Appotropaic Apparatus
part sevenWhen Duo awoke the second time, the passing conversation seemed like a dream, or, more appropriately, a nightmare. His hand traced towards the invisible gunshot wound and still encountered nothing. Perhaps everything, from the black disk to the mission, had been a dream. But the warm body beside his own denied that fact. Duo turned and looked again at Heero whose eyes were now open and staring at him.
"Ohiyo, Heero." Duo uttered in a hushed whisper. The huge ceilings magnified it well enough that he may as well shouted. Of course, god only knew how loud a sound that would have made.
Heero made no attempt to answer him. He slid off that table and walked away, the metal rings in his feet clicking, the single gear churning soundlessly as his feet moved.
"Heero... where are you going?"
He paused in mid step, turned around and with little to no emotion in his face or voice, replied, "You're awake. You'll need food."
The braided youth blinked a few times while Heero continued walking. His eyes, Duo noticed, were not as they once were. After secretly pining over the boy, Duo had spent a good amount of time gazing into those Prussian orbs of light and life. His eyes had been his form of communication at times, and his only expression of emotion. Though still as blue as the sea after a storm, the pure emotion in them rocked Duo to the core. Those eyes belonged to a lost child, not a conditioned soldier. They pleaded with him to help him find whatever it was he was missing. They were the eyes of a prisoner, the eyes of a caged animal, they were the eyes of a distressed being but they were not Heero Yuy's eyes. Whatever those bastards had done to him, they hadn't destroyed his humanity, merely controlled it. For that, Duo was grateful but for the naked torment shown clear in his stare, he was frightened.
Heero came back with a plate full of ration bars of assorted flavors. Not that it mattered though. One overly processed, purified and nutrition filled bar was the same as the next. Duo gratefully took one, peeled the foil from it and ate. Heero watched him for a moment before content to do the same.
"It's.. uh.. been a while.. huh?" Duo asked, afraid of the silence.
Heero looked up at him again and nodded, "Two years."
"Three," Duo corrected.
"Two," Heero took a bite, swallowed, and continued, "You were on L3c. You had been singing at a bar."
Duo blinked back his surprise, "You... you were there? Why didn't you say hello?"
"You looked like you had everything you needed. I didn't want to bring anything unwanted from your past back into your future."
"Your friendship has never been unwanted, Heero."
Heero hung his head, fighting against some internal battle, Memories... it can't hide them from me entirely.. these are mine. "You were singing the same song at the bar I heard you sing while you showered back in the war. It always made me feel guilty."
"Guilty?" Duo shook his head, "Heero... I.. I don't remember the song. Are you su-"
"What did I ever do to you," Heero sang, "That you should treat me this way. Is it really such a crime for an angel to speak its mind? In time I'll try to shed some light. If I were a big boy, I wouldn't cry. But since I'm not a big boy I have to cry."
That's the funny thing about memories. Sometimes, despite the years between, they come back as clear as the present.
Duo nodded his head to an imaginary beat in his head and joined Heero in the second verse, amazed at how well the two voices seemed to meld, "What did I ever do so wrong that you should cast me from grace? Though I love to roué in hell, here, how I miss the taste of heaven, it's soft and cool embrace. If I were a big boy, I wouldn't cry. But since I'm not a big boy, I have to close my eyes a picture what it's like."
Duo looked up to see a tear rolling down Heero's face.
"Heero?" he asked in concern.
Heero shook his head, "I can almost fight it, Duo. The Creator. Almost, when I remember what I was. But it still makes me do things... and I don't want to hurt you anymore."
Duo cupped Heero's face in his hands, "You've never hurt me, Heero. Don't cry."
"Then why the song?" Heero asked. His own hands had found there way to Duo's braid and now clung to it tightly, fingers intertwining with the strong strands of chestnut gold.
"I only sang it cause I liked the tune. A song has different meanings for everyone. What did you hear in it?"
"That I've been a bastard for no reason towards you. You were my... first friend." Heero could feel the circuitry reacting to his body chemistry, willing him to move away, stop talking, stop memories and emotions. It was a strong pull. Heero's fingers dug even further into the braid, feeling it was his only tie to control over himself.
Duo was smiling, unknowing of the internal struggle between man and machine, "You were my first friend to survive for so long. Not that your track record hasn't been littered with attempts of death. How 'bout you and me go out to eat at this nice restaurant by my hotel and catch up on times some day?"
