Author: Sparkle Itamashii
Title: Inheritance
Warnings: Respect the rating. Please see my profile.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing A/C is NOT MINE.
Chapter Twenty Nine - Interlude: The Video
The screen flickers and changes; televisions become static, computer screens go blank, video phones ring out a perfect dial tone… and then they clear. Replacing the evening news and sitcoms, the web pages and the phone calls is a new image. A young man stands stoically on screen, dressed in loose black clothing, a stiff white shirt collar made to look like a priest's circles his neck. He stares at the camera with deep blue eyes, almost violet in their intensity, while fiddling with the end of a long, hassled looking braid. He seems on edge and tired by the way he holds himself and it is clear even to the most casual of viewers that this man is no ordinary man.
Sounds crackles for a second and then resolves into words.
"-name is Duo Maxwell. I need your attention, please, because what I am about to say concerns you. All of you; all of humanity."
The man pauses there, as though considering what to say next. By now he has the attention of the whole world- both Earth and the colonies that so peacefully revolve around it.
"About five years ago a war that lasted longer than my life at the time was brought to an end. Four years ago someone attempted to restart the war, to gain control of all humanity via force. Now someone is trying to restart the war by bringing about the dawn of a virus that would mean the downfall of humanity. The virus was initially created toward the beginning of the war and perhaps there are still those that remember the plague that swept the L2 colony so many years ago. This is the same virus, but more efficient, less stoppable. Far less stoppable."
"The genetic code for the virus was split into three parts and placed within three unknowing subjects. The genetic code for the anti-virus, the only thing that can stop the virus from killing everyone, everywhere, was similarly split into two parts and hidden within two other unknowing subjects."
Again he stops and clenches his jaw, as if he does not want to continue speaking. A phone begins to ring in the background but he ignores it. At last he sighs.
"The person carrying the first section of the anti-virus is dead; there is no anti-virus now. I carry within me one vital section of the virus. It was placed within me without my knowledge or consent and its existence was only recently revealed to me. Without what I carry, the virus cannot be made. I had thought I could live with that knowledge, with that danger, since the war had ended. Yet even if I could seclude myself, certain parties have made it clear that I will never be safe. As long as I live, my existence puts the entire world in danger. I cannot allow that."
He stops and moves to the side, motioning now to the room behind him. The walls and floors are metal and at the edge of the screen lays a pair of thick metal doors. A locking mechanism runs from the top of the doors to the bottom, making it obvious that he stands in a very high security place. Beside the doors is a control panel, above which a sign reads "Roys Co. Incineration". When he speaks, drawing attention back to himself, it is with apprehension and a tone that makes his fear clear.
"I speak now to the people who have been after us the last couple of days. Leave them alone. You know who I'm talking about. Behind me are the blast doors to the flash incinerator on L3-X2954. It was decommissioned two years ago, but I've… recommissioned it for a very special purpose. When I am done with this recording, I'm going to turn around and step inside of it and if everything goes well, that will be the last you ever see of me. I want to make it very clear to you that your quest to create the virus has come to an end. Without me, the virus cannot be made. The records for its creation were destroyed years ago and without a viable sample, it's a useless effort. My friends are useless to you without me."
Stopping again, he chews his bottom lip in indecision, eyes dropping to the floor. Almost a minute passes before he takes a deep breath and looks back to the camera. The phone begins to ring again and once again it is ignored, this time not completely. He wipes at his eyes with the heel of his hand and when he speaks his voice is rough with the way his throat has tightened.
"Heero, I know that's you calling. I know you're on your way here to stop me. You probably won't make it. I'm sorry. You're going to be the first one to see this, and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry I couldn't fix this any other way. Can you do me a favor? Can you please give this tape to the world? Let them know what happened, let them know what they've escaped. Let them know that I'm sorry for putting them in danger in the first place and that I will make things right shortly. Give it to who-ever you have to give it to so that this ends; so that you are safe."
He swallows and turns to look at the doors, falling silent. They open to a silvery interior and the lights that create the incinerating blast can be seen through the glass wall of the far side. The camera just barely sees that far. He turns back to the camera and offers a smile full of tears.
"Take care of yourself, Heero. Take care of the others. You may not believe in the afterlife, but I do. I know I'll see you again some day, love. I'm sorry it had to go this way. I love you."
An awkward silence falls as his words echo in the empty space where he stands. He fidgets in place, as if pondering whether there is anything else he wishes to say before he finishes recording. There is nothing, though, and he turns from the camera. His heavy, booted steps, quiet though they are, can be heard by the camera's sensitive microphone. He moves to the control panel and it is almost a full minute before he moves away from it again.
