As soon as all three were rested they had set out again across the craggy wastes of the Outlands.
Duo had slept like the dead, and when he woke up he had found himself on the ground alone. When he got up he spotted Trowa on guard with Heero slumped against him limply in his arms. He didn't know what was going on with those two, but it was nice to see them together like that. Maybe now that they finally seemed to work out whatever was happening to them the rest of their journey wouldn't be so awkward?
He glanced over his shoulder at Heero as he strode silently behind him, his dark eyes scanning their surroundings for any signs of danger. He turned and studied the back of the Runner, who was doing the same, and began to wonder how it felt to be a program. Did they have the same emotions as he did? If so, were they affected as deeply by them? What about their coding caused them to have personalities at all? Kevin Flynn had written about The Grid as mirroring the outside world. By design the programs were supposed to emulate the human population. They had built-in artificial intelligence, but were they sentient?
Despite how shitty this world had treated him since his arrival, Duo was still fascinated by it. It had been his dream to come here and to interact with these constructs, but no sooner than he had arrived he was being forced out by aggressive, faceless foes.
He frowned and rubbed the back of his neck as he strolled along between them. "Yo, Heero, what's your favorite color?"
Heero's eyes snapped from an inky black cliffside he had been studying to eye the back of the User with surprise. "Color?" he echoed his words, confused.
"Yeah, you know, colors? Hex codes? Like… octothorpe FF0000? Or do you guys use RGB, so like 255,0,0?" Duo thumbed through his brain's technical knowledge.
Heero frowned. "You could just say red," he said coldly. Why did the User feel the need to overcomplicate such a basic concept? "My favorite color is blue."
Trowa looked at Heero curiously. "I would have guessed that." He wasn't really sure if he had a favorite color. Maybe purple.
Heero raised an eyebrow at Trowa, wondering how he would have known, and then turned back to Duo, trying to be friendly and conversational with the User. "What about you?"
Duo shrugged a shoulder and gestured to the vast wasteland that surrounded them. "I used to like black, but now I'm startin' to really fuckin' hate it," he said with an unhappy sigh. "So I'm gonna say green. Like palm tree green," he added wistfully.
Heero didn't know what a 'palm tree' was, but he could imagine it was something bright and considerably opposite to the world they lived in. It was obvious that the User wasn't enjoying himself.
The remainder of their hike through the cragged, uneven colorless terrain was rather uneventful. Duo stubbed his toe more than once, and managed a slew of profanities Heero had never heard before. Finally they spotted an encampment up ahead. It was a trio of yurt-style structures situated in a triangular pattern. The rounded tents were constructed with uniform, navy blue material that seemed to reflect what little light was glowing from the nebulous sky overhead.
Duo was grateful to see somewhere he could sit up ahead and soon quickened his pace, falling into stride beside Trowa, who seemed eager to finally be done with their trek as well.
Chang Wufei spotted three figures breaking the horizon. His proximity sensors hidden on the outskirts of his property had alerted him five minutes prior of a breach in his perimeter. He had armed himself with a modified rifle and took up residence atop one of his tents. He had constructed a flat, covered platform on one of the yurts that provided a high enough vantage for him to see through his rifle's scope all the way to the edges of his turf. He locked his crosshairs on the foremost figure in the trio, narrowed his one open eye through the optics and immediately recognized the cool, even stride. It was Elios's Runner, Trowa.
"It's about time," he muttered as he shifted the crosshairs to the figure to Trowa's right. A dopey-looking, long-haired program was loping along beside Trowa, and behind the pair was another shorter figure he didn't recognize. "Two…?" Wufei mumbled. Trowa had never brought two programs with him on a run before. Though unusual, it wasn't too terribly strange. He would have to make special accommodations for the second program, however. He pushed himself backward and down into the hole at the bottom of the platform, dropping into the yurt. He brushed a wayward strand of his shoulder-length black hair from his face and set his rifle on the table by his own bed, grabbed his long weapon baton and headed out to greet them.