Heero nodded, "It's a date."
Duo began to blush despite the visible efforts he was making to stop or hide the fact. Heero wanted to kiss the rosy cheeks but blue flames seemed to roar at his wishes. It was not in the Creators will to allow it.
"Duo, you have to get out of here... it's dangerous..."
Duo shook his head, "No. I'm not leaving here without you. I came all the way to Manifest to find you and I'm not going anywhere now."
"You came all this way for me?" Heero asked.
Duo's blush deepened and the braided teen scowled at his reaction, "Yeah, I did. Relena hired me."
"Oh.."
"It's not like I wouldn't have if she hadn't hired me too! She kept the fact hidden that you were missing." Duo said in haste. He was rewarded with a smile, which finished off his full body blush.
Heero's smile only grew before the taunt expression of effort crossed his face, "I can't hold the programming back much longer, Duo. He'll send me after you but if you go now you've got a good chance to escape."
"Heero, I wo-"
Heero used his free hand to quiet the braided youth. Detaching himself from the braid, he pulled disk from his shorts and put it in Duo's hand, "Take this."
"I've had enough with strange disks, Heero." Duo commented, trying to hand it back.
"It'll explain everything, Duo. I typed out everything I could while I was able to hold back the Creators will. Trust me and go. Please, Duo." Heero's eyes were clamped shut, his hands releasing him and clutching at the metal rings, "Damnit, Duo, go!"
Duo stood and ran, the disk held tightly in his hand. Before long he could hear footsteps coming up behind him, the clicking of metal and gear echoing in the near silence.
I'm sorry, Heero. I'll find a way to get you free. he thought as he pulled all the speed he could in his retreat. The white lights and machinery never changed with every corner he turned. Any exit seemed lost in the midst of it all. He had to get out for Heero though. Duo spied a window at the top of one of the large computers. Using levers and several outcrops, Duo climbed to the top of the machine and slid toward the exit. Heero wasn't slow though. Immediately he had seen Duo's retreating form and had perused, standing now directly behind him.
"Duo..."
He turned, unable to ignore the commanding voice.
"Duo...Omea o korosu."
Heero leapt after him. Duo hadn't time to react. The force of impact sent Duo stumbling backwards and finally, through the sounds of breaking glass, he fell. Fell to the ground with a loud thump and crack as the crates below gave way under his body. Heero peered down at him from the broken window with a looked of indifference. When the body remained still he turned away, satisfied. The Creator had wanted him alive but it could not allow the position of Headquarters to be known. It didn't really matter anymore. The modifications to AA were a success. The end was near and so was the beginning.
**
It was late at night when Duo finally came through the door of his hotel room. He was bruised but otherwise all right despite the headache and deep angst filling him. Hitting the crates so hard had knocking him unconscious. Duo prayed his thanks to whatever gods still lived that Heero-NO-the Creator had left him for dead. Now, with the disk in his possession as well as knowledge of where Headquarters was located, Duo felt the heavy anticipation of battle settle over him. He sat down next to his laptop and inserted Heero's disk, weary as he did so. When nothing unexpected happened, Duo opened the only file within it and sat back as it loaded and displayed itself.
