A Secret Old Military Base
"When it's all done, they'll all get it. They'll all understand." The leader Crystalia looked toward her other members. "Every one of them will understand."
"Crystalia?" One of her subjects asked aloud. "Some of them are too close to the targets. Word is, Duo Maxwell already knows. He didn't drop her like everyone assumed would happen. He even came to Earth. She will be watched extra close. What will we do?"
"We stick with the plan," Crystalia said. "He'll break."
"I can understand . . ." One of the women in the group started to speak up. That woman was called Jewel. A codename, no one used their real names. She had been the one to take part in the event of Hilde Schbeiker. Her purpose, she had known it. Understood it. She wanted it, but Jewel had found out that the ones being used in the plan had not even taken a single life. Three of the women in the plan? Hilde was responsible for things, yes, she killed and committed atrocities. Middie Une was the worse, she was a known spy, getting others who had trusted her killed. Those were good individuals to use, but three out of five? "This is about justice, Crystalia," she said. "Why are we picking three innocent women?"
"Dorothy Catalonia instigated war. She loved war, it's a known fact," Crystalia said. "If she had a chance to see war or be in it, she would have taken a life without qualms. Even her descendents, it was destiny she would be a bad person."
That wasn't a strong enough reason. She never took lives. "Mei-Lin Wang?"
" . . ."
"Her situation, and her close name. Is that really it?" That wasn't good enough. "Who added the death of someone too? That wasn't us, was it?"
"In order to get things done, we've had to ally with another group," Crystalia was slower in the explaining. "Their presence have influenced some mechanics, but the message is still the same."
"An innocent man is dead, she is being hunted for that, how is that the same message?" Jewel pushed on. "This group has lost its way choosing these women. There was no reason, and the former Queen of Earth?"
Crystalia smirked at her. She smirked? "She is a good leader, who has always been there for everyone. She wants to make everyone happy, and make up for everything that she can. Call her a sacrificial lamb, she'll willingly do it."
"That's not fair," Jewel continued to yell. "These choices, they are by the other group! Who is influencing our group?"
Crystalia walked closer to her. "Honestly? When I said we had to ally with another group? I was talking to the group, not you. You are part of the other small group."
What? More than Jewel started to complain.
"Easy, ladies," Crystalia tried to calm them down. "Every single one of you could be implicated right now in all of this." She looked straight at Jewel. "One phone call and Duo Maxwell would be at your door, ready to murder you and everything you hold dear."
Everyone started to go stark quiet. "Used," Jewel whispered. "We were used."
"The world is about being used. The world is about a lot of pain. It's time for the ones who brought this suffering into the world, to bear that pain." Crystalia looked toward the crowd. "Our groups are similar. Not exactly the same, no, but the mission hasn't changed. The man who died? Deserved death. Classified reasons and Mei-Lin will be freed of those charges. She'll be fine." Crystallia pointed at Jewel. "Do you want to destroy all of the work we've all pushed together for?"
"For the lives of . . . three innocents." Jewel stared at Crystalia.
"The rewards are still the same, and it's not like the Mei-Lin woman was well liked."
"Not well-liked, enjoyed war, and sacrificial lamb is not what I signed up for!" Jewel declared. "This was not my group's purpose!" This was not her group. Her group was small. Simple. This meeting, there were thousands of women there.
"Women involved in the war, in all ways, were involved in this. If you expected everything to be absolutely peaceful, it's you who needs to check back into reality," Crystalia reminded her. "So the last three weren't that bad. They were involved. They weren't on the side lines. No." She had to correct herself. "Well? Mei-Lin Wang was an exception, but not many would fit."
"It wasn't about how any fit. Really. Was it?" Jewel looked around again. Only a few confused faces, most seemed to be quite aware of it.
"How they fit was just as important to our group as to how guilty they were, if not more so," Crystalia answered again. "Now? Unless we need to accidentally send some video to the temporary address of one Duo Maxwell, I suggest you sit back and relax. You are still getting your reward, as long as you stay allegiant." She looked toward the crowd. "Anyone else in the smaller group? You've all done something. Not one person here can walk away with only a small slap on the wrist. We all have our lives, and our own goals. We work with each other, and at the end, you get your rewards. Fair and square."
She couldn't do that. Jewel couldn't disobey, The God of Death would come after her with a passion. Her and everyone she had left. Again. No. "Why use us?" Her group had been so small and intimate. Why bother at all?
"Technology isn't always an easy thing to get to." Crystalia turned away and spoke to the crowd at large again.
This wasn't what Jewel had stood for, but it was what she had caused. Created. She was staying quiet while three innocent women suffered. One even being jailed and framed, simply because of her relative positioning to the former Meilan Chang. How did all of the others fit then? Were they going after the guilty, or just the ones that had fit the best as counterparts to ruining the former gundam pilots? Were any of them as guilty as she had been led to believe? After all.
Now Jewel had heavy guilt on her, weighing her down. Her silence would let a killer go free. She was guilty.
She was guilty. No better than the one she hurt.
Guilty.
She didn't deserve anything.
Guilty.
