After Colony: Revelation
Verse IX
"Alright, we're all hooked up," Isabella sighed. She was standing on top of the oval table (her dress heels kicked off underneath,) connecting a long cord from her computer to the projector. She turned and took Duo's hands, letting him help her hop down. Once she was safely on the ground, she pulled open a heavily encrypted file on her computer. "There's no sound though, apologies. It's stolen security cam footage."
The men mostly stood, leaning on the edge of the table or the walls. Noin sat in a chair next to Zechs, watching the screen intently. Isabella pulled the curtains closed and returned to her laptop to press play.
What they saw was a young Edan, probably fifteen or sixteen, dragging a child out of a building. Lights were flashing and buzzers were probably sounding, but they couldn't hear it. The girl disappeared off screen and then returned minutes later, running back in the direction she came. This time, it was harder to see her return. Smoke was covering the camera. What they could make out was Edan dragging a larger body through the hallways.
"You pilots attacked OZ's military base while she was there with my father for a research brief. He directed her to take a Taurus suit and pursue you to prove her capabilities. On her way, she heard that the dorm building had been caught in the attack. The soldiers were already gone because they had been called out for the fight at your sighting. A visiting mother and daughter were still inside. When there was shouting about people stuck in an elevator in a building with spreading fire, she didn't hesitate to go in and save them," Isabella stated, stopping the footage to open another file. "She was severely punished for disobeying a direct order. For embarrassing my father."
"Who attacked this base?" Duo asked, hoping it wasn't him.
"Lake Victoria base," she responded, "you might remember this one, Noin and Wufei. You were both there, though on opposing sides."
"This was my attack?" Wufei responded, slightly surprised. "I thought I had destroyed all of the dorms."
"You did," answered Noin, "some had been empty at the time. I remember hearing about this save. I had no idea it was that girl though."
"Most soldiers were not privileged enough to have this information. Anyhow, here's what happened back at our headquarters." Isabella played the next file.
Adelphie was shouting at Edan. She mumbled something they couldn't hear. Adelphie slapped her across the cheek. She frowned and rubbed it, but showed no signs of actual pain. He spoke.
"You disobeyed a direct order," Heero translated since he was quite skilled in lip reading, "you've embarrassed me and you've embarrassed this organization for the last time."
"Fine, terminate me," Duo translated for Edan as she scowled and put her hands on her hips. "Your loss anyhow. I know I did the right thing."
"No, you shouldn't be so lucky as to be terminated. Your training hasn't been enough. You are going to undergo the final stages of Red Horse," Heero said as Adelphie. Edan showed shock and a lack of words. Four soldiers came up behind her, grabbing both of her arms and legs. She fought them, and managed to throw off one of the burly men on her own. They used a syringe filled with some sort of liquid to weaken her. She flailed about for a bit longer before they were able to subdue her.
"No, no. Let me go, you'll just kill me," responded Duo, dully.
"No," said Heero, "only most of 'you' will die." Adelphie turned and walked away. The clip ended.
"They took her to the medical wing," replied Isabella softly. "She screamed for hours, as if she was being murdered. It was a much more painful process back then. She had to be awake throughout the entire time. She screamed and screamed and then… she never spoke again." She played with the edge of the black, frilly dress that Quatre had bought for her to wear to the funeral. The other six in the room didn't even look at one another as they reflected upon what they had just seen.
Finally, Duo spoke up to break the silence. "So," he started slowly, "she's like that… because of us...?"
"No," snapped Chang, "she's like that because she disobeyed a direct order. Had she followed her instruction, she would still be speaking today."
"Hn," Heero grunted, not really saying anything. What he wanted to say was: you're blaming her for trying to maintain her humanity.
"How many others are there? Like her, I mean," Noin questioned, ignoring the argument stirring between Duo and Wufei.
"None exactly like her. She's one of my father's prizes. But there are many other CSO soldiers who can be sent orders that they will have to follow. Those subjects are not as remarkable, however, because they were never very strong willed to begin. I've heard rumors of civilian subjects planted into society as well, but I can't be sure. Duo and Edan are the only two who were to have full control chips implanted. Obviously, he was saved in time to avoid that experience," said Isabella. She started to shut down her computer then moved the chair back to the edge of the table so she could climb up and unhook the cords connected to the projector.
"We need to stop this," Noin stated boldly, standing up and placing both of her palms flat, on the table. "We can't let this continue! We can go in, destroy the research base, get the proof we need, and form a coup! Surely more people will join into the rebellion if they see what disgusting things Adelphie is doing. We've got your five Gundams and now two more, plus our Tallgeese and Spartan which are still in hiding…we can free all of the test subjects!"