If you've found this disk then I pray it was in time to correct our mistakes. My name is Heero Yuy. I was, until recently, employed by Relena Peacecraft of Sanq as Head of International Security. While in this position, I received a letter from Lady Kyldre of the WBA, World Beautification Association. She told me of her new findings in technology and asked if I was familiar with a technique called organisizing. Organisizing incorporates plant DNA with the technical apparatus. In resent studies, though a successful accomplishment, viruses were the main cause of concern. Our first few correspondences were based solely on he mechanics of organisizing. It wasn't until later that she revealed her discovery, the Apotropaic Apparatus (AA) which is responsible for detecting and destroying computer viruses. She also mentioned James Opi. James is a current member of Relena's circle of informants. Though good-natured, he has a rather mysterious nature. Lady Kyldre told me of his own developmental stages in organisizing and of the Creator, a mega-computer which is the first recorded success. From there she went on to tell me about the programming of this computer. James had created a machine which would unbiasedly judge humans and settle disputes easily and bloodlessly in these times when protecting peace is of the utmost concern. While harmless in theory, the machine had begun to make judgments based on its own beliefs, developing it's own intelligence. It seemed, to the Lady, that the Creator had had become a menace to society. Rumors wound there way to her ears that this computer had taken control over James Opi and now plotted the destruction of man kind, finding humans to be too weak to properly rule this planet. I wish I had believed her then. Only now do I know how true these rumors were. After weeks of more of letters, she asked me to test run her AA, afraid any actions taken in Manifest would cause suspicion or ruin the surprise she had in store for a convention she would be holding in light of her discovery. James, being a normal face in the crowds in the palace, had somehow discovered what Lady Kyldre and I were discussing and that a disk would be arriving. No sooner had I gotten to my quarters and input the disk had I been struck down. From that point, all I can remember is the lasting image of a completely different program on the screen. Lady Kyldre, it seems, had not only given me the AA, but a program to destroy the Creator. From then on, it is black. My most resent of memories are of James injecting me with some blue liquid and having metal rings drilled into my legs and arms. They're purpose, as I have come to find out, is to continually keep my circuitry running. This 'circuitry' is no more than organic computer programs linking me to the Creators will. It is of my belief that some humans will be spared to keep these super-computers fully functional. The location of the black disk sent to me is unknown but it is my new mission to find it. Within it lays a disease which will kill mankind if released nation wide. I was not and have not been able to warn Lady Kyldre of the modifications made to this disk. I pray she finds out before the damage is done, for the words sake. In the meantime, I fight the Creator's will, hoping to be able to destroy it. Please take this disk to Lady Kyldre before it's too late.
|
"Then we shall meet once again, Lady Kyldre." Duo vowed as he shut off his computer and grabbed the disk. He'd leave now. There was no time to loose, not if he was going to save Heero. They had a date to keep and like hell he'd let Heero out of this obligation.
**
James slapped Heero across the face with a scowl on his face. "You let him go. You knew he wasn't dead."
"He wasn't moving," Heero countered, "My progr-"
"Your program had little to do with it! I know you've been testing our master!" He readjusted his blue tinted glasses, "You'll de disciplined later. It's time."
Heero fought internally against the hold on him, "Time for what?" he asked in his own voice.
"It's time for the fall of humanity, Heero. But you and I will be spared."
"It is the Creators will." He chimed, unable to take complete control over himself.
James smiled, "Yes, Heero, it is."
He walked around Heero for a moment, eyeing him, "I don't see what they see in you, Heero. Do you know how hard it has been, contending with you on both fields? In Relena's office I am no more than a friend. I wish to be so much more to her. But she wants only you. And then there's Duo. Have you any idea how long I've been dreaming of settling over that firm body and making him writhe in pleasure? But even in my fantasies, both of them call your name at night. What makes you so damn desirable, Heero?"
James eyed him in distaste, "I can't see it. Is it in here?" he pointed to Heero's head, "I think not. A soldier knows love is illogical." He moved his finger lower, "What about here? Your heart. Do you even have one, Heero? Perhaps there is no reason. They say love is a disease. Catch it once and the lingering effects become your protection against new ones." He moved his hand lover and with all the anger that seethed within him, struck Heero in the groin.
Heero buckled and fell to his knees, coughing and sputtering obscenities.
"Doesn't matter anymore. They're both as good as dead. Relena will die when Lady Kyldre reveals her AA and Duo is already so far along in his infection I estimate maybe a few days till he finally succumbs and dies." James kneeled down so his face was inches from Heero's, "Do you know how much I wanted you to watch him die? I wanted to break you and hurt you like your possession over him had hurt me. Maybe I still can though. You still hope that this can all be stopped, don't you?" James nodded as he peered into Heero's eyes, "I see you do. You can't hide it. How does it feel to know that even if the world survives, Duo won't?"
Heero bit his lip as the pain began to fade in his groin but escalate in his soul, "You can fight it too, James. The Creator doesn't have to control you. You know this isn't really what you want. You're not this cruel."
A flicker of remembrance crossed James's face but vanished as soon as if appeared. "He tried to before, Heero. But James is mine now. Completely. As you will be."
The words, though spoken from James's own lips, were understood to be those of the Creator.
Heero clamped his eyes shut as the controlling power once again settled over him.
"As I will be, Master."