Usual couples, eventual angst, humour and action, but for now some mystery....
Aku_Ryo@hotmail.com
I do not own Gundam Wing despite my pleas to the lord above.
Three dim lights lead the way through the damp foul smelling tunnels. The lights accompanied three Preventers as they, in a series of brief mumbles, were inspecting the area around them.
?This facility appears to have been part of the Alliance?
?You are wrong onna, this structure is clearly not consistent with the Alliance?s designs?
?No, not for a military facility but it could be something else??
They had been tracing the weak signal from their energy scanner for the past week, ever since the reading was first discovered.
It was evident all power had long been disconnected from the abandoned structure, yet there was clearly something active.
The ESUN, in the need to fill the growing demands for new sources of fuel, had been funding desperate projects to discover or more appropriately rediscover any economical source of power. The main project they had funded for over three years had produced little. The scientists could not create anything that the ESUN deemed appropriate to fill the growing need for energy. ESUN demanded the project to meet their strict requirements and as such the only technological advance the ESUN would commit itself to involved the creation of a certain energy scanner, in the hope that there were still practical natural resources buried deep within the earth. Sadly there were none.
The scanner had recently become property of the Preventers. Its use: still to look for energy sources but with the intention of detecting low power energy readings, those that would not appear on ordinary scans of an area. It had already proved its use in putting out budding fires in Colony L-2. With Preventer Water in the lead, they had been following the signal for over an hour through what could only be described as a maze of tunnels.
The scanner eventually brought them out into a long room. From the scatters of equipment around them it was apparently a science facility. Papers and broken glass littered the floor, while now obsolete computer systems covered the far wall. Picking up a random sheet from the floor, Preventer Water read:
********************************************
Memo: to Admiral Xavier
From: Dr. C. Dryer ? Head of Bioengineering Dept - Base 516
1 Sept, AC 180
Planned time schedule now appears impossible to keep. Previous attempts made to reanimate collection with information from current research have proved fatal. Suggest additional research is required before any further attempts are made. Original system requirements still maintained. Contact with
********************************************
The rest of the sheet was too decrepit for her to understand. Folding it neatly she placed it in a sanitary container for later examination.
?Chang! What have you found?? Sally turned to her fellow agents as they were examining the computers at the other side of the room.
?Nothing of use! These systems are not the ones producing the energy reading.?
The third Preventer was busy underneath the computer terminals. Preventer Chang turned his attention from hollering at his long time partner back to his assignment when he heard the sounds of electricity, apparently giving someone a few good shocks. He found his old compatriot diligently fusing the torn wires together under the computer console. Wu-Fei felt embarrassed by his rash outburst as he watched the quiet man pick himself off the ground to hand a rewired hand console to Sally Po.
?Try it now.?
Wu-Fei turned, brushed off the filthy screen and began entering old Alliance codes into the computer terminal. It soon came alive in a frenzy of noise and light.
Sally watched the information fill the portable screen she was handed, ?Gibberish, looks as if most of the files are? too? corrupted?? her voice trailed off. Her eyes, on the other hand, were staring intently at a point just behind her frequent partner.
Feeling her gaze burning into him Wu-Fei?s eyes narrowed. ?What!? After a moment of lethal silence he couldn?t take her gaze any longer. Turning around to face her he stormed over in exasperation from her complete lack of response to his direct question. He stopped and stood in her direct line of sight. ?What!? he repeated, again Sally did not respond.
?Behind you? came a soft mumble.
He turned, following Sally's gaze, to find a tall glowing tube. It was simple looking, a smooth, gray machine over 7 feet high. That was not what was so startling, it was what was inside that made his heart leap in his throat.
?Alliance monsters?? he mumbled. His mind screamed at him that his eyes could not be seeing right.
Looking absurdly small against such a large frame stood the glowing outline of a young woman. Her face was still, at peace. Down the left side of her body however was a clear gash, the wound looked fresh, the blood seemed to have stopped but by what means he could not guess.
Still mesmerized Wu-Fei was not paying attention as his partners began to work frantically. Snapping out of his brief spell he cursed his weakness and walked over to them as they examined the outer casing of the machine.
?This is where the energy reading we found is coming from. It apparently is not reliant on the computer system?? Wu-Fei and Sally nodded their concurrence as the taller man walked around the object to examine it, ?it is not even connected to it?? reaching round the back of the machine he found no wires, ?it appears to run off of it?s own power source, ?from within?.
?It is apparent the computer just illuminates the object. We will need to examine this further at headquarters. There is not much more we can do here.? Wu-Fei said as he tested the machines weight against his own.
Sally went about collecting up as much data from the computers as possible and when that began to seem futile she collected up the scattered remains of paperwork from the floor, desktops and walls.
?First we need to find out how long ago this experiment ended?? her hand clutched the memo tightly, ?I think I already know why?. ?How long have you been standing there, who are you ? Sally thought as she watched them begin to lower the machine to the ground ?and who did this to you? Sally ran her fingers along the outside of the glass tracing the girls wound.
?Onna ? Pay attention!? Sally?s head snapped up, ?It is not heavy, we can easily carry it out?? Wu-Fei began.
?But will it harm the girl to do so?? The preventer turned to face Sally, she could not see enough of his face to read his expression but to her his voice seemed? protective.
?Protective of this girl? a sly smile crept up threatening her concentration. She shook her head quickly trying to clear her mind, ?I have more important things to do that to think of new gossip? she chastised her poor timing and directed them to lower the object steadily to the ground.
?I am not entirely familiar with this sort of machine?.?she began.
Suddenly she paled, the words of the brief memo she picked up earlier roaring in her ears.
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Previous attempts made to reanimate collection with information from current research have proved fatal. Previous attempts to reanimate collection? have proved fatal, reanimate collection, collection.
***********************************************************
Her mind screamed with a sudden and complete understanding of this small unfeeling sentence?a collection, others.
?There are others,? she barely whispered as she bowed her head ?there? were others?. Noticing the two men waiting for her instructions looking quizzically towards her she cleared her throat to strengthen her resolve. 'We must move her? Adjusting herself for a more commanding approach Sally collected her equipment and prepared to head back.
?From what little I have found here it seems wiser and I believe safer for her if we transport this machine to headquarters for further examination.?
Both Preventers nodded their agreement before lifting the machine again and steadily retracing their steps to the surface.
AN: SO what do you think , lemme know, puh-leeze if you do I?ll write ya into the story somewhere ? living immortality up for grabs!
