After Colony: Revelation
Verse VIII
"We knew what the risks were," Heero said, his arms crossed against his chest as he leaned against the all, "it could have been any one of us." He and the other four Gundam pilots were collected in a conference room in the colony they were using as their main base for the time being. The colony was filled with very non-threatening people—musicians, artists, writers… as long as they did not try to do anything politically charged, Adelphie couldn't have cared less with whatever they did.
"I know, but—ah…" Quatre's eyes were cast downwards, brows furrowed. Sally's death was severely affecting him. It wasn't as though he didn't get upset over the deaths of other soldiers, because he did. He hated death. However, now it was more personal, since Po had been such a longtime friend of theirs. There were a few moments of silence before anyone else chose to speak up.
"She would have wanted us to keep fighting. We have no choice but to see this through until the end," stated Wufei. He had been relatively quiet since their retreat. "The watch posts have been filled. I'm going to get some sleep."
000
"You're a psycho!" Duo sprinted out from a room some floors below the conference area (they were housed in a residence typically reserved for business related parties/conferences/ conventions). A metal envelope opener barely missed Duo's head. The braided fool ducked down behind Wufei, using him as his personal shield. "Oh, good, you're here. You saved the psycho girl, you go deal with her!" He stood up and gave the other pilot a push into the doorway.
Wufei shot Duo a don't-touch-me-or-I'll-use-that-envelope-cutter-myself kind of look before cautiously entering the room. What he saw was Isabella, with one hand on her hip and the other shaking at Edan, scolding the young woman. The brunette had her arms crossed across her chest, rolling her eyes, if ever so slightly. "—really, Edan, you shouldn't have done that! He was only doing what he was told. You have to listen! We're working with them now!"
Edan did not seem to hear her after a certain point. Instead, she immediately turned her head to watch the Chinese male as he entered. In an instant she had closed the space between herself and Isabella. Wufei assumed that this Edan woman still considered Isabella to be her ward, since she stood in front of her so protectively.
"Woman," he spoke to the blonde, "you assured us that you could control her."
"Oh, yeah, yeah," Isabella waved casually, "that's not the problem."
"Then what is?"
Isabella shrugged, "Edan just feels she must protect me. She has worked closely, almost as a bodyguard, with my family for years. That just hasn't changed much… Duo grabbed my wrist to pull me out of the room, and naturally, Edan reacted."
Wufei looked at the two, as if to quickly survey the situation. From what little he knew about the silent woman, he could see the logic in the matter. "Maxwell," he called to the pilot who was peering in from a safe distance away, "why were you here?"
"Oh, well," Duo straightened up slightly from his hunched, spying position, "Heero told me to put that one—" he pointed to Edan, "—in a room and lock the door. She can creep around so quietly that we don't notice when she's close by. Obviously, we don't want her spying while we're figuring out what to do next…"
Isabella scowled and folded her arms angrily. "She's on our side, you know," she snapped drawing out the last word. "Why don't you believe me?"
"Because we don't trust you," Wufei replied dryly, "give me the key to the room she's supposed to get locked into." Duo complied, passing it off and ridding himself of the burden that was dealing with the woman. Wufei looked at the number carved into the key and then turned around. "You, Edan, come with me. Now." He couldn't see it, but the dark haired woman looked to her friend, who smiled at her nodded. Shoulders falling, Edan walked out after Wufei.
Duo watched in surprise as she simply… followed out without a fight. "That was much easier than I expected. Why didn't she just leave when I asked her to?"
"She's more likely to follow an order than a request," Isabella sighed and went to the desk where her laptop was. The room was very open and rather sparsely decorated. The windows were wide open, letting in a nice, colony-generated breeze. "Plus she doesn't have as much respect for you as I'm guessing she does for him."
"What? Why not?! What has he done to deserve respect that I haven't? I'm the one who is most... like… her…" Duo frowned. He realized that he didn't much like the way that sounded. He didn't want to be like the mindless young woman codenamed War: forced to obey CSO's commands and having very little say over his life.