Duo Maxwell and Hilde Schbeiker's Temporary Residence
6:30 PM
"I just want to lie around all night long, my feet are killing me," Hilde said as she opened the door to their little apartment. The lights came on illuminating the room. It wasn't a large place, but a decent one. It had what they needed. A bathroom with a decent shower, a kitchen, a TV, and their definite assortment of games they collected. "When people want their food, they want it now."
"At least you aren't in the back with the fryer," Duo said as he hung his hat on the small nook behind the front door as he closed it. "That was hot. I'd rather be doing the back and forth. Game or TV? And who gets which?"
"Ooh, I was on level two reaching level three . . ." She budged. "I'm too tired to concentrate on the game. Fridays are a big pain. At least we get Saturday off. I'll catch up then."
"Yeah, TV then. I'm not in the mood either." Maybe a good show was on. "We have the crockpot from last night for supper or order out?"
"Oh, it's Friday. We can live a little. Crockpot Saturday," Hilde said as she took off her shoes and curled up on the couch with her socks.
Duo did the same thing. "I don't know whose is worse. Yours or mine."
She wrinkled her nose as a slight tease as she grabbed the remote and turned it on. They both propped their feet up to watch the TV. "Oh, mail. Duo, it was your day today."
"I just spent the whole minute getting comfy, Hilde-Babe." But he got up and walked his socked feet over toward the mail slot. "Let's see." He bent over toward it to see the offerings. "Coupons? Furniture. Pass." Like they had anymore room or wanted anymore? The couch was fine and a table to eat at. Anything else would clutter the small place up. "More coupons. Food. Buy more food to get more food kind. Pass." Bills at all? "No bills."
"Then no problems," Hilde said from the couch.
Duo continued to come over, bringing the rest of the junkmail. It's like they had a sign outside that said 'insert junkmail here'. "Ooh, a letter. Addressed to little me?" Duo looked at Hilde. "Good or bad you think?"
"Is it ever good?" Hilde questioned him.
Duo ripped it open. "Well, you never know? Maybe someone's writing to greet us to the neighborhood? Or maybe Trowa decided to write a letter saying how much he appreciates us being here on Earth?" Yeah, no, it wouldn't be that. It was always bad. "What do you think the level of bad is?"
"Three?" Hilde hazarded a guess.
"Mach four? Maybe just a two." Duo started to read it, then looked away. He stared at Hilde, his expression different. "It's a ten." A full blown ten. He read one line of it and already knew. Hilde came closer as he revealed the letter to both of them.
A woman code-named Jewel, just revealed when and how Hilde had become pregnant. She also revealed a ton of other things that were, frankly? "We need to call the guys." As he said that, he quickly gripped her hand gently. "You okay?" Hilde was staring ahead at the TV now. "BFF's forever. Hell of a necklace between us."
"That's not funny, Duo!" Hilde was losing it as she got off the couch, jerking his hand away. She sought solace over by the window, resting her hands on its sill. She didn't say much else. Duo didn't know what to say either. After a few minutes, she spoke again. "Obligatory just turned mandatory. This is. This."
"This doesn't change anything," Duo said to her. "Still pregnant. Still on Earth. Still going back." He tried to loosen up and relax. "Just instead of Uncle Duo it's . . . Papa Duo. Or Father? Nah, not Father, not Father . . . Dad Duo?" His brain felt scrambled. Even working out that little bit of the piece of the puzzle. What he should let it call it? That should be on the lowest end of concern too. "We're okay."
"It was just me," Hilde said, staring out the window. She was looking at the stars, like they would somehow take her away. Maybe back to their colony. To life before it started to change again. "It was just me wrapped up in this huge mess, and now it's you. You got dragged down, by that-that- Girl!" She went over to the letter, grabbed it and shoot it violently. "This Jewel!" She slammed it back down again.
"Yeah. I'm used to getting screwed over." Still. "It's okay, Hilde," he encouraged her. "This Jewel did the right thing." Oh yeah, he wasn't happy. How did anyone even have that on him? And who? But. Hilde was his concern right now.
"She was a stupid girl. Stupid. Stupid girl." Hilde pointed to the letter, half crying, like she could zap it away. "Stupid code name. You can't go after her."
"Yeah." He knew that. It was clear from the letter she was scared Duo would come after her again. That again meant he probably had taken out a family member. It wasn't right what she did, and he definitely wasn't going out of his way to find her and tell her she had nothing to fear. But he wasn't going out of his way to deal with her either. "Everyone makes stupid mistakes." He glanced back at Hilde. "I didn't grow up with a Dad, Hilde. I'll probably still end up being Uncle Duo." She nodded her head, understanding. "I'll try." There wasn't much more he could say. "You know I have to contact the others?" She nodded again. "Why don't you find something on the TV you want? Order something even, your choice. When I get back in, we'll watch it. I'll still order out for food too. What is it you want, Hilde?" He'd do the ordering for the food before he came back.
Once the other guys found out. They would want to get every scrap out of him they could, but all he really had was a crummy letter to scan them.
Now? Whose life did he ruin first tonight?
