I do not own Gundam 00. By the way, the Lockon Stratos here in this story isn't Lyle. It's Neil, the original Lockon. :D

Hope you all like it.

"A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind."
- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Encounter

"Hey, hey, Mileina! Focus on the Gundam that you're repairing! You're not using the method we told you to!" Ian Vashti commanded, his face dirty with grime and grease. Beside him, Linda Vashti peered at her daughter, concern on her face.

Mileina jumped and pursed her lips in a tiny rosebud 'o'. "I'm sorry, mama, papa!" Erde-san ignored me, she thought miserably. He just walked past without even glancing at me!

Beside her, Lockon was still peering at the chart she held. "Mileina, how's Cherudim?"

She quickly plastered a big smile on her face. "It's repair work is almost finished, Stratos-san!"

Lockon smiled at the young girl, who was efficient in her work as always. Then he noticed the underlying frown and said, "It's about Tieria, isn't it?" Seeing Mileina's slight nod, Lockon smiled even wider.

"Well, Mileina. It's been a long and hard day for everyone. Tieria's just in one of his foul moods. He'll come around soon."

Mileina smiled and looked at Lockon with bright enthusiasm. "Thank you, Stratos-san!"

A new voice spoke up. "Speaking of Tieria, where is he now? There are some things about the upcoming battle that I would like to discuss with him," Sumeragi said, floating towards them.

"That kid's probably in Veda's terminal again, like he always is." Lockon answered.

Mileina looked at Sumeragi, then at Lockon. After a few moments, she piped up. "What are we waiting for? Let's all go look for him, then!"

Okay.

There were a few things I currently knew.

First, I was definitely alive. Second, I was a girl, no thanks to the unmanly voice I had uttered. Third, I more or less had appeared in Veda's terminal out of the blue, which I was still unsure how it happened. Fourth, Tieria Erde was definitely not happy to see me.

I continued to be silent, weighing the options and thinking of the consequences. What was I supposed to say? That I was some fugitive from the random land of no-ones? That I had no damn idea what was going on? Somehow, I knew all these answers weren't going to go down too well.

"Well? Who are you?" He prompted. From the expression on his face, it looked like he was just itching to press the gun's trigger and watch me spout fountains of blood. Or "die a thousand deaths". I remembered him using that sentence from one of the visions I had earlier on.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully.

His eyes widened in surprise for a second – that was definitely not the answer he expected. However, he soon resumed his glare. "What do you mean?" He demanded. "There's no way you could appear in this ship without even boarding it. Who sent you? What organization do you work for? Are you with the A-Laws? Are you an Innovator, masking your quantum brainwaves? Appearing in Veda's terminal, no less! Everybody wants to seize it, and if you're one of those working under Ribbons Almark, there is no way that I'm going to let you go! I will not let Anew Returner's incident repeat again!"

Innovator. That word again. Whatever it was, it was definitely something ominous.

And whoever Anew Returner was, her fate certainly didn't turn out too well.

I straightened up and returned the glare. "I have no idea how I ended up here. In fact, I thought I was dead. Look, I don't even know who I am. I don't remember my name, and I don't remember anything from the past, if I ever had one."

"Do not make a fool out of me! So you expect me to believe you that you just magically appeared here, in Veda's terminal? What happened to Nena Trinity's method of at least making her pathetic presence known in the Ptolemaios before proceeding to hack the daylights out of Veda? Or is this some new method of sabotaging by the pathetic A-Laws and Innovators? With the way you appeared, it sure seems like you're one of them!" His outburst was cold, staccato and violent.

I had a strong urge to shrink back, to go back to that infinite darkness. Anything was better than being confronted by him, in such a manner too!

I had no idea who was Nena Trinity as well, but I decided I would find out later. My strong resolve was breaking, and I was beginning to feel hysterical. I had to get him, this person called Tieria Erde, to understand my damn predicament.

Instead, what came out was :"Do not classify me as one of them, Tieria Erde,"

He opened his mouth, and closed it again. It looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't do so. I frowned, wondering what made him stop all of a sudden.

Finally, he spoke up. "If you really aren't involved with them, how on earth would you know my name?"

"Oh, so now you believe me?" I asked sarcastically. Then I shrugged. "Veda told me, I guess."

Tieria gasped. "You communicated with Veda?"