"She's faced him in a match, and even though she won, she was more… lively than I've seen her for some time. He sparked something that few others have ever managed to do. The first time she showed up in her Gundam, he could have killed her when I forced a shut down on her, but he spared her. Then there's the fact that he was the one to decide to bring her to me and let me help her instead of destroying her. Think about it. Basically… he saved her. Ooh! These look good!" Isabella picked up an apple that sat in a glass bowl on her desk. It had been refilled when the only worker left in the building came to take the coffee machine that Isabella had stolen back to the kitchens.
While she sat on the edge of the desk, munching on it happily, Duo couldn't help but think of how casually Isabella seemed to speak of Edan's plight—she might as well have been talking about the weather, rather than someone else's life. Duo gazed off with a slightly furrowed brow, nodding a bit. "Yeah… I guess I can see why she has some respect for him…"
000
"How are you two holding up?" Trowa walked into the hotel's large, multipurpose room where the colony's doctors were working as best they could with the rebel medics. Zechs and Noin were side by side on two cots that had been set up for temporary care.
"We've had better times," the blonde male groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes.
Noin glanced over and Zechs before forcing herself to sit up. "We weren't sure if you'd be coming. It's been hard, not knowing what's going on in the outside world. All we knew when we were caught was that you still hadn't come up with any systems that could hold up against CSO. How did you do it?" She brushed some strands of dark hair out from her eyes. She needed a haircut, in her opinion.
"Well," Trowa started, sitting down next to the woman, "we managed to create a temporary block, just long enough to rescue Wufei and Duo. After…it took outside help." Heavy Arm's pilot was unsure of how the situation would go when he told two long time captives of Adelphie that his daughter was helping them.
"Does it have to do with that girl who was piloting my shuttle?" Noin asked, looking at the male pilot intently. He nodded after a moment. "I thought so. She called Adelphie her father."
"Her name is Isabella. She's his lesser known daughter, with her mother's last name," Zechs responded from his cot in front of Noin and Trowa.
"Y-you know her?" Noin was completely surprised, so much so that she stumbled over her words, started coughing, and then had to hurry and take a drink from her water bottle. Both she and Zechs had two bottles lying haphazardly on their makeshift beds.
"Came across her almost… well, probably about seven years ago. Adelphie was developing projects for OZ before they actually took over. Treize had me go inspect the lab, mostly, I think, because he thought Adelphie was violating their contract. Excessive human testing was forbidden, but he was probably doing it anyhow," the former OZ Colonel stated dully. He did not move his arm from his eyes.
"… Maybe I should get her to tell you more on that," Trowa replied.
"So they did do human testing," Zechs muttered.
"Most definitely."
000
In a matter of seven days, two artists had created a memorial for all of the lives that had been lost in the battle. Painted on metal from doll parts and Mobile Suit parts were scenes from their battle. Across the front, it read Forever In Our Hearts: Our Friends And Comrades. Lists of names were in the process of being carved into the back. That would take more time, however. Dr. Sally Po received the first slot.
Soldiers were in their uniforms, heads bowed and hats off. Some were sobbing.
Those who did not have official uniforms were dressed in black—most were rebels with no military affiliation, the Gundam pilots, Isabella… Edan was wearing a black, woman's pant suit, courtesy of Quatre. She had her red, CSO uniform with her, but they weren't stupid enough to have her wear it in front of so many vengeful soldiers.
As rebel leader Sally Po was remembered, Noin, Zechs, and Wufei all went to the front. They were the Preventers who knew her best. Noin was the one to give a speech.
The funeral and memorial session was a depressing matter. It caused many to question if they should continue their fight—since the battle had deviated so far from their original plan. But Noin stepped into Sally's position and reassured the soldiers that they still had the capability and the drive to take down Adelphie's forces, and they owed it to those who died believing in their cause to continue.