Heero heard the light cycle before he saw it. A blur of black and neon green rushed at them and he reflexively grabbed his disc from his back and took a retaliatory stance, arms raised and ready to defend. As the cycle came near the figure on the back of it leapt off and landed lightly in front of them. The vehicle vanished into thin air.
"Trowa, it's been… almost two months," Wufei calculated quickly in his head as he strode up to greet them. He clutched his double-length bow-baton in his left hand and extended his right to shake Trowa's in greeting. "And you're here with two, that's new. What took you so long? I heard chatter on the stream that they're in pursuit of some programs. You've been stirring up trouble again, hm?"
Trowa took Wufei's outstretched hand and gave it a familiar squeeze. "Maybe that's what took us so long. Sorry to keep you waiting. I know you can't stand to go months without seeing me." He smirked at his old friend. Wufei had been a contact for several years, providing Trowa a safe place to rest when going back and forth on his runs.
Wufei chuckled and shook Trowa's hand firmly. "Well aren't we full of ourselves today?" He cast his dark eyes to Trowa's right at Duo and gave him an appraising once-over. "Interesting, this one has an antique disc."
Trowa followed Wufei's gaze to the braided program. "This is Duo. He's a User." He was straightforward with his friend, knowing they could fully trust Wufei. "And that's Heero… I'm helping him find his way back to Aether. He was injured…"
Wufei raised a thin eyebrow at the mention of a User, his face transforming from amiable to cold in a fraction of a second. "User?" he echoed, his voice hardening. "You've got to be joking." He cast a worried look across the terrain they had just passed over and shook his head. "We need to talk, then."
He pointed at Heero. "You, come with me," he directed in a harsh voice as he spun on his heel and broke into a run, jumped and activated his light bike. It apparated beneath him and slid to a stop. He propped it up with a foot and gestured with his thumb to the narrow spot behind him, his eyes narrowed on Heero. "Get on, we need to get inside."
Heero cast a curious look at Trowa and Duo before obediently following orders. He hopped onto the back of the bike and grabbed Wufei's waist loosely as the cycle shot forward in the direction of the tents.
Trowa shook his head and sighed, pulling his baton from his side to mirror Wufei's escape. He broke into a run and unleashed his light cycle in one smooth motion, swinging around to pick Duo up. "Come on." He waited for the confused User to hop onto the back of the bike before he set off after his friend, not looking forward to the lecture he was going to get for bringing a User back.
Duo didn't much care for the look the new guy gave him, and as he rode up to the camp with Trowa he began to worry for his safety. It seemed that Trowa trusted the guy enough, and he had mentioned that the dude was working with Elios by trafficking programs underground to the Gate, but Duo had got a bad vibe off of that Wufei guy. He had seen his face morph into that of borderline hate as Trowa mentioned that he as a User. He decided to try and keep his guard up until he knew what the guy's problem was.
Wufei skidded into the camp and dismounted from his bike with Heero in tow. They waited until Trowa and Duo caught up with them before he led them into one of the yurts. Inside the layout was relatively straightforward. It was obvious that Wufei lived mainly in this particular tent. There was a small bed pressed against one curved side, surprisingly clean and tidily made. A table with four chairs sat in the middle of the room, littered with various bits and pieces of technology in various states of repair. The tent was lit by four evenly spaced overhead lights that glowed with bright, cheerful light. The tent's walls were lined with charcoal sketches on crisp, white paper. Most of the drawing were of flowers and trees, which caught Heero off guard. He had seen images of flowers on patterned prints and advertisements in Tron City, but these drawings were detailed and natural compared to the rendered graphics he had seen before. He paused beside the wall immediately to his left and studied a particularly detailed sketch of a vine-like, leafy plant with 'honeysuckle' written beneath it.
