Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising

Story:

Phase Eight – Experiments

It was a different awareness, as if everything in the room was blurry but suddenly became clear. Kira slowly opened his eyes and stared up at the blank ceiling of the bed he was on. The last thing he remembered was a gruff middle-aged man named Richard trying to force him to move a golf ball that he couldn't move. He slowly blinked his eyes, his senses feeling as if the world was just a little bit off in a way – like he was moving too fast and the world was moving so slowly. Getting up, he glanced at the IV line attached to him and pulled it out, barely flinching from the pain in his wrist. He wondered how long had he been out and judging from the fact that they had attached a line to him, it meant probably over a day or so.

Swinging his legs to the side, he got up and promptly grabbed onto to the bed post as the world spun dizzily around him. He saw spots dance around his eyes and closed them trying to alleviate the dizziness. It passed soon enough and he opened his eyes once more. What the hell was that, he wondered as he took a tentative step forward. It felt safe and he walked around his cell, still feeling a bit off.

As soon as he felt as normal as possible he looked up and around, wondering what day or time it was. The room was the same one he had been put into and just as he glanced at the door, it hissed open and a very recognizable woman stood there. Her name popped into Kira's head. Dr. Madison Francis…the woman who had talked philosophy with him before knocking him out in an unfair advantage.

"Hello Kira," she stepped in, holding a clipboard and dressed in her perpetual white lab coat. "I'm glad you're awake."

"What do you want now?" he asked, tensing as he expected her to attack him like she did last time.

"Kira, that's not polite you know," Madison stared at him with an almost serene expression.

"What; the last time you knocked me out and try to have me move some damn golf ball with my mind," he said in a flat tone, not in the mood for any of her games. A headache had started to form and it was getting stronger by the second. He resisted the urge to rub his forehead to try to ease the pain, not wanting the doctor to see any discomforts he had.

"Well, it is in your genes, Kira," Madison said in an annoyingly simple voice that he found to be just a bit irritating. It was as if she was talking down to a petulant child. "You are the Ultimate Coordinator and it would be beneficial if you can learn how to use your gifts to the full advantage."

"What so I can be your weapon?"

"No, no, we don't need you to be a weapon. That's what Nikolai's been created for," Madison blinked lazily before a smile appeared on her face.

Kira blinked at the meaning of her words. Griever's name had been Nikolai Mercus…it couldn't be the same Nikolai could it? But looking at her expression ice began to form in his stomach and he realized that Patrick Zala had been behind the Talon. All of the pieces of the puzzle for the last few weeks were falling into place. He should have figured it out when he saw the man and knew that the man was obsessed with finding him…of course he would set a trap up for him at Mendel. Talon was just a front for his own schemes and it would seem that he had set up this elaborate trap just to get him.

"Ah, I see you've figured it out," Madison tilted her head slightly; "it took you long enough. I would have figured you would have been brighter in deducing Patrick's plans. Oh well, not all Coordinators are created the same…I should have expected that." She made a few notes in her clipboard. "Well, would you like to know what the next test is? You've passed your first one."

"That was a test?" Kira asked.

"Of course," she gave him a lazy smile again, "remember, you're not a prisoner here. It's not torture and all those vids that you've seen."

"Yeah, I'm just an experiment," he said bitterly, the headache growing stronger. He finally rubbed his forehead, trying to massage his temples to ease the pain, but it didn't seem to help.

"Oh don't say that," she practically cooed at him, "you're not an experiment."

Kira snapped his head towards her, seething with anger, "Would you cut the bullshit!" A part of him was shocked at his own words. Where did this anger come from? He was so annoyed and angry at the woman who was standing in front of him, patronizing him. "Why are you doing this to me? Is it just because I am the Ultimate Coordinator-"

"Ah, you've finally acknowledged that you are the Ultimate Coordinator," she interrupted him. "That's good."