There was no immediate support for her position. She looked to Zechs, who shrugged haphazardly.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," responded Isabella, "many patients are in psychiatric wards for a reason. Some are incredibly violent and are truly a danger to society." Noin glared at the young woman who spoke so casually about such a horrendous act as she wrapped up her computer equipment and placed it back into her messenger bag. "I can't stop you from going, but just know that you won't be able to save everyone."
000
"How was your lunch-slash-dinner?" Isabella asked her friend, who now sat at the edge of the blonde's bed in jeans and a camisole. The pants were a little big on the silent girl. It couldn't be helped since the clothes were things that Quatre had supplied for Isabella, who was a few inches taller than Edan. Obviously, the dark haired woman did not complain. She simply cuffed up jeans and tightened the straps on the shirt. Problem solved. "I heard you were quite talkative. That's not like you."
Edan rolled her eyes and picked up the notepad from next to her. That rich boy is persistent. He's like you.
"Nu-uh," the blonde said loudly, waving her hand, apparently slightly offended, "I am not like Quatre. I think I'm more masculine than he is." She turned her appalled expression into a smirk when she saw the upward twitch of Edan's lips. "What do you think of these guys?"
The dark haired woman lost her expression completely. She was thinking, as Isabella recognized. They don't trust us. Their intentions are good though.
"I like them," Isabella sighed and jumped onto the bed next to Edan. "They're fun. Determined, too. I'm actually starting to think that we can set things right. God knows I had no hope when I first started helping them." She grabbed her pillow and held it to her. "Want to watch a movie or something? There's a nice entertainment room—"
She was interrupted by a knock on her door. Edan immediately stood up and reached for the door handle. "Who is it?" Isabella asked. She didn't have a security camera hooked up to the doorway like her rooms with her father, so she had to ask, which she wasn't used to.
"Chang."
"Oh," she replied with surprise, "go ahead, open it."
The dark haired woman pulled the door open, but did not leave the doorway. It was just a safety precaution that Edan did very frequently. "Did you need something?"
"Not you, woman. Her," he snapped, nodding to Edan. "I wish to speak with you, privately. Step out of the room."
Edan looked back at Isabella, who shrugged and tossed the notebook to her. "Go for it. I think you could handle him," Isabella said with a smirk, causing the Chinese male to scowl. The other woman caught the notebook before following Wufei out and shutting the door behind her. The two walked down the hallway until he felt that they were far enough away from anyone else to speak.
"I feel that it is only fair that, since we are housing you and providing for you, that you return the contribute," he stated. The woman stared at him, analyzing the situation.
He was clearly uncomfortable with whatever he wanted to speak about. Whatever it was, she could tell that he felt he was above it.
"Tomorrow, therefore, you must be up at dawn, out back, and prepared to spar with me," he said and crossed his arms, "I must prove that I am able to defeat a woman like you."
She stared back at him.
Wufei looked down into her eyes and was caught off guard. There was a slight flicker behind her eyes—he had seen that before, when they were in their weapon's match. He had sparked something within her. Anger? Annoyance? Excitement even?
She lifted her notepad to her, scribbled something down, and ripped the whole note page off. Edan shoved the slip of paper into his chest before turning and walking back towards Isabella's room.
Best of luck to you then, Wufei read. He scowled at the paper and crumbled it up. He knew he should have expected a response like that, and that was why he hadn't wanted to ask her. Heero had rejected his request to spar already. He was the only other pilot who actually had some sort of training in a particular style.
Heero suggested he ask the silent young woman. She was a more suitable partner than the other pilots when it came to physical training.
And he was right, as much as Wufei hated to admit it. So he stomped away, irritated by her response, but satisfied that she had agreed.
000
"What are you doing?" Trowa walked up to Quatre and handed him a cup of warm tea in a traveling mug. "It's getting too late to be down here."
The blonde was staring at Red Horse in the shuttle hanger they were using as suit storage. He smiled and took the hot drink gratefully. "I think I may rebuild the damaged section of the suit. Miss Edan's system is very similar to Sandrock-custom."
"Do you think that's really a good idea?" Trowa asked, leaning against the metal railing, next to the other pilot. He looked down, over all of the suits sleeping peacefully. Red Horse was suspended from the ceiling, hanging like a marionette. White Horse was right next to it; its pearly white metal making it look like it was either an angel or a ghost. Trowa couldn't decide.