"Have a seat," Wufei said tersely as he gestured for them to sit. He began digging around in a trunk by his bed. "I'm sure you're tired. I have some power up bars and booster drinks if you want some," he mumbled as he dug around through the trunk's contents. Eventually he came to the table with an armful of various cans and wrapped parcels. He dropped them on the table before dropping himself into the nearest chair. He watched as Duo sat across from him and eyed the stash hungrily. "How is it possible that you're here," Wufei said to him, his eyes hard and accusing, "the way into the Tron System has been blocked… for as long a I have been compiled, anyway."
"I uh… well um-" Duo started but was cut off by Trowa's sharp voice. "It doesn't matter how he got here. I'm taking him to the Gate so he can return. He's not safe on the Grid." He reached out for a booster drink and casually popped the can open. "Will you be alight with him resting up here?" Trowa knew Wufei's dislike for Users, and because this was his property he wanted to respect the other and get his permission before the group got comfortable. The fizzy liquid hissed in the can and went down Trowa's throat with a tingling sensation. He chugged it quickly.
"Unfortunately you can't continue past the wastes here for another two days or so," Wufei explained as he grabbed his own drink and popped the tab. "The electrical storms are too bad this time of year, and they're fluxing worse than usual. The discharge won't be finished until the system resets," he said with a frown. He sipped his drink and stared at Duo over it's curved edge. He couldn't believe that it was a real User.
Wufei had a conflicted past with the concept of Users. His previous associations were with the group BEING back in Tron City. He had once been a loyal follower of the group when it had been first established. Back then their goal was to transcend life as programs and become part of the outside world, much in line with the quasi-religious teachings of Radia. However after a while the wrong people got into power. Zealots, radicals. Soon everyone in BEING was expected to worship the User as a God, and that sentiment morphed into worship and emulation. BEING wanted to BE USERS, and their plan was to take the God Code from a User - in the event one came. A prophecy had been rumor for a while stating that a User would one day come to the Grid. He could hear the story repeating over and over in his head as he watched the User down two drinks and start to tear into an energy bar.
"You'll have to pardon me, but… " he rubbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "How the hell did you get here?"
Duo had just shoved half the energy bar into his mouth when the question was directed his way. He looked to his left at Wufei, cheeks puffed out like a greedy hamster. "I zapthed mysellph in?" He mumbled before swallowing. "Ya know, same way the other Users got in."
Trowa set the empty can down and leaned back in his chair, crossing his right leg over his left while he surveyed the scene in front of him. "Wait, so we have to stay here for two days?" What an inconvenience. Elios was going to start wondering where he was. Normal runs didn't take this long, but then again, he usually never brought back two programs at once. And never got kidnapped by Outlanders.
Heero looked over his shoulder at them from his spot surveying the sketches. He wasn't very happy about the fact they would be delayed in arriving at the Gate either, but he supposed that he would have to be patient. He had waited this long just to FIND the Runner, he could wait a few more days before he finished his directive.
He crossed his arms over his chest and walked slowly around the perimeter of the room, eyes flitting from one superb black and white sketch to another, his mind wandering to a singular thought. What would happen to him when he was finished destroying the Gate? He had concerns that they would have to reprogram him for something else, or that they may just destroy him once he no longer served a purpose. Suddenly two extra days seemed more like a blessing than a curse.
"Zapped yourself? You mean… like how Kevin Flynn came in? How is that possible?" Wufei reflected aloud. He looked from Trowa to Duo, then over his shoulder at the other program who was nosing around his things. "And you? You're an Aether guard? I've never seen you before."
Heero stopped eyeing a sketch of a pine tree and turned around slowly to acknowledge Wufei. "I was lost during The Purge," he said plainly, having to bring up his planned cover story once more. "I was damaged, I lost my memories."