"Shut up," Kira glared at her, "I'm a regular Coordinator. I am not the Ultimate Coordinator. That was just something made up by Rau Le Creuset." He could feel something within him stir in the anger that was swirling around him. It called to him and reached out for him to take and hold within his mental grasp. A part of him was curious yet afraid of this...foreign thing that was calling to him. What was it?

"You forget. Rau is the clone of Anton LaFlaga. LaFlaga knew a lot about the workings of Dr. Hibiki's labs and so does Patrick. You are the Ultimate Coordinator, whether or not you acknowledge it is not my problem," Madison suddenly snapped her fingers and Kira looked up with narrowed eyes to see at least three men entering the room before standing around Madison. He noticed that they weren't, rather they were facing him.

"Kira," Madison gestured to the men, "please accompany them. They won't hurt you." The men started to walk forward and Kira backed away slowly. The only place he wanted to go was back to his family, back to Orb. That sudden thought crystallized in him and the anger that had been simmering in him exploded.

It wasn't seed-mode, it was something different, but Kira touched the foreign thing in his mind and it filled him with a totally new awareness. He could see fiber-like things all around the air, more so around the people and pushed at the fiber of the three men that were moving towards him.

His eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly saw the men fly back into the wall, crashing hard before all of the slumped forward, knocked out. Scared, he retreated from the presence, and blinked his eyes before collapsing boneless onto the floor, eyes rooted to the three unconscious men. He barely noticed Madison's shocked expression; her clipboard had fallen to the floor.

What the hell was that! What did he do? A groan of pain from one of the men startled him out of his funk and he glanced wildly between Madison and the three men, his mouth opening and closing with words he couldn't quite vocalize at the moment.

The doctor was staring at him with narrowed eyes before she suddenly spun on her heel and left the room in a hurry. Before the door closed, six others came in and dragged the bodies of the unconscious men out of the room. He was left alone in the room, still staring at the spots where the men were blasted back by an unseen force.

It was at least ten minutes before Kira stared down at his hands, curling them into fists. What did he do?

Madison didn't go anywhere as soon as she was out of the room. All she did was lean against the wall by the door as six other people went in and grabbed the three men that were sent to get Kira. She had not expected this at all…and the results scared her. She leaned against the wall, clutching her coat as she tried to steady her breathing. The medication wasn't supposed to react like that! Not on all of the Coordinators they've tested it on. What was Kira so special that it made the medication react that way? What happened?

There were variables and whatnot, but as soon as the technicians deemed it safe to return to his room, she knew she had to wait. But one thing she knew in that single moment that she saw the boy narrow his eyes. There was a primal fury within that boy that made him dangerous.

And it promised vengeance against those that wronged him.

Patrick Zala laced his fingers together as he set them on the table, pleased with what was going on for the moment. A mid-sized vid screen was showing the news from different PLANT broadcast networks along with a few Earth ones. Though he hated what the Naturals were broadcasting it was still beneficial for him to see what the enemy was reporting to gather information.

Canaver was dead and he was pleased with Nikolai's progress. This meant that Orson and Louise would be able to move without any fear. All the chess pieces were moving according to plans. He had expected the Junius 7 Genesis to fall, but that was evidence enough for his next step.

But for Colony Mendel. No, that one would have to be kept…until he could completely set up his next one. The LF would find that there would be more forces there than expected. He also knew that Ledonil Kisaka and Dr. Kanoko Kamiya would be there, which is also why he sent Quinn Misali there to finish the second part of his mission along with causing some tension within the LF.

His sources also said that Ezalia Joule had started a cipher to find out which drugs he used, but he was too smart for that and had redirected the cipher to give false information. He also found out that she had sent her son to try to find him. That woman knew how to use her resources and it was a pity that she and her whole family couldn't see what the true ideal was.

The hand had been dealt and it was time for the pieces to continue their journeys.

Lacus Clyne sat in the office she was given when she visited the Supreme Council to give them updates of proceedings in the Senate down in Orb. It wasn't a spacious office, but it wasn't small either. She barely had any of her personal belongings there, a majority of them either at her mansion that she had inherited from her father or in Orb in the apartment she had in the city.