"I don't know," sighed Quatre. "If we fix it, she could help us. But if she turns on us…" He shook his head and started to sip the much needed tea.
The two pilots stood in a comfortable silence. After a while, Trowa finally spoke. "I don't think Edan is the one to worry about."
Quatre groaned. "I completely agree. I wish you hadn't come to the same conclusion. It only makes me distrust Isabella even more. Her capabilities concern me."
"And there is the fact that Edan will do whatever she says. It's like Isabella has control over an emotionless robot. Makes her an internal threat, undeniably," Trowa added.
Quatre furrowed his brows and shook his head. "She's not a robot. She can freely think and does have emotion, whether she shows it or not. I know it—now that I've spent time with her and have had a conversation, I can tell that there's still a person beneath the image of a perfect soldier," he said with confidence. However, he and Trowa turned back to the suits and away from each other. The term perfect soldier just made them think of Heero.
"Are we going to go to the research center and shut it down?"
"I'm going," Quatre sighed. "You don't have to, if you don't want. Noin will want to go, so Zechs will probably go as well, when they've both fully recovered. Isabella may have the desire to shut it down, and if Red Horse is running, then Edan will surely follow. That's already five of us, we should be able to handle it…"
"Don't be ridiculous," Trowa said with a slight smirk, placing an arm around the shorter blonde's shoulders, "of course I'll go with you. Duo will go after Isabella, and Heero will just take some talking to. Wufei is the only one who'll have to decide on his own. If he wants to, he will. If not, then he won't. Though, if my suspicions prove accurate, he won't possibly let the women go and show him up." It was quite the mouthful for the usually quiet male to say, but he was always a little different when he was alone with Quatre.
"What you really mean to say is that Wufei won't let Edan show him up. Again," Quatre said with a smile. Isabella had graciously swiped all security footage of the pilots, and that included the match between Wufei and Edan.
Their Chinese friend, needlessly to say, had been extremely angry when he had walked into the entertainment room to see the group watching the recording like a comedy movie.
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean," Trowa replied, "come on, it's late. Let's go to bed." Quatre nodded, bringing his tea to his mouth, and finishing it off. He sighed in contentment after the last gulp, and the pair walked off together. Shutting out the lights as they went, they left the Gundams to sit peacefully in the dark.
000
"How are you two holding up?" Duo asked as he walked into the large kitchen. Usually, it would be fully staffed, like a hotel kitchen with a chef on call at all hours. While Quatre was leasing it, he had released all staff save perhaps three. The pilots liked their privacy and security, after all. The braided male grabbed an apple from a ceramic dish sitting on one of the counters and hopped up to sit on the edge. Noin and Zechs were eating at an island. They had decided that midnight was a good time to sit with sandwiches and chat.
"Getting better each day," Noin said with a smile, blowing some strands of dark hair from her face. "While we were all caged up, it seemed like we'd never recover. Honestly though, it's almost like the new sense of freedom has sped up the process. Well, at least for me." She looked at Zechs, who was busy cramming another sandwich in his mouth. When he realized that he was supposed to input on the conversation, he quickly gulped and took a drink of milk.
That's right.
Two grown adults having a romantic midnight snack, and what do they choose to eat? Peanut butter sandwiches with milk and an open bag of potato chips.
"I have two broken ribs and a wrist that was recently realigned. My entire body is bruised and I have a constant headache," the former Lightning Count replied seriously. He took another bite of his sandwich, swallowed, and then continued, "but give me a week and I'm ready to get back in Tallgeese and destroy CSO."
Duo laughed and started to juggle his apple in his hands. "Well, that's definitely good to hear," he said and took a bite of it, "we'll probably end up storming the research facility. I mean, you really think Q's gonna let us ignore it? Yeah right, not with that humanitarian inside of him." Zechs looked like he may have wanted to object, but valued his food more than the argument.
"Good!" Noin exclaimed, throwing her arms up into the air. "We have to do something. We would practically be helping them if we do nothing, now that we know about it." She emphasized her opinion by taking an angry bite of her sandwich with a 'hmph.'
"I know, I know," sighed Duo. He leaned back slightly after steadying himself with his free arm, "but we can't just go into this blindly. We've got to be prepared to not only get our evidence, but spring all of the captives. What do you do with a hundred people who need severe psychiatric help?"
Even Noin knew that he had a point. It wouldn't be as simple as staging an attack to rescue rebels (not that it had been simple at all.) The people they were rescuing would have to be taken to a new clinic where they could hopefully receive help. When Adelphie controlled both Earth and Space, how could they hide and defend a mass amount of people who most likely wouldn't be able to protect themselves?
