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"Alternative Directions: Options "Written By: Karina Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the lovely
boys and their girls in the series. Wish I did. Please don't sue me.
I haven't even got a brass razoo to give you. Rating: Deffinately PG in Australia, at the moment,
but probably safer to say R for later chapters. Not sure about international
ratings Warnings: It will be 6x2, even though it does
not start out that way. After all, Zechs and Duo never met in Gundam
Wing and only spoke briefly over a com line in Endless Waltz. I've
tried to keep them in character as I saw them in the series. A bit
of language creeping in under stressful conditions. Pairings: eventual 6x2, past 2xH, 2+H,6x9, 1+R
Summary: Directions is set post Endless Waltz
and roughly 2 years have passed. Zechs and Noin are on Mars and Duo,
after spending some time with Hilde in a relationship leaves L2 to
join Preventers. Hilde was not happy about his decision. I guess enough
said. Here t'is, and I hope you like it. This is also AU for the standard
setting, as well as the series and Endless Waltz. Spoilers: Gundam Wing Series and Endless Waltz Many thanks to Dulin for volunteering to beta this. //... // thoughts
"Alternative Directions: Options"
2nd March AC 198 Sanc Stephansbourg The Coachman’s Rest Time: 05:45 [time has been adjusted] Quatre Quatre was not certain he had heard correctly. The fire crackled and flared, sparks shooting up the chimney and he drew the eiderdown tighter about him. Heero looked to be lost in another world entirely and he was uncertain his friend even realized where they were. He could feel something in Heero he equated to a feeling of distance; separating Heero from him even though they sat in the same room, not two feet from each other. Regardless of the sense of separation, he could feel other things from Heero; things that worried him. “Kushrenada or Merquise… had to die? Why?” Heero did not look at him, his eyes fastened unrelentingly on the flames. His gaze was so intense Quatre doubted he saw the flames at all and thought it doubtful Heero even realized he was sitting in the bedroom of an Inn, locked in by snow. He could feel a heaviness emanating from his friend, a weight pressing and Quatre wished he could reach out and comfort Heero. His empathy, having gifted him with the awareness of the weight compressing Heero’s stoic shoulders into a hunch, also told him this was not the right time to offer comfort. He was sure Heero was deliberately reaching for those memories, seeking to better understand them; determined that after so long he must finally understand what had taken place years ago. //Troubling as they seem to be, I think it would have been wiser for him to have sought out understanding of these memories soon after the war. I wonder if he even realizes I am here?// What did he do? To speak, to attempt to get Heero to talk to him before he was ready, might be to distract him from discerning details of that long ago day which might lend some clarity to what had happened. There was so much to speak of; that was the problem. Finding the words to speak of things no one in their right minds would wish to contemplate was not going to be easy. He just had to hope it would be possible. “I went to Luxembourg.” Heero’s quiet words were barely audible above the crackle of the flames and Quatre strained to hear what he had to say. Something about that day was disturbing his friend and he had known during that turbulent time he had not known what to say or do to comfort his friend. Now, years later, he could hope he could offer comfort; or at the least, some insight into past events. “I went to Luxembourg and I think I went there to… I think I was going there to kill him… or die myself. I thought… I thought if I killed Kushrenada I could end the war.” Heero pressed his face into his knees and shivered, and not with the cold pervading the room. What he sensed from his friend was a deeper cold; the cold of memory from a time best forgotten but impossible to forget. “Killing him would not have ended it and I understand that now, but then…” He was emanating so much tension, Quatre was surprised he did not hear the snap of bones, so tightly was Heero drawn in on himself. He was not much better, but Heero seemed to tighten up more with each passing second and surely something must break. “I though he was the root of all evil; the driving force behind everything that was wrong with the colonies.” “You were not the only one who thought that. And other things I now have to wonder about. We were taught what others believed and made to believe it was what we believed, what we wanted. We were young and naïve. They spoke so grandly of making the