Wufei sighed loudly and turned back to Trowa. "You've got your hands full, don't you? How is Elios? I haven't heard from him in a while, either. I was beginning to get concerned, thinking maybe D-FILE finally tracked him down…"
"Elios is well." Trowa seemed to calm at the sound of his Master Controller's name. He hadn't really talked about the other during the first half of their journey, but around Wufei the stoic program started to open up. "A follower happened upon some of Flynn's old books and gave them to Elios. He's been happily studying them these last few months. I… am eager to return to him." Green eyes glanced quickly in the direction of Heero before focusing back on Wufei.
Wufei caught the blatant look in Heero's direction. The corner of his mouth perked from behind his booster drink can and he snorted through his nose but decided not to give Trowa a hard time. He didn't know what the look was about, but the expression - though subtle - appeared to have a hint of guilt attached.
"Elios's insatiable thirst for knowledge always impresses me," Wufei said honestly. He gestured to the images pinned all over the walls. "He gave me a few files from the stream he found, pictures Flynn had brought back with him of the outside world. I've been studying them as well," he looked pointedly at Duo. "He'll be excited to see you. I hope you're going to be ready to answer questions. Lots of them. Years and years of built up questions…"
Heero padded quietly across the tent and took the seat between Trowa and Wufei. He took a booster drink from the table and murmured a faint 'thank you' to Wufei before opening and taking a swig of it. He didn't need much in the way of recharge, and his mind was feeling particularly clear today. The only thing he could attribute it to was his impromptu closeness to Trowa the night before. He was beginning to realize that being close to Trowa, while personally satisfying, was helping him physically as well. He hadn't felt this good since he was first compiled.
"I might have some questions for this Elios fella, too." Duo leaned back in his chair and lifted his leg up to put his boot on the table. Wufei's tent-house was pretty comfy. Much better than the makeshift camps they had been setting up the last few nights.
"So you're ok with all of us staying here until the storms clear?" Trowa noticed Wufei was still studying the User closely. "Feet down." He turned to Duo and glared, wanting the other to show some manners.
"Of course you can stay, though I only have two beds. You've never brought two before, but I suppose we can come up with something." Wufei finished his drink and ran his hand through his shoulder length black hair to set it in place before glancing to his left at Heero, who was slowly sipping his drink and studying them each in turn. "I find it odd that you've been missing for so long, but only now are reappearing. Where were you for… how long ago was The Purge? 28 years?"
Heero's eyes widened and he turned hesitantly to Wufei, stiffened his back and began reciting his programmed facts. "I was disabled in a battle, and deactivated in the Outlands. A scrapper found me, and reactivated me," he answered.
Wufei raised an eyebrow. "Why would they bother to reactivate you? Why not just scrap you? Take your disc, chop your code?"
Heero sighed and narrowed his eyes on the other program. He hadn't expected to be interrogated. "I don't know why. Something about using me for labor," he lied quickly. Wufei shifted in his seat and rolled his shoulders with irritation.
"Labor for what? Not to be rude, but out here we have to be careful about who we let close to us. I'm sure by now you've learned how rough this place can be. Trowa, did you verify his code?" Wufei tilted his head at Heero.
Duo was back to filling his face. He paused mid-bite and wrinkled his nose in confusion. "Dwood has uh scarr," he mumbled through his full mouth.
Shit. I forgot to verify his code. Trowa looked down at his lap for a moment and crossed his arms over his chest. He'd been so focused on getting the User out of the city that he completely neglected to take the time to check Heero's disc. Trowa never made mistakes like this. Ever. The other program was too much of a distraction. He bit his bottom lip and glanced over at his handsome 'distraction', eyes narrowed slightly.
Wufei raised his eyebrows at Trowa's silent answer and turned to stare Heero down accusingly. "Your disc," he said firmly.
Heero frowned back at Wufei's dark, narrowed eyes as he made his demand. He slowly reached over his shoulder and unclipped his disc from his back and held it in front of him for a moment, unsure who to hand it to. He glanced over his shoulder at Trowa before setting it on the table and pushing it in Wufei's direction.