"Relena will take them," muttered Zechs. As much as he didn't want to get involved, he was fully aware that he wouldn't have a choice. Noin would make him. He had fallen, like many men had, to the power of women.
"What?" his unofficial fiancé asked, bewilderment covering her face.
"The Sanc Kingdom will take them. You know how she is about taking in the needy. She's receiving grants from the other governors to secretly house people who Adelphie would have killed in a heartbeat. That's why she reopened the girl's academy and the international affairs university." He was not happy to be revealing this information, but it would have come up sooner or later. All Heero had to do was ask Relena anyhow.
"How long?" Noin hissed. She had not known about Relena's ulterior motives in returning to her birthright, (seriously, it was getting hard to keep up with how many times the girl switched between 'Peacecraft' and 'Dorlin').
"Two years. No, closer to three now. So far, she's done good to keep herself from gathering suspicion. Oh, don't give me that look, Noin," said Zechs. He did not like the angry, thin lipped expression he was receiving from the woman across from him. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to risk you returning to being her aid. We're both known rebels and it would have drawn too much attention if you were back there with her."
"Guys," Duo said loudly.
"What?!" Of course, Noin was the one to snap.
"We should talk to the others in the morning about this. If we're going to go through with the whole rescue/release thing, we're going to have to organize a way back to Earth. Isabella says the main facility is in the UK," he stated, hoping to divert their attention away from their small conflict. It worked for the time being, but they would surely return to the squabble at some point later.
"We will," groaned the platinum blonde male as he watched the woman start to clean their mess. She, apparently, had made the executive decision to end their late night meal. Duo just nodded and watched with raised brows.
Women could be scary.
"Uh, okay, well… g'night!" The braided pilot hopped off the counter and waved. When Noin turned her back, Duo mouthed the word 'sorry.' When she faced him once more, she narrowed her eyes, causing him to run off, back to his room for the night.
000
The colony's simulated sunlight started to kick in at exactly 0600. Wufei left the hotel/studio apartment complex as soon as the light started hitting the back lawn. "Damn woman… can't even follow directions… I told her to be out here…" He walked up the slight hill to where he had been going for his morning meditation every day. He was still grumbling to himself when he reached the top.
To his surprise, Edan was sitting about a yard and a half down on the other side of the mound. She was patiently waiting, watching the 'sun' rise over more and more of the colony.
"How long have you been out here? I've been waiting for a half hour, and I did not see you once," Wufei asked, not bothering to hide his irritation.
She used her notepad to communicate. An hour.
"Why?"
Nothing else to do.
"Didn't you sleep?" As he spoke, he found the spot he liked best for his daily mediation. Sadly, it was too close to the woman for his comfort. "Move down."
As much as she didn't want to, it was too difficult for Edan to ignore a direct command from someone who was convinced that he had control over her. So, she moved another yard away from her new sparring partner. She did not answer the other question.
"We will begin in approximately an hour," Wufei directed, folding his legs and bringing his hands together. He closed his eyes.
They sat in silence for a few moments, until he spoke again. "It is rude to stare."
And of course, she had been staring. Edan slid back so that they were in line, but so she was still not directly next to him. After she finished shifting around, he cracked an eye to see what she had done. When he did, even he had to admit that it was slightly amusing. The young lady had gone ahead and copied what he did—she now sat in a similar meditative position with her eyes shut. Wufei closed his eyes again and returned to his peaceful state.
000
"Isabella," Heero grunted from the other side of the wooden door. "Isabella." He pounded on the door. Finally, there was groaning from the other side. She walked to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open.
Her hair was down (he had never seen her with her hair down) and she was wearing an oversized t-shirt that Rashid had donated for her to wear while they were still on Earth. For the first time ever, he had managed to catch her sleeping.
She barely ever slept. Nor did Edan, he was noticing. Did that have to do with their neuro-enhancements? Well, Isabella practically ran off of caffeine. The other girl? Not so much.
"What?" Her voice was raspy, and she had to cough to clear her throat.
"We told you to keep your door unlocked," Heero said in his typical, monotone voice.
"God, please tell me you didn't just wake me up to get me to unlock the door," she groaned. If she hadn't been so tired, she probably would have snapped. But in her heavily lidded state, she could just stand, twist the edge of her shirt, and wait for Heero to finish.
"Quatre is looking into rebuilding Red Horse. Do you have the designs for it?"
"Yeah," she replied softly, her head starting to feel incredibly weighted, "I can send them to—him—" she yawned, "—later." Isabella started to turn to go back into the room.