As he steps to the double blast doors, there is a noise from off camera- a door being slammed and a man shouting something the camera doesn't catch. Duo freezes and looks over as another man dashes onto screen. The newcomer grabs him by the collar of his black shirt and slams him roughly against the doorframe.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the newcomer practically shouts. It is clear he's furious but at the same time there is fear and relief in his voice.
Duo's resolve seems to crack the slightest bit as he turns his face from the newcomer's and drops his eyes. His lips move as he mumbles something, but the camera does not catch his words. He is shaken once by the man who has all but attacked him and he grabs the other's wrists. "You know it does!" Duo snaps, loudly enough this time to be heard by their unseen audience. "I don't want to run anymore and I'm not going to give up and let them kill everyone we worked so fucking hard to save!" The spite and bitterness in his words is thick. "Or have you forgotten all that?"
"We will find. Another. Way." The words are bitten through clenched teeth.
"There is no other way, Heero!" Duo argues forcefully. His voice drops, gentles on his next statement. "No safe way… It's just easier like this."
"Easier for who?" Heero snaps, his voice roughing on his closed throat. His aggressive stance drops and he moves forward until their foreheads touch. His words are so soft the camera cannot catch them all. "-ease –on't --- this…."
Those watching can see when Duo whispers "I'm sorry" but the words are not audible. "I have to. You know that."
Silence as they stand there, breathing and fighting the inevitable as it draws closer. Neither seems to want to move first.
"There is a recording in the security room, from the camera over there. When I…" Duo trailed off, swallowing thickly. "You need to watch it. Okay?" No response. "Please, Heero. Fighting everyone else is difficult enough. I don't need you fighting me too."
"Fine." It is clearly not fine in the young man's opinion, but he draws away from the other boy. The look he gives then is one to break hearts. "You're really going to just… you can't just…" He takes a breath and seems to get hold of himself. The angry expression melts into one of grief as he realizes the other boy is really about to disappear forever. "Okay," he whispers at last.
Duo's body tightens visibly at the word and he takes a step forward to close the distance the other boy just put between them. "Lock the doors behind me," he says, loud but unsteadily. The camera catches a noise of disagreement as Duo speaks. "Then get the recording and leave. Don't stay and don't look back, okay?"
A pained expression crosses the faces of both boys before Duo moves to close the small gap between them, enveloping the other in an embrace. Heero reciprocates in a way that only lovers saying goodbye forever can, holding him as if he might never release him. It is a bare moment before they stand apart again, and the camera catches glints of liquid in both pairs of eyes.
"I'm sorry," Duo says sadly, scrubbing at his eyes with the heel of his hand. "I really am. I love you. Never forget that."
"I love you too, Duo."
Duo offers a smile that is half a frown before turning away from Heero once more. He moves past the blast doors and into the incineration area. Heero trails after him slowly, almost to the point of joining him within, before laying hands on the edges of the doors. The two stare at one another as the machine whirs to life like an awakening giant, before Duo can just barely be heard saying "it's on a timer."
As though resigning his own self to death, Heero draws back and closes the blast doors. The ceiling-to-floor door locks whir and crank loudly as they tighten to keep the doors shut through anything. He does not leave or move from where he stands.
A moment later there is a crack like the sound of a giant camera taking a picture. The sound causes Heero's entire body to flinch and he drops to his knees on the floor, shaking enough that even the camera can pick up on it. All throughout the facility the fans begin to rotate to blow out the dust and fumes from the newly finished cycle. The muffled grinding noise nearly drowns Heero's shout but it cannot mask the fist he slams so harshly against the doors.
It does not hide the blood-stain he leaves behind on the metal.
Ten minutes pass before the red lights above the blast doors turn green again, signaling that it is safe to open them. It is longer still before Heero clambers to his feet and lays bloody hands on the locks. They hiss in the newfound silence, but the doors themselves make no noise as they open.
Inside, there is no trace of Duo Maxwell.
Heero stands for a moment before turning and looking straight into the camera. His eyes are red around the edges and there are streaks of wet on his face. He removes his hands from the locks, leaving bloody handprints, and disappears off the camera. A few moments later the screen turns to static as somewhere in the facility's security room the recording was ejected from its recorder, ready for the sacrifice it contained to be given to the world.
/End Interlude, Inheritance/
Notes:
:brick'd to death: No seriously, stay tuned for the epilogue. And let me know what you are thinking now!