Wufei took up Heero's disc in both hands and rotated it slowly before activating it's holographic interface. Blue, translucent patterns danced across the disc as it projected them from its side. Wufei's fingers probed and slid through the menus until he found Heero's source code. He ran a search for Aether, and found the "AE" imbedded in Heero's identity sequence. He glanced up from Heero's disc to look at Trowa, nodded an affirmative and deactivated it. He slid it back to Heero before saying, "he's a guard."
Trowa gave a firm nod. "Good. Now that it's settled, you can stop interrogating your guests." He gave Wufei a cautious look, begging the other with his eyes to ease up. The dark haired program should know by now that he could trust his judgment.
Wufei sighed and watched a Heero returned his disc to his back. "Alright, though I must warn you, Duo… " he cast a sideways glance at Duo, "I'm not a big fan of Users. I've had a… complicated past with them."
Duo rolled his eyes and laughed, "no shit, Sherlock."
"... what?" Wufei narrowed his eyes at him, his response only causing Duo to cackle loudly.
"Nevermind," Duo said quickly. "So, what're we supposed to do for two days?" He eyed the items on Wufei's table with curiosity. His inner tinkerer was tingling and his fingers itched to get his hands on some of these exotic looking electronics.
"Kill time, I suppose," Wufei replied plainly.
Duo gestured to a particularly complex bundle of wires and circuitry, "you mind if I take a look at that?"
Wufei's eyes widened and he shrugged casually. "I guess, sure."
"What is this?" Duo asked as he turned the half-assembled blob over in his hands.
Wufei smirked. "A bit."
"... say what?"
"A bit. It's like a personal assistant," Wufei explained as he gestured to it with a hand. "I found that out in the wastes, a trader said it was once attached to someone important. I wanted to see if I could fish information from it."
Duo wiggled in his seat with excitement. "Dude, you need help? I'm hella awesome at this kind of thing," he ranted as he snatched up a nearby mini screwdriver.
"Okay, but if you break it I'll dereze you." Wufei gave the User a smug expression while he watched those foreign fingers move over the delicate bit. Once he was confident the other wasn't going to break the blob, he turned his attention back on his friend.
Trowa and Heero were staring at each other quietly, eyes unblinking as if in some sort of trance. Wufei found that a bit strange. He looked closer and noticed a mark on Trowa's neck. There was a gash, a rough patch of skin where the flesh was bruising. It peeked out from under the other's light suit. "What happened?" He frowned, concern flashing across his dark eyes.
Trowa startled and pulled his gaze from Heero's deep blue eyes, looking across the table at Wufei. "Huh?"
"Your neck. Are you injured?" Wufei was worried. He hadn't considered the fact that they could have sustained injuries while encountering their pursuers. "Why don't you come with me to my supply tent. I have some repair code you can use," he insisted. He pushed himself up to his feet and walked past Heero to grab Trowa firmly by the arm. They clearly needed to talk, without an audience. He pulled Trowa out of the tent by his bicep and across the small triangular opening between the three yurts to the one directly across the way. Once inside he began digging through an open crate for a pouch of repair code. "So what's really going on…?"
"It's not a big deal. It's just a scratch…" Trowa began, lifting his hand up to cup his neck protectively. "We ran into some Outlanders on the way here. They slowed us down." He took a seat on a stool and watched Wufei dig around his supplies. "I'm ok. No casualties…" The other program was going to pry, wasn't he? Trowa looked down, not sure he wanted to talk about this. He just wanted to forget about the incident with Jalen.
Wufei found the repair code near the bottom of the crate. He pulled the white rectangular sealed pouch out, ripped the top and pulled out a thin strip of clear plastic. Repair codes operated much like a real world bandaid did, except when applied it would gradually seep through the skin and repair any damaged cosmetic codes it came in contact with. He ripped off the sticky backing and waited for Trowa to tilt his head to the side so he could apply it to his neck. He smoothed it with gentle pressure before replying quietly, "I'm glad you're alright."