Everyone went their separate ways, wanting to spend time with their families if they could. Isabella walked towards the hotel, with Edan trailing after her. The blonde looked as though she had much on her mind, while the brunette looked as though she didn't think a damned thing.
"Excuse me," Quatre called out from behind them, causing the women to turn around, "Miss Isabella, I was wondering if I could borrow Miss Edan." Quatre smiled softly, showing his sincerity. "Some of the Maganac and I are going to go eat. I was hoping she would join us."
Edan looked at Isabella, showing emotion for possibly the first time in front of Sandrock's pilot. Her expression was a mix of bewilderment, shock, and distrust. The other young woman simply laughed.
"Go," Isabella waved, "go on. Be nice." When Edan didn't move, she was pushed. The blonde turned around, waving goodbye to the group, her friend staring at her while they walked away.
Edan and Quatre rejoined Rashid and a few other of his Maganac comrades. They were all wary of the female, but tried their best to hide it. "I owe you my life," stated Quatre as they headed to a nearby restaurant. "You're lucky your entire suit didn't blow. You could've died in my place." His comrades glanced at Edan as if she was horribly disfigured and they didn't want to get caught looking at her. "So, thank you."
Obviously, she did not answer. Quatre, however, got the strange feeling that she was embarrassed by this gratitude.
"I must ask, Miss Edan, how do you communicate with others if you do not speak to them?" The wealthy young man was absolutely set on lightening up the atmosphere. The funeral was incredibly depressing, but also led him to believe that there was plenty for which to be thankful.
New friends were one of those things.
He looked at her for a few moments, and she only stared back. Though her emotionless, dead looking eyes were unnerving to…everyone… Quatre had to admit that they weren't too far from Heero's eyes.
Quatre's eyes, however, reminded her of Isabella's. Clear and blue—but his innocence also shone through, despite all he had seen. She looked away quickly and shrugged, shaking her head.
"Master Quatre," Rashid coughed, interrupting the strange exchange, "our reservations are ready and we can take out seats." Quatre led the way, Edan behind him, and Rashid behind her (he could tell that the petite woman was tensing up from feeling so unguarded).
The group sat, Quatre insisting that she sat at his right, and immediately started chatting. The Maganac spoke in Arabic to one another, discussing what they knew about the woman at their table. The Gundam pilot spoke in English, though he occasionally switched to Italian which was Adelphie's native tongue, out of his own curiosity. Then, even more.
"Ich habe gehört, Sie wuchs mit Fräulein Isabella, ist das wahr?"
-"So I heard you grew up with Miss Isabella, is that true?"
He received a nod.
"Vous êtes comme un tuteur pour lui?"
-"You are like a guardian to her?"
Another nod. He continued the conversation, becoming more and more intrigued as he went.
"Kanojo no kokori ni, ane de gozaimasu," Quatre said and smiled.
-"In her view, you are a sister."
Of course, another nod, but after a pause.
His men did not stop talking about her, paying little attention to Quatre's line of questioning. He paused and looked at his men before looking back at Edan. When he finally returned to his own native tongue to ask if she understood everything he had said, Quatre finally caught the attention of his men. They watched as her eyes flickered over them before curtly nodding to the pilot.
They were extremely embarrassed. They spoke about her, offering up suggestions about who—or what—she was, where they had come across her, and what they knew about her through CSO's captive soldiers. All while assuming she could not understand them.
They were mistaken. She was mute, not deaf.
"Well then," Quatre said and smiled apologetically, "please forgive them. They are just as intrigued by you as we all are."
The woman shrugged, looking down at the silverware in front of her as if she couldn't have cared less. "If I give you paper, will you write down what you are thinking? I'd like to be able to converse with you in some form," Quatre said. Their drinks arrived and the waitress started handing out the glasses one by one.
Edan shrugged again. It was almost aggravating that it was all she would do.
"Ma'am, I was wondering," he spoke up as the waitress got to him, "would you be able to lend me a spare notebook and writing utensil? I would be most appreciative." Quatre's charming smile was too much for the woman to resist.
