Chapter 6

Duo grabbed Quatre as hard as he could when the thing grabbed him. Both of them struggled so hard, but the thing won. It dragged them towards a hole and left them in a dimly lit corridor.

""Duo are..you..alright?" Quatre asked gasping for air.

"I'm fine….Q." Duo answered while still laying on the floor, still exhausted from the effort in holding on to Quatre.

Quatre gingerly stood up. He was still reeling from the effort of struggling from the thing that has grabbed them. He observed his surroundings and noticed that there are still no windows in where they are now located. It's like the opposite of white room. He thought to himself. He stood up straighter and glanced at something that glowed in the distance.

"Duo, look at that!" He yelled while pointing at the glowing light at a distance. "Let's take a look." He took a step when Duo caught his arm.

"We must be wary Q?" Duo warned him. "We don't know what it is." He looked at his friend worriedly.

"Don't worry Duo." He tapped Duo in the shoulder with assurance. "No matter what happens, we watch each others back."

"Affirmative Q." Both of them looked at the glowing light and started to walk forward.

"What have we gathered so far?" Trowa asked his friends. The five of them were busy doing their investigation regarding their hacker; code named Amanuet.

"I have the list here." Duo replied. This earned him surprised looks from his friends. "What?" He asked. "I'm no detective but I know my assignment."

"Just like Sherlock Holmes." Quatre smilingly told Duo.

"Who is Sherlock Holmes?" Duo asked confused.

"He's the character in a classic story that was written in the twentieth century." Quatre informed him.

"I have to read that book someday then." Duo declared. "You have to lend me that book."

"Sure." Quatre smiled.

"Here's the list." He opened a file and printed its contents.

Wufei, who is near at the printer; picked it up. He went to where the others are seated and placed the document in the table.

The document contained the list are as follows:

- Amanuet – male

- First seen AC 197 - incident

- Hacker

- Information stolen

-Neurological enhancement blueprint

- Optic sensory program

- Brainwave disruptor program

- Imaging applicator blueprint

- Memory extractor circuit

- Breached Preventer system five times: Dec AC 198, Mar AC 199, July AC 199, October AC 199. Current April AC 200

- Programs stolen erased from PREVENTER data base and back-up systems

"Well, that is our list." Duo remarked. "Not much to go on though." He leaned back and clasped his hands behind the nape of his neck.

"The answer is somewhere in our memories during our comatose state." Wufei stated. "We've met Amanuet, but he did not talked that much."

"He led us thru to safety." Trowa told them. "What he has done is noble." He fell silent for a moment then crossed his arms across his chest. "But with these hacking to PREVENTER and stealing information are serious." He looked at each of them. "We might have to re-evaluate his motives from the time he led us to safety to what he is doing now."

"Do you think he's the reason why we were subjected to that experiment in the first place?" Quatre asked.

"Probably." Heero replied. "It might be a test, regarding how we react in a virtual world." He looked at Trowa intently. "Or maybe it has to do with mind control. Giving suggestions, distorting reality while we are in a comatose state."

"What I want to know is how did they know we are Gundam pilots?" Duo asked, exasperated.

"While we are in that program, no one asked us that Duo." Quatre remarked. "We just ended up in a place, a white room." His voice suddenly lowered when he remembered the incident.

"That place was so real." Duo told his friends. "When I feel pain, it really felt that I was in pain." He grabbed a pencil and began twirling it in his hand. "If it was a program, it was a good program. You can't tell the difference."

"From our comatose state?" Wufei retorted. "We will think it is really real. We didn't know how we ended up in that laboratory either."

"I think we need to start at the beginning." Heero declared. "Back to the place where it all began." He looked at everyone. "The time we met for our reunion and to the laboratory."

"That place is still standing?" Trowa asked, surprised.

"Yes." Heero replied. "I requested Lady Une to have it under PREVENTER jurisdiction."

"I agree with Heero." Wufei stated. "There might be something that we've missed. Or we've missed talking to someone that might remember how we've been abducted."

"Quatre, are you free next week?" Trowa asked.

"No." Quatre answered. "This new project by the Minister is in a tight schedule. It must be finished by the time the election will be held on Jan AC 202. I'll inform all of you if I can fix my schedule."

"Thanks Q-man." Duo smiled at him appreciatively. "Who knows? Our memories might be triggered by this time round."

"I hope so Duo." Quatre smiled at him.

"Let's arrange everything and meet at the same time and place next week." Declared Heero. The others agreed.

Quatre's phone rang and he answered it. "Hello, this is Quatre."

He listened for a moment, while the others started to gather all the necessary documents and placed it in folders and securing all of them in a briefcase. "I will be on my way. Expect me on the shuttle in thirty minutes." He looked at his watch and looked at his friends. "I have to cancel guys, sorry." He smiled apologetically.

"Don't worry." Wufei assured him. "Hurry up, you will be late." He held Quatre's briefcase and laptop.

"Thanks! I'm going, see you soon!" Quatre told them and hurried out.

"He's under a lot of stress." Duo pointed out. "I blame the minister." He told his friends wryly. "I'm not all surprised, if she's the reason why the former Minister of ESUN is in coma right now." He looked at his friends. "Convenient, I must say. She became the minister of ESUN after it was declared that the minister is no longer capable holding an office."

"I have nothing to say to that Duo." Heero said. "The Minister does not know how make people get stressed. He remarked sarcastically. "As for the other part, there's no proof that she has a hand in it." He paused for a moment. "As far as the investigation is concerned, no leads that linked her to the minister's accident."

"Tell that to Lady Une." Wufei smirked. "Sally told me, that she is quite convinced that she is responsible for the former minister's accident."

"Let's go." Heero ordered. The others followed him out of the room. "Lady Une expects us to report."