she gawked at Trowa. Surely he was jesting! If he was right…well she didn't even want to think about if he was right!
"They changed over time." Trowa continued softly, "Evolved, or devolved as was necessary. To quote a man who knows, 'the universe changed its children in order to protect them from the rest of the human race that sought to subvert them, to control them'. Quatre believes he is just an ordinary Spaceheart, however, and not a near throw back to the UC ere. That is the way instructor H wants to keep things. He's the one that explained things to me."
"I knew Quatre was a Spaceheart." Wufei's voice was subdued, startled, "That much was obvious in the amount of mental ability he had. It's hard to control something as chaotic as that, but surely you can't be serious Trowa! A Newtype?"
Une sat back in her chair, her eyes resting on Wufei. He seemed a bit more subdued then would seem natural, she guessed he was feeling guilty about the circumstances and this revelation wasn't making it any easier on him. She herself, though forcing denial, was slowly beginning to find it harder and harder to deny Trowa's claims as truth. Especially if one of those mad scientists were involved….
No!
"Spacehearts are humans with only a minimal use of psionic abilities such as empathy, telepathy, even telekinesis. Some even have precognitive abilities, but not one of them, anywhere, expresses nearly the same amount of power as that of the Newtype theorem! It's just impossible! They all died out long ago! Proof of this came from a study done sixty years ago. The study reports that all humans born in space have the abilities born within them that of the Spaceheart, but only a handful of them ever have it awaken in them! It's a different strain of psionic power barley related at all!"
"We're not talking about a virus." Trowa's reply sounded a little cold to Une's ears. "We are talking about a natural occurrence that evolved through time."
"Trowa, man, you're not making any sense whatsoever." Duo rubbed his temple, irritated. "You somehow lost me."
"That's not actually that hard to do."
Both Sally and Une glared at Wufei who returned their glares coolly, ignoring the silent order to shut up.
"Anyway, how did you get so smart about the whole subject?" Duo blatantly ignored Wufei himself.
"Random series of event's in my life led to an encounter with instructor H after the end of the war," Trowa stated. "An encounter that H insisted was to be kept a secret. If you want more information I suggest you find out where H is hiding out and ask him questions yourself, he'll be the only one that can officially tell you anything else. I have already told you all I know."
Lady Une decided now was probably not the best time to announce she already knew where he was, but did make a mental note to have him brought over for questioning over the next couple of hours.
"Does this mean you are suggesting that may be the reason Quatre was kidnapped?" Hiiro asked, bring the conversation full circle once more.
"Maybe." Trowa's reply didn't suggest he was unsure about it in the least.
"And that brings us back to what Maxwell was about to say." Milliard broke in, "Before Barton decided to cut him off."
"That's right." Wufei stated carefully, "And from the way it sounded I don't' think I'm going to like what you are about to say."
"You won't." Duo's voice once again adopted the hard edge of someone suppressing a certain amount of irritation. "Fue has a thing for experimenting on human beings with special abilities."
"Dorothy wait!"
Seven heads whipped around as the door burst open to reveal Dorothy pushing Relena away from her and storming into the room, her eyes locking onto Duo with more the a little contempt.
"Couldn't you have said that any sooner?" She cried furiously, "You should have said that form the start! Who knows what that mad man has started doing while all you have been doing was talking!"
"You knew they were out there, didn't you!" Une demanded as she turned towards Trowa.
"Dorothy has a right to know everything." Trowa replied
"How do you even know if they are even still in here in this country?" Dorothy demanded, "They could be anywhere by now!"
"We have officers already stationed at any and all roads leading out of the Sank Kingdom," Une stated, attempting to appease the irate woman, "including spaceports. They are trapped."
"Are you nuts?" Dorothy demanded, "The Sank Kingdom isn't as small as it was when Relena first rebuilt it! It's grown these past few years!"
"Sank is still small enough to be considered more of a state then a country!" Relena broke in in a desperate attempt to calm the older blond. "Trust them Dorothy, they know what they are doing!"
Dorothy hesitated for a few seconds then visibly relaxed. She recomposed herself and looked each of them in the eye. "If nothing is done soon I will do something myself." And then she left the room, Relena walking with her.
The briefing room was silent then, the shock of what just happened beginning to wear off. Duo chuckled nervously and stepped towards the door, peeking out to see both Dorothy and Relena disappear down the hall. When he brought his head back in he was about to comment on crazy blonds when suddenly Trowa grabbed him by the front of his shirt and held him against the wall.