"Of course. May I take your orders firsts?"
The men ordered a variety of steaks and sides, all at Quatre's expense, not that he particularly minded. The young woman at his side, however, ordered the blandest salad there could have possibly been. When the notebook arrived only moments later, Quatre started to try to get words out of her.
"Just a salad? You can get whatever you want. I heard the roast duck was delicious here," he said and slid the paper and pen to her. It took her a few moments to actually bring her hands up and write.
I can't taste much.
She wrote in almost perfect penmanship. It was clear and very easy to read. Turning the notebook, Quatre could see what she wrote, though he had been able to read it from his angle anyhow.
"Oh, of course, I remember Duo saying something about that," he said and blushed slightly.
000
"Hold up," Duo called out to Isabella as she stood tapping the front of her black shoe against the tiled floor, waiting for an elevator. "I want to take you up to the conference room."
"Oh really?" Her voice was mocking and laced with sarcasm, "I'm finally worthy?"
"Well aren't you snappy today," grumbled Duo. "We want to talk with you while Quatre has your bodyguard preoccupied." The elevator opened and he stepped in. Isabella didn't budge. "Hey! Come on!" He held the door, which started beeping annoyingly, but she stepped backwards.
"No," she said slowly, "no, I'm waiting for Edan to get back." The blonde started to spin around on her heel, but before she even made it the entire way, Trowa and Heero were already running up to her sides. Each hooked their arms around her, dragging her into the elevator by force. "Let—me—go!"
Isabella struggled, though it was useless against the two much stronger males. As they silently went up floor after floor, she finally gave up and slumped in their arms. They did not let go, not even when the doors reopened. Instead, they continued to pull her around like a ragdoll. Down a long hallway they went, passing the rooms outfitted to be used in business activities. Finally, they reached the conference room that they had been using as the base of their operations. Isabella had, up until now, been kept from entering.
Trowa reached out and pulled open a mahogany door as they released the young woman. They had her exit blocked, and she had nowhere else to go but forward. Inside sat three other people—Wufei, Zechs, and Noin. They were sitting at a large, oval shaped table, speaking solemnly. They looked up and fell silent, seeing Isabella.
"Um, what's going on?" Isabella asked, shifting her weight uncomfortably.
"We wanted to talk to you about CSO," stated Zechs, who even the young woman recognized. "You've grown up since the last I saw you, Miss Valentinian."
The younger of the two women in the room nodded cautiously. "I suppose I have. I was just turning thirteen when we met, I think. When you came to my father's main lab for that inspection." The male pulled out the seat to his left (Noin was at his right) and swooped his hand down to signal that he wanted her to sit. Isabella looked at the Heero and Trowa directly behind her, and Duo behind them. She had no choice but to go sit down. So she did; Isabella walked the entire way around the table, avoiding Wufei, and sat down in the designated seat.
There was tension in the air. She wanted Edan to be there with her, ready to protect her at a moment's notice.
"Trowa and I have spoken a bit," Zechs, aka Milliardo Peacecraft, started, "and he's indicated that you know about the human testing going on at CSO. Is that true?" He put his hands together in front of him to make her feel a bit more secure. She surely saw him as a threat, at the moment.
"Well sure I do," she sighed and crossed her arms on the table, putting her head on her arms. "They all know too."
"All we know is that there are four people who have undergone surgeries that allow them to use special mobile suit systems. Some faced more severe surgeries than others, and now CSO can control those people," Heero clarified. The other pilots nodded.
"What else did you want to know?"
"How long has this testing been going on?" Zechs asked immediately.
"About two decades," she responded just as promptly.
"How many test subjects?" Duo tossed out his question, taking a seat across the table from her, kicking up his feet.
"Hundreds—probably thousands by now," Isabella sighed. There was a passing moment of quiet.