Wufei didn't have a lot of friends in the Outlands. He didn't interact with much of anyone aside from Trowa, traders and the programs they hid as they moved them to the Gate. He knew the nature of their work was inherently dangerous. Trowa didn't seem eager to share any details, so he wouldn't ask him any more about his injuries. He pressed the packet of remaining repair code into Trowa's hand. "You can have the rest, use them as needed," he said, figuring Trowa may have other injuries hidden beneath his light suit that needed tending.
"So what is going on with that guard? It isn't like you not to check his code…"
Trowa put his hand back over his neck, palm covering the repair code. "It was a mistake… After he presented himself to me we were ambushed by some members from BEING. We were in a hurry to get Duo out of the city safely...I was distracted." Admitting his failure wasn't easy, and Trowa looked away in slight irritation by the fact.
Wufei smirked and leaned his hip against the crate. He crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged a shoulder. "Distracted is an understatement," he chided. "What's going on between you two?"
Great, so Wufei has noticed it too? It must be obvious. Trowa sighed and returned his gaze to his friend's face. "I don't know. I don't really know the guy… but we share some unavoidable connection. Being around him is like nothing I've ever felt before. It's like we are drawn to each other…" He was horrible at explaining his emotions. "I feel something for him. I don't know what it is but I need to be near him." With the shrug of his shoulders Trowa slipped off the stool. "Plus, look at him. He's rather attractive."
Wufei's shoulder shook for a moment before his laugh escaped his throat. His eyes closed and his head tilted back as he released the sudden explosion of amusement. "Yes, well, he's 'attractive' enough. I'm surprised, I thought you and Elios had… a thing."
"We do have a 'thing'… It's casual. I can't give him what he wants." Trowa felt a slight pain in his chest as he admitted that, and he looked down at his boots. "I want too, but… I just can't." His relationship with his Master Controller was complicated, and not something Trowa often felt comfortable talking about. "I… He's very important to me. And I'll continue serving him in whatever way he needs…"
Wufei frowned, feeling suddenly bad for bringing it up. He hadn't meant to make Trowa uncomfortable or force him to wear his emotions so openly unless he was ready to. He reached out to grasp his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "It's alright. I think that your dedication to Elios is admirable, but I worry about you and what you want." He shrugged both shoulders and released Trowa's with a sigh. "And if that 'attractive' program makes you feel good then why not?"
Wufei grabbed a few packages from the crate and tucked them under his arm. "Now, we need to figure out where to put that User while you're staying here. Sleeping arrangements. I only have two rooms that can be used, and two beds." Wufei cast a serious scowl over his shoulder at Trowa as he made his way out of the tent. "There is NO WAY he's sleeping with me," he said quickly, his voice stern. "I'll take the other program," he added with a taunting smirk.
Trowa snorted. "I have a feeling I'd find him in my bed not long after you fall asleep." He walked out of the tent with his friend as they made their way back. "I'd offer to sleep with you and let the other two have the spare bed, but again, I …. Heero will probably end up in bed with us."
Wufei chuckled and paused just outside of the tent they had left Heero and Duo waiting in. He turned to face Trowa with a small smile. "He's got it that bad for you, huh. Well, I don't blame him."
Meanwhile in the tent Duo had managed to completely disassemble the bit, while Heero sat quietly across from him, watching with a disinterested expression.
"Don't you wanna know what this is called? A nanochromo-thingysomethingIgottagoogle," Duo said as he displayed his working knowledge of electronics to Heero proudly. Heero crossed his arms over his chest and sighed.
"... okay," he replied plainly, clearly unimpressed.
Trowa and Wufei entered the tent in turn. Heero saw that Trowa had a strip of repair code applied to his neck and a soft hint of a smile perked the corner of his mouth.
"You," Wufei said as he jabbed a finger at the User. "The gridbugs will be out soon. Do you want to try some target practice?"
Duo's eyes widened with excitement and before Wufei could say anything further he was on his feet and at the door. "You had me at 'gridbug'."