"What the-!"
"Barton what do you think your doing?"
"Let him go Trowa."
"Tell me everything you know about this man." Trowa demanded, ignoring the protests of those around him.
"Trowa, c'mon!" Duo cried, "Leggo!"
"Now."
"Fine, no mister nice guy!"
"Enough!" Hiiro ordered, his hand landing on Trowa's shoulder and settling on Duo's. "Don't let your emotions dictate your life. It's one thing to act on them, it's another to let them run wild."
Trowa released Duo without a second word and returned to his seat, closing his eyes and crossing his arms while Duo, visibly shaken by the entire incident, cleared his own throat and returned to his own chair on the other side of the room, scooting it a little closer to the wall.
"Sheesh, I was about to do that anyway you idiot." Duo growled as he plopped down on the chair. "Nothing I know is really gonna help you though. It's essentially the same information you got from Hiiro, except I happen to know a bit more about a few things, as you've already noticed."
"How do you know so much about the Newtype project anyway?" Une asked
"Eh, I don't' know a lot, I just know what it is, that's all. G told me when I was 13, a year after he picked me up but only because I wouldn't leave him alone about it. I had over heard a conversation between him and Fue about it when Fue forced his way onto G's sweeper ship. Lemme tell you, the old man was p!$$ed! Fue was upset because J had managed to get his hands on a copy of the synthetic Newtype program and refused to let him see the final results. G, of course, didn't' care. A few months after that Fue returned with a bribe that had actually been G's idea to begin with. He brought with him a bio implant.
"Why would he want that?" Sally asked
"Because his daughter needed one."
"Daughter?"
"Yeah, I know." Duo chuckled at Sally and Une's startled outburst, "It was a surprise to me too when I found out and then I found out exactly how she was born."
Duo risked a glance at Trowa and saw that he was staring at Duo with more the a little surprise.
"In other words G took the bribe?" Une asked.
"Not exactly." Duo stated "He'd been trying to get Fue to give him the formulae for the implant for eight years, he was expecting Fue to bring it the next time he came over and G was ready for him. I don't know exactly what it was that happened, I was elsewhere at the time. To be perfectly honest though, I was locked up in another room on the ship, it took me a half hour to break out of there. Fue was already gone and G was just about to let me out." Duo scratched his head and tipped his chair back a little. "Still don't know why he did that. Somethin' about being safe or somethin'."
"That's all?" Une asked
"Well, not entirely." Duo murmured, "G later found out his computer had been hacked while he was…dealing with Fue. Apparently one his subordinates hacked the mainframe, took some data with him. G was pretty upset about that also, he was afraid another associate was going to kill him." Duo shrugged, "Like I said, nothing helpful. I already told you everything important to tell."
"So you would no clue at all where his base is then."
"Actually, yeah! I know of one, but it's in space hidden somewhere in L2 cluster. I wouldn't put it past him, though, to have one here on earth. Maybe even here in Sank!"
"You really think so?" Une asked quickly.
"Coulda set up a temporary one. After all, the guy's not just crazy, he's stupid. One thing that G always had to mention whenever Fue came up was how stupid the man was."
"I don't' know whether to say that's good news or bad news." Sally stated, "Good news because he wouldn't be looking for a way out of the city, but bad news because…."
"Because he'll have already started." Trowa finished where she left off.
111break111
k2: Stunned isn't even the word for it. I am thoroughly….I mean it's….
MK: When first written this chapter, and I mean the whole chapter, it wasn't' separated into two parts before, was only and I mean only, seven pages long.
k2: It's nine friggen pages! How did it become nine pages? No, wait. Let me rephrase that, it's not nine pages because this is only the second half! The first half was five pages. So that makes this twelve pages long! Can you believe that? Twelve friggen pages long! That's nearly twice the original length!
MK: Ya notice how much better it is?
k2: Well, yeah, but…but that's not the point!
MK: I think it is.
k2: But…but…I mean…err…the other…chapters….
MK: You only have to change one or two minor scenes in one chapter, the next chapter. You won't be behind again; you got it all worked out just fine. You performed a miracle K. Think about it.
k2: But…but….(passes out from the sheer shock of it all)
MK: She needs the rest.