"How many are alive?" Noin whispered, speaking to Isabella for the first time since their intercom meeting in the shuttle, which had not gone all that well.
Isabella shrugged slightly. "Maybe a few hundred. Some are spread out across the globe, but they aren't like those of us who walk around freely, well known as altered beings. Though if my father could help it, we probably wouldn't be free to do what we would like," she replied nonchalantly.
"We?"
"Mhm," Isabella nodded, "Edan, Duo, and I. Vince DeBordaris still does my father's dirty work, so he'll always be able to do whatever he wants."
Noin and Zechs stared at her like she had an extra head growing out of her shoulder. Isabella rolled her eyes and sat back with a groan.
"You want a full history, don't you?"
"Yes," the entire room responded in unison.
"I'll need a cup of coffee…"
000
"So, is Edan your last name?" Quatre asked as they started to finish up with their meals at the restaurant. His men had racked up a large bill for him, but it was to be expected. They did risk their lives for him all of the time.
The woman had barely touched her salad.
She used the notebook to respond:I don't know.
The Gundam pilot had just been ready to sip his hot tea when he saw her response. He frowned, brows furrowed, and placed the china cup back down. "I don't understand. How can you not know your last name?"
Though she did not show her annoyance visibly, Quatre could tell. She simply underlined her already written phrase.I don't know.
After a moment of thought, Quatre persisted. "How far back can you remember?"
She stared down at her paper: Now until five years ago. Prior to that—bits and pieces.
"How old are you?" He asked, but she just stared back at him. "You don't know… right, sorry…" Quatre was sure that she wouldn't voluntarily want to answer any more questions, so he returned to sipping his tea while he awaited the bill. He was in a slight state of disbelief as he watched the young woman. To him, it was strange to think that the small statured Edan, wearing a dressy blouse and a fitted pants suit, was the same young woman that nearly killed both he and Trowa. She was silently slumped forward, staring ahead with her empty eyes. She didn't look menacing in the least.
More like a small child who just needed a hug.
She was CSO's wolf in sheepskin.
000
"CSO started with human testing before I was born. One of my father's head scientists was the man you know as Doctor J," Isabella said as she finished off her first cup of coffee. Zechs politely poured her another.
"Doctor J," Heero perked up, not hiding his surprise.
"Yes," she nodded, "he ended up working for my father after he was arrested for conducting similar experiments, getting himself caught. My father expunged his record. J proceeded to work on breaking both the constraints of the mind, as well as breaking the mind itself. Many poor souls were driven mad by the work at that time. Most killed themselves. Some lived in private wards, but they didn't live long anyhow."
"That is not something Doctor J would do," Heero stepped forward and said with certainty.
Isabella just blinked at him. "Yes, it is. He left after a few years to work with Dekim Barton. You should know. You were his favorite project while working for the Barton Foundation. You were one of two subjects in an elite soldier training program going on around the same time. One was for the colonies, and the other was for CSO… Though their methods varied a bit." Isabella explained.
Immediately, Wufei spoke up. "That woman, Edan," he said, looking at Isabella from the corner of his eye.
She nodded again. "She had her first neurosurgery when she was ten, but she had been training since before that, learning about mobile suits and close combat fighting. It's why she's so proficient now." Isabella sat back with her coffee, relaxing. The others were on guard and uncomfortable with what she was saying.
"Ten years old," Duo muttered, "she was just a child… that's…"
"Unforgivable," Noin finished, a look of disgust on her face. "Who would allow their child to do that?"
"Orphaned, I'd bet," replied Heero. Isabella shook her head vigorously. "She had parents?"
"Her father was the scientist that replaced J after he left as the head of Neuro-research. His patients never lived. After two years, he was unsuccessful. If he wanted to keep his job, and probably his life, knowing my father, he had to produce some results. So, Doctor Thrice put his only daughter into the newly developed training program that had been left behind by J. A seven year old girl was entered into the accelerated learning system, and about three years later, when Thrice had still been unable to create any subjects who survived more than a year, he had only once choice. Thrice operated on Edan, placing the very first control chip directly into her brain. CSO could send her orders directly, and her mind stopped registering physical pain," explained the daughter of the now-considered-purely-evil-Adelphie.