She was only supposed to be here for a few days, continuing on her duties as a liaison between the PLANTs and the Earth Senate, but now with Eileen's death and the Supreme Council in a riotous state, she had to stay and help calm the people down. The radical members like Orson White and Louise Leitner were up in arms – blaming the Earth for assassinating Eileen. They wanted a swift retribution by ZAFT to the Ptolomaeus Base on the Moon – rebuilt after the war.

A few of the moderates on the Council were also leaning towards swift military action, but they were also wondering who was going to be the new Supreme Councilor. It had been two days since Eileen's death and the Council needed an emergency leader. Lacus knew Zala would try to take advantage of the confusion and insert himself in here, but she had also cautioned the Councilors that mentioning anything about Zala to the press would be detrimental. Then there would be mass panic in the PLANTs and things would get worst. They couldn't afford mass panic at the moment.

Those on the Earth who were enemies of the PLANTs and Coordinators wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of the situation and perhaps launch an attack of their own. Even though Blue Cosmos was but a shadow of its former glory, they were still quite a force to contend with if given the chance. She and Amalfi were constantly in the emergency sessions, trying to calm the war hawks down, but it wasn't easy. Right now was one of her rare times in her own office.

Whoever had assassinated Eileen was very good and she knew that she was a potential target. She had always been since she made herself known during the last few days of the war two years ago. But she refused bodyguards – she didn't want to hinder herself like her father did during his time as a part of the Supreme Councilor and as a Councilor after Patrick Zala won the election.

A rare frown appeared on her face as she thought about the other crisis on hand. She had told Ezalia and Tad to continue their work while she and Amalfi try to calm the rest of the Council down. More than ever she wished Kira was here…even though she knew she was his anchor, more than he'll ever know, he was her anchor for her. He had such a calming presence, and he was one of the gentlest people she ever knew. Kira…where are you? She silently wondered as she stared out of the window to her office. It was a fading artificial sunset right now…and the brilliant red-orange rays filled the skies in a beautiful rainbow color.

"Haro! Genki! Lacus!" Pink-chan suddenly chirped from where it had been entertaining itself by rolling back and forth. It bounced up and down for a bit before attempting to flying with its flaps.

The pink colored Haro flew up to her desk where it promptly rolled in front of her and its red eyes blinked a bit. "Myta! Myta! Whatever!" he bit off in a rude tone and Lacus had to smile at her Haro's antics. Of all the Haros Athrun had built for her, this one seemed to develop a quirky personality, much like how Tori did too.

"How did we get ourselves in this mess, Pink-chan?" she tapped the Haro on top of its head as it rolled back and forth, occasionally blatting out an electronic squeak.

"I don't want any part of it!" her Haro replied rolling in a circle.

"I know you don't," she laughed lightly before leaning back in her chair and heaving a slightly deep sigh. The latest message from Cagalli said that the Eternal was going to arrive soon and Athrun was with them while the Babylon and Archangel were headed to Mendel to hunt for another one of the mini-Genesis systems Zala apparently built in secret. One thing that had surprised her was that Cagalli had decided to stay in Orb to try to calm things down in the Senate. She would have thought, given the impulsiveness of Kira's twin sister, the Princess would have gone either to Mendel or to the PLANTs to help.

It meant that Cagalli had matured quickly and knew what her responsibilities were. Though Lacus would have loved to have Cagalli here as a friend and a person to talk to, she admired her ability to restrain herself from doing anything rash. Or…she could have something planned for the Senate that was equally rash…with Cagalli, one really never knew.

"Miss Lacus?" the speaker on the side of her desk blared out.

"Yes?" she didn't bother looking at the speaker and instead poked her Haro playfully.

"You asked me to tell you when the Eternal has docked? The ship has docked in Docking Bay 1138," the secretary outside replied back through the speaker.