Heero caught her arm. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she snapped, snatching her arm back from his hand, "I only fell asleep twenty minute ago after being up for thirty-six hours, okay? I know I hardly sleep, but even I need a day to catch up, every now and then. Give me twelve hours." Back into the room she went, like a zombie.
"Don't lock the door," Heero said as the door started to shut. There was a grumble, but he couldn't understand it. Isabella did not lock the door though.
000
"What are you watching?"
After speaking with the blonde girl, Heero searched out the group of pilots in a second floor lounge, their faces pressed against the wide windows. No one responded, forcing Heero to take a spot next to Duo.
"They started almost an hour ago," Trowa finally said. "Wufei stood up from what I assume was meditation, and almost instantly started attacking her. She's doing surprisingly well."
The pair was on the hill top, exchanging blow for blow. However, it was not like what they had seen when Heero and Wufei had sparred—that had always been more crude, less fluid. What they saw now was more like an art form. Swing of the arm, block, follow through, dodge, raise of the knee, a catch… It was liked they had practiced it all before.
"How the hell did that happen?" Duo turned around, shaking his head in disbelief. He dragged a brown, leather footrest to a matching chair and dropped into it, kicking his feet up. "We all know how he feels about women in general, so actually deciding to level and fight with one? I'm sure he's feeling extremely frustrated that he couldn't knock her out within the first ten minutes."
"No, you don't get it, Duo," Noin sighed, leaning her back against the window. "Wufei just comes from a society where women are considered something to be protected. If they can prove that they can take care of themselves, then he doesn't have a problem with them. He told Sally and I while we worked as preventers. Why do you think we all worked so well together?"
Duo just waved his hand, basically to say, yeah, whatever.
"I told him he should ask her," Heero said, causing everyone to look at him in shock. "We've seen their match footage. She can best keep up with him out of all of us. It'll also build her trust, and maybe we won't have to rely on Isabella to tell her what to do." As he spoke, he didn't even look at the rest of the group, instead, he stared out of the window with his arms across his chest.
"I really don't think that will work. They're practically family," Quatre sighed.
"I dunno… Heero has a point. That Edan will listen to Wufei. I tried to get her to do something, she wouldn't. He asked her to do the same thing, she did it without a fight. We may be able to use her if there's someone else to control her," Duo replied, tapping on the arms of the chair.
"And with Isabella," Trowa started to add, "Edan gets nothing out of their relationship. Isabella has a bodyguard and a servant. They're 'friends' because Edan doesn't know any better."
"The only thing you'll have to worry about is Wufei going rogue again, like Mariemaia's army." It was the thus-silent Zechs who broke the positive atmosphere.
And then there was silence.
"I'm sure he wouldn't do that," Quatre said finally. They quickly moved passed the topic—after all, Wufei was still with them. They didn't have to worry half as much as long as they could keep an eye on him.
"Isabella will send Red Horse's plans to you," Heero stated, speaking to Quatre before widening the conversations to the other pilots. "Are we all in agreement to go to the UK research facility and shut it down?" It was the question on all of their minds.
"Even if we aren't, you know we'll end up going anyhow," responded Trowa.
Duo gave a 'ha' and nodded, "well, that's definitely true. Guess that means we're all in, whether we want to or not."
000
Wufei was becoming increasingly frustrated, but also strangely satisfied at the same time. He had not had such an opportunity in some time—not since before the destruction of his colony. The pair had been sparring for almost an hour, and still no winner could be declared. He wanted so very much to be able to prove his strength against Edan. It annoyed him that she could not only keep up and counter his moves, but she seemed to be able to copy the techniques after seeing them two or three times.
Slowly, she was figuring out the style that belonged to the renowned Dragon Clan—a style that had taken him a decade to learn and was still continuously mastering.
As much as he wanted to be angry at her, it was exciting. If her best skill was to copy his moves, then he wasn't just trying to defeat the woman, but partially himself as well.
A unique opportunity indeed.
Neither came out victorious, at least, not at that time (Wufei would continue to challenge her almost every day that they had ample space to adequately spar,) but both dropped to the grass, out of breath. After a few moments, Edan's arm stretched out and she gave him one last haphazard smack for good measure. They were exhausted, but satisfied.
000
Author's Notes: Thank you for reading! I promise there will be more action. As I said before, once the action starts, the downtime they have to do random bits like this will go away. Next up—heading back to earth to free some psychotic prisoners! What could go wrong, right?
For ever your servant,
A.F