"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world" - Archimedes.
Chapter 3: The Scientist and The Council Member
The elderly man woke up that morning after having the same dream that kept returning since he was just a boy of twelve years old. It didn't inspire the tears to run freely from his eyes like it had done in the past, but the vision still held a portion of its magic. It was a constant reminder why he worked so hard to fulfil his goals. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and dressed in silence.
A digital voice spoke through the intercom.
"Doctor Heero, your presence is required in lab B."
"Tsk. Outside of scheduled maintenance? This could only mean trouble."
He promptly grabbed an oatmeal bar from the kitchen cabinet for breakfast. He exited his private apartment into the arched glass corridor, chemically strengthened with compressed ions, that connected the different areas of the stronghold. Outside of the glass was a world of darkness, enveloping them, keeping them safe from unwelcome eyes. As he walked towards lab B people paused to bow when they took notice of him. He nodded in acknowledgement and said a few good mornings. Everyone he encountered wore long white jackets and most of them walked on rubber sandals as though each were a doctor of some sort. Remarkably they all shared the same features. Each person had some shade of olive skin color and hair varying from deep brown to amaretto red. Heero was surrounded by people of his nation. They lived together and endured the hardships of the world in unison, as has been a tradition of old. He had reached a large mechanic doorway and pressed the right code on the panel on its left.
"Finger print required," the robotic female voice spoke.
He pressed his index finger on the cold glass plate and a beam of light moved up and down.
"Access granted. Welcome doctor Heero, class 1."
The mechanic lock turned left, a plate swirled around behind it until it clicked in place and finally the doors opened before him. Agitated voices drifted out to meet him. He frowned his grey brow, curled at the tip of the arches, and proceeded forward. He held his gloved hands on the balustrade and looked down from the deck to the working floor and the water tanks below him.
"Ah, doctor Heero!" a young female voice greeted him.
"A1," he said with a nod, hardly giving her so much as a glance. The girl went to stand beside him. She was small and frail, perhaps no older than seventeen, and her dark brown hair was short and cropped. She had brown doe-eyes, perfectly almond-shaped, that failed to conceal a smug personality shining through them. She wore a skin-tight and long-sleeved suit of thick fabric. It was white with blue lanes that followed the natural curve of the body and had a long yellow zipper on her back. On the base of her neck she had a tattoo. It said "A1" in a basic font with a barcode.
"Three of your experiments failed overnight I'm afraid," she said quite content, teetering back and forth on her toes. Heero glared at her for a short moment and brushed past her, descending the stairs. The girl followed him with her eyes. The assistant-head of staff quickly spotted him.
"Heero-sama, the cell structure started to break down of subjects B18, B22 and B29."
"Leaving us only with B26…"
"That's unfortunately correct, Heero-sama," the man gulped and handed Heero a file. "This is the latest computer report, sir. It shows sudden spikes in mitochondrion activity, overheating the cell and disturbing the functioning of the nucleolus. The body's defensive agents recognized these cells as malignant and started attacking from within. The amount of healthy cells quickly diminished and thus the body was liquidated, leaving us with… well, this." He gestured to the tank that displayed the gruesomely disintegradted body of a male. Heero sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Years of labour on these people vanished overnight. But he was prepared to have some losses, experimenting was all about trial and error after all.
"How is B26?"
"The computer feed shows no anomalies, sir."
"Get her out of deep coma to stage two, we'll run tests on her nerve and brain functioning."
He turned around to look at the round tank. A girl floated in fetal position, illuminated by an eerie green light under her. Bubbles rose up consistently through the inhalation mask that hid most of her facial features.
"We shall not lose B26," he spoke determinant. His assistant nodded and saluted him.
'I have to take my leave tonight. Perhaps it will be necessary to transport her to the city, there I can keep a close eye on her progress.' Heero walked over to one of the large bleeping panels, full of buttons in different colors and meters keeping track of various life signals. He scanned the room and crossed eyes with A1. He watched her sternly from under his thick brow and she tilted her chin up in response. He frowned, not blinking or looking away until she did so.
'And she needs a leash,' he grumbled to himself. A1 was his first successful mutation. She held a special rank and made use of it, much to his annoyance.
"Kazekage-sama!" Rin gasped.
"Gaara, are you sure?" Temari asked.
According to the clock it was 8:10 in the morning, the sun was creeping over the cliff wall that surrounded Sunakagure and peeked through the windows. The summoned ninja were all gathered inside his office. Gaara was sitting behind his desk, his head resting on his folded hands while his pale green eyes observed them. He had just debriefed them on his decision and had anticipated this reaction. Although outwardly he didn't show, it quite amused him to watch their individual responses. His guards Rin and Tomatsu worried and appalled, while Matsuri's eyes shone like stars at the thought she was going on a mission with him. She was bound to be disappointed. Although he found this particular moment quite entertaining, the matter was serious and no thing for laughing. There was an urgent mission.
"Yes, Temari, I will go myself along with Kankuro, Matsuri and Rin."
"Gaara, what will you do with the council?" Kankuro asked.