"Thank you," there was a click of the speaker being shut off and Lacus stared out of the window, the sunset gone, replaced by a false twilight fading into night. Captain Bartfield and Athrun were coming to her office with the latest news. She was going to give them an update on their findings of the whereabouts of Zala.

"Myta myta! Haro haro!" Pink-chan suddenly bounced from her hand and rolled to the ground.

She frowned, puzzled as to what had startled the robotic ball before she sensed something, no, some-one else in the room. Just as suddenly, the lights to her office shut off, leaving her in near-darkness. Only the false twilight and the outside lights of the rest of the city filtered in. She stood up slowly, sensing the other person was close.

"You were the one who assassinated Eileen Canaver, weren't you?" she asked in a firm tone, surprised that she didn't feel an inch of fear in her. She felt calm, collected, and at peace.

"Perhaps," the voice that came back was in front of her and she squinted slightly to see someone leaning against the wall, his face covered in shadows. From the dim light she had, she could tell that he had sneaked in here wearing a ZAFT uniform, and it was a bit rumpled, which meant he came from the ducts, bypassing her secretary.

His voice was oddly familiar, but had a deeper inflection…almost as if it was…

"Kira?" she ventured a guess.

"Close, but not quite," the person in the shadows laughed lightly, a bit maliciously.

"Then you must be Nikolai Mercus," she said in an even tone, staring at the person.

"I prefer the name Griever, Miss Lacus Clyne," the person pushed himself off the wall and stepped into the dim light, his purple eyes glittering with malice.

Lacus was stunned at the resemblance between Griever and Kira. She had never met the assassin before and had only heard descriptions from Kira, Cagalli, and Athrun. And while they said Griever looked a lot like Kira, with the exception of a scar running down his left side, a part of her still didn't really believe it – until now. He looked exactly like Kira, except his hair was longer and he had a wicked looking scar running down the left side of his face. His eyes were Kira's, mouth, face…everything screamed of Kira, except the expression on his face.

They were most certainly not Kira's.

His eyes held such hatred, such disgust; one had to wonder where they came from. But she also saw something in there that no one else had seen before. There was pain…and something else. Something that made her realize while Griever was born, or cloned, a killer, he was also born like his namesake.

"You're not surprised," Griever raised an eyebrow, "Patrick told me you were a lot like your father, resilient and one not to flinch from anything."

"Why should I be surprised?" Lacus steeled herself. "You killed Eileen. It's not really a far cry as to whom you'll go after. Patrick has many enemies and he would not hesitate to eliminate them one by one. He would go after the big ones first. Eileen, myself, Yuri Amalfi…the list will go on until the people realize they must support Zala and pledge obedience to his every will, lest they be killed by your hand."

"Very perceptive, Miss Clyne," Griever gave her a wolfish smile. "It's a pity you won't be able to see your theory come true."

"Why not? Will you do your job now?" Lacus tilted her head.

"Are you waiting for Athrun Zala to rescue you? Like how he rescued Princess Cagalli?"

"Yes," Lacus replied bluntly, "but I am also curious as to the hatred in your eyes. Why do you hate those of us who are trying to build the peace?"

"Because it is a false peace," Griever snapped back, irritated.

"Then is what Patrick Zala creating a false peace also?"

"He created me to do my job and I will finish it," Griever suddenly shot forward so quickly that Lacus only had time to blink before she was held in a painful headlock, the cold blade of a knife on her throat. "Don't even think of questioning Patrick's works."

"Is that all you are?" Lacus drew in a shallow breath, as he pressed the knife a bit deeper against her throat. It wasn't enough to draw blood yet, but she started to feel lightheaded from the lack of oxygen. She knew she had to act fast in order to stop Griever…

But to do what? What did she want to do? It was then that she realized missed Kira so much that seeing this look-alike had triggered in her the will to try to at least change Griever. To turn him to her side…to break him away from Zala, because…because…

Because somehow, she knew Griever would be a valuable asset.

And because in ways, she wanted to save a part of Kira that was Griever.