"And that's how she became how she is now?" Duo was the only other one who visibly showed his disgust.
"No," Zechs replied, "can't be. I met this Edan during my inspection seven years ago. She could still speak. In fact, she even smiled. I believe the two of you," he pointed to Isabella, "were running around the research facility on a scavenger hunt set up to keep you two busy."
Isabella chuckled. "Yes, we were. My father didn't want either of us causing trouble with the OZ soldiers who didn't know us," she said, but her smiled faded a bit. "She was still fun then. We were able to forget where we were and what we were used for while we played our stupid games…"
No one responded to her comment. No one was really sure what to say.
The artificial lighting within the colony flickered at that moment, signaling the change from late afternoon into the sunset hour of the day. They could tell because the two outer walls were mostly double-paned, bullet proof glass.
"So her name isn't Edan?" Wufei asked to break the silence, "Even you call her that though."
"It's the only name she'll recognize," Isabella responded dismally, "she doesn't remember her actual name. She was born Elisa Thrice, but she'll never know that now. Maybe it's better that way. I wouldn't want to know that my father had made me suffer so much…"
"What caused CSO to put her under tighter constraints?" Trowa asked, out of his own curiosity.
Isabella twirled a bit of her hair, clearly having a mental battle with herself. "… I have the footage on my computer, if you want me to show you…"
000
"Miss Edan," Quatre stated as they walked back to their hotel/apartment complex, "I wanted to thank you again for saving me. Is there anything I can do to repay you?" There were Maganac soldiers walking in front and behind the pair, as well as one on Quatre's left and Edan's right, creating a protective shield with them in the center.
She shrugged. After a moment of thought though, she held a small tablet for her to write on (one of the Maganac soldiers had convinced a waitress to give them one of the small notebooks used for order taking).
Fix Red Horse.
"Oh… I'm not sure," Quatre responded, "we're concerned that CSO will take over the controls for it if we do and it will be used against us." He put his hands into his pockets and gave her an apologetic look.
Iamthe controls. I can be most useful if I can use my suit. I can be a powerful asset. She scribbled on to the paper, underlining the word am, and turned it so he could see it.
"You know, for someone who has never made any effort to communicate with us, you sure have stuff to say," Quatre said with a laugh and a shake of his head.
I'm not stupid. No one ever asks my opinion. Her dull green eyes narrowed and her lips moved into almost a frown. Quatre simple continued to smile. This time there was pity in his eyes.
"You're not at CSO anymore. We're not trying to control you or use you. I admit that having you here with us was not originally in the plan, but we'll still treat you as fairly as we can. Please, do forgive us if we are cautious with you at first. Trust is not one of our virtues," Quatre said, patting her on the back and causing her to tense up. "Be yourself."
Edan just stared back at him. More and more, he reminded her of her only friend.
But he wasn't her—Isabella at least knew Edan couldn't be 'herself.' She didn't remember herself.
000
Author's Notes: for the record, Edan is pronounced "Ee-Dan", not like Eden. I am sorry that this chapter isn't exactly exciting. However the pilots needed a chance to recuperate, reorganize, and replan. The neurochips are a very prominent aspect of the story, which is why information about them needs to come out early.
If you're a fan of Evangelion, you may relate Edan to Rei, except that Edan literally does not speak. There are a few lines later on that are "spoken" because they are filtered through a computer voice system. But I am not joking when I say that Edan does not actually speak throughout this entire story.
There will be chapters were it seems more "day in the life" rather than "we're out soldiering." But that's war for you. It doesn't always center on the same five people when the battles are spread out over the earth and colonies…
Thank you for you kind reviews, they always put a smile on my face! I love hearing feedback on the plot and the characters.
Ever your obedient servant,
A.F