"Even though war has not openly been declared from the enemy's side, we live once again in times of constant attack by an alien force. As Kage I am the military leader of this country. This cell needs to leave this morning and there was no time to consult the council. They will have to bear my decision, " he shrugged.
"But, who will be in charge of your office if it isn't you?" Temari asked the obvious question.
"I appoint you, of course," Gaara replied. Temari was certainly fit to fulfil the duties of Kage in his absence. Since long she had the trust and loyalty of the Suna shinobi which had definitely worked in his favour during the time before he became Kage. She could keep her head cool when needed, was steadfast, diligent and a compassionate human being with a love for her country.
"Alright Gaara, I won't disappoint you," Temari said accepting his decision.
"What will we do when something happens to you, Kazekage-sama," Matsuri asked worry-eyed.
"This is a covert mission, it would not be wise to advance in combat with the enemy before we have examined the situation," he replied her, "so the risk of injury is minimal."
"We should trust our Kazekage, this is Gaara we're talking about. Has he not proven his worth as leader of this village?" Kankuro called out. They all nodded and kept their mouth shut. They remembered the time he sacrificed himself against Deidara and Sasori for the village and his efforts during the last shinobi war. It was true Gaara had always devoted himself to his task as Kage and this was nothing more than another act out of care for Suna.
"Reki will guard the interim Kazekage in Rin's absence. We will sent a falcon once we've rendezvoused with the Leaf in Tanikagure."
"Where are we headed for?" Kankuro asked.
"Some inn on the road there," he replied and stood up from his chair. His sand gourd floated over to him and he strapped it on his back.
"Well then, provisions are prepared. We are ready to take our leave," he told them. Matsuri, Rin and Kankuro nodded.
'Quick now,' Gaara thought, 'or those geezers will catch wind of my leaving.'
He walked to the window and shoved it open, the others following him. And swiftly, too quick for an untrained eye, they jumped up and down the buildings to the passage out of Sunakagure. It would be a travel of approximately three days to reach the inn "River's Fortune".
Temari watched them disappear out of sight and turned to the mass of scattered files on Gaara's desk.
"My first task will be to sort this out I suppose," Temari mumbled. She sat down on the padded armchair.
"And these are the files that will need attending today, Temari-sama," Tomatsu said, rolling a two-story cart into sight with a stack of papers that made Temari tired just looking at. Although it was nothing new to her, she was once again surprised how systematically Gaara could work while still leaving a mess. The files were color labelled according to the rank of the missions, grey if their information was on internal affairs and brown if they were about external affairs. She started sorting them on date and checked if Gaara had properly stamped them, which he had done correctly for each. She noted he had a log book in which he wrote remarks about files that needed further checking or raised other questions. He marked them if they were followed up. Just 10 minutes passed and there was a knock on the door. Before she could even lift her head and say "come in" the door slammed open.
"Where is the Kazekage? Word has reached me he intends to leave this morning."
It was council member Yuudai. He supported himself with a smooth walking stick for support, a dark blue turban covered his balding head and he wore the long robes of his rank.
'That was quick,' Temari thought raising her eyebrows. Gaara had only informed he would be going twenty-five minutes ago. Who snitched them out? Yuudai's heavy lid eyes looked around the room.
"I was afraid I would be too late. What does the Kage think? He needs to consult us before leaving our borders! Such Impudence!"
Temari felt anger rising hearing him slander her brother.
"Bureaucracy can work in sluggish ways, council member Yuudai," she said slowly, glowering. "Gaara-sama knows this and made a judgement call, as is his right."
"Why you…" Yuudai spluttered.
"What will you have me do? Call them back and stall the mission? Think about what's best for Suna," she continued.
"Well, Temari-hime," he said leaning heavily on his staff, "the council will accept this situation. But the Kage cannot neglect the ancient institutions of our state."
He paused and squinted his eyes, then proceeded softly and slyly, "or what separates Kage's from dictators?"
"Enough!" Temari growled standing up-right and slamming her hands on the table. Yuudai looked momentarily shocked at her reaction.
"Most revered Yuudai of the Council, I will not have you make these insinuates."
"Very well," he said after regaining his composure and turned to exit the room with the rustling of his robes. Reki shot Tomatsu a worried glance.
"Does this happen more often?" he whispered behind the back of his hand. Tomatsu, having been on duty for four years in the Kage's office looked at him with a smirk.
"This is politics, they can't always agree."
"Riiight," Reki nodded slowly. The council members had always seemed distant figures in his perception, rarely making a public display. Although their prestige amongst shinobi in the field was little compared to the esteem Gaara held, their authority was great in the circles of the Suna nobles.
Temari let herself fall back into the armchair and sighed. Something told her this wasn't the last of the council members they would have to endure. The council member had shared a dangerous thought. She feared for the allegations Gaara would have to face from these stuck up geezers when he returned.
A/N: Glad to see I've my first follower, thanks! :)
At this point all the main characters have been introduced. Some special roles may yet be given to some Leaf ninja.
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