"It could be Veda, it could be Ribbons Almark, it could be Anew Returner, or that smarmy Nena Trinity for all you know. Really, does it matter? I saw many things while I was inside here, all right?" I paused. "In fact, I may not know the intricate details, but I know fairly much what has been going on. It's quite irritating. I know many things about this ship, the Gundams, you all as the Meisters, but I don't even remember anything about myself."

He listened closely. I wasn't exactly sure what was going through his mind, but something about all these things I said must have surprised him.

"You accessed Level 5 and 6 information, without any trouble," he muttered to himself, beginning to pace around the bright chamber.

"What does this mean?" I asked sharply.

He didn't answer, he merely looked at me. Then he realized he was still aiming at me. He took a look at the gun and pocketed it. I exhaled in relief. At least I wouldn't be having gunshots all over myself for now.

Just then, the doors of Veda's terminal slid open, and I was greeted with the chattering of people...until they saw me.

The man with shaggy brown hair – from Veda's information earlier on – was Lockon Stratos, one of the Gundam pilots. Next to him was a lady with auburn hair spilling to her hips, who I remembered was a forecaster, a Sumeragi something ; and next to her was a girl that looked quite young, with her curly brown hair bunched up.

And they were staring. They were staring right at me.

"Don't look, Lockon!" Sumeragi whispered fiercely, putting her hands over his eyes.

My eyebrows furrowed. I had no idea how I looked like right now, but surely I was not that hideous?

Then I looked down.

And realized the fifth thing.

I was naked.

And no matter how many memories I had lost, I still remembered enough about female decency. "GYAH!" I shrieked and scrabbled around wildly, attempting to cover up. I had been trying to talk and negotiate with a man, a crazy one at that, stark naked?

But the loudest shriek could not compare with the scream that the young girl with curly brown hair did.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Mileina! Calm down!" Lockon urged.

"ERDE-SAN'S WITH A GIRL THAT ISN'T WEARING ANYTHING!" The girl called Mileina screamed at the top of her lungs.

And with that, a sudden crash occurred. From what I saw, the whole crew of the ship had tumbled about the entrance with urgency.

The rest was a blur. Lockon was trying to get Mileina to calm down, Sumeragi was now trying to shove Lockon out of the entrance, which made him knock into at least a dozen other people who were attempting to enter.

"What's happening? Is everything okay?"

"I heard Mileina's screaming! She has never screamed that way before!"

"ERDE-SAN'S MARRIED TO HER!" Mileina shrieked.

"Mileina!" Tieria called sharply, and she stopped shrieking to look at me.

In fact, all of them turned to look at me.

"Woah!" Ian Vashti did a wolf-whistle and Sumeragi shot him a murderous look.

"Who is she?"

"What's she doing here?"

"With Tieria?"

The whispers and the shocked looks were everywhere, and I had nowhere to hide.

Mileina calmed herself down. I knew it took out a great effort for her to plaster a big smile on her face and say the following words : "Ano, I don't mean to be blunt, but are you two lovers?"

I stared.

"With him! No way! This guy wanted to shoot me down! I would never be his...his...lover!"

Tieria shot me a scathing look. "Don't be so melodramatic, girl. The feeling is mutual."

And with that, we were all rewarded with an awkward silence.

Sumeragi was the first to break it. "Tieria, who is she?"

"I was coming here to check on Veda, when I found her. It seems like she magically appeared in Veda's terminal, and she doesn't remember how she got there. She doesn't even have her memories intact. I tried interrogating her about the A-Laws and Innovators, but she only gave me negative responses."

"Well, we can't kick her out into space, that's for sure," Lockon said, having managed to successfully pry off Sumeragi's fingers that were over his eyes. He smiled at me, and I smiled back. If I could ever get along with anyone, it would probably be this guy.

"We'll have to constantly check up on her," a voice murmured quietly. Compared with the other Gundam pilots, he was short and had a Middle-Eastern look to his face. I recognized him as Setsuna F. Seiei, and the machine that he piloted – if I wasn't mistaken – was the Double O.

I shrugged it off. "Do whatever you want. Just...ugh..." I fell forward as my head started to spin.

"Hey! Are you okay?" More voices were speaking at once, and I couldn't make out who they were anymore. I was falling.

Finally, everything went black.

So there's the 2nd chapter. Oh no, Mileina seemed pretty upset. And Tieria's not a happy person either. Looks like some chaos might be happening in the future chapters!

Read and review! And I'll give you cookies!

- Anne