"You are human," she forced out, trying to draw another breath, but it was getting harder.

"So?"

"Why are you hesitating now?" she whispered.

"What makes you think I'm hesitating?" he whispered in her ear, making the hairs near tickle with sensitivity.

"Because like your namesake," she swallowed and felt a bit of pain where the blade punctured her skin, "you grieve for those that you've killed."

"There you have it wrong, Miss Clyne," he tightening his grip, "I don't grieve."

"What the…" a new voice suddenly came from the door before the lights were flipped on. There was a gasp of surprise before Athrun's voice rang clear with a shout, "LACUS!"

"LACUS!"

Athrun froze a few steps into Lacus' office, as he saw the last person he would ever expect to see again. He thought he had killed him – he was sure of it. He was shot just less than a week ago on Colony Mendel. His hand automatically went to his right side to pull out a hand gun he usually carried with him, but he realized he had left it at the security checkpoint. No weapons were allowed in the Councilors offices.

"Don't even think of moving Athrun Zala or you Andrew Bartfield," Griever narrowed his eyes at them, drawing Lacus closer to him, "I will kill her."

"You were supposed to be dead," Athrun curled a fist angrily, cursing silently for not having a weapon on him. He sensed Bartfield behind him, who had also froze in place by the assassin's orders.

"New body, new life," Griever shrugged smiling.

"Nikolai, you don't have to do this," Lacus suddenly spoke up in a soft whisper, but it carried through the whole room, "you can stop your mission right now. You don't have to follow Patrick's orders."

"I will-"

"He's been unkind to you, hasn't he?" the change in Lacus' voice wasn't dramatic, but Athrun blinked in surprise as he saw her eyes change. They looked like…seed-mode… But how could that be? He thought only he and Kira had that ability.

"I suspected that she had manipulated some of the genes that was used to create the experiments, and tried to alter my own genes. He wanted me to know that there was a chance, a slim possibility that I could be an ultimate Coordinator and wanted me to take extra care of what I did and how I presented myself to the public."

Her words from that fateful night he had found out about Kira's lineage and what he was…he remembered that Lacus had told him that she too had her genes altered. And this was the result – she was also able to go into seed-mode, but…somehow, her seed-mode wasn't battlefield induced.

It was different.

If he thought Lacus going into seed-mode was surprising, watching Griever suddenly release her and step back on unsteady legs shocked him further. But while his mind was numb, his body reacted in a different manner. He suddenly charged at Griever and tackled him to the ground. A part of him was mildly surprise that the assassin didn't even retaliate and glancing at Griever's face, the reason became clear.

Griever was crying.

Silent tears fell down his face as his eyes were wide open, staring at something beyond him. His mouth was opened in a wordless scream and it looked like he was lost in his own nightmare. Athrun was taken aback at the sheer terror and pain on the assassin's face that he didn't even see Bartfield approaching along with a few security guards who immediately hauled Griever up and led him away in handcuffs. His face was still contorted with pain and he didn't even respond to anything the guards were saying to him.

"Myta! I don't want any part of it!" the electronic blat of Pink-chan snapped him out of his funk and he turned to see Lacus staring at the door where the guards had led Griever out.

"Lacus?" he reached out to her and she suddenly turned to him. His next words died on his lips as he saw the open pain in her eyes. A part of him realized that she was bleeding from where Griever cut a bit into her neck, but that part was all but lost for now as she stared at him.

"Athrun," she stared at him, tears brimming in the corner of her eyes, "what if…Kira…"

Athrun felt his heart seize up at the meaning of her words. If Griever was like that…what would happen to Kira now that he was in Zala's hands? He reached out and embraced her, trying to comfort and ease her fears.

"He won't…Kira won't become like Griever," he whispered to her, "You'll see…he won't falter." It was all he could do for now…

He stared out into the night skies of the PLANT. Somewhere in the PLANTs, Kira was there. Kira, we'll find you and rescue you. Until then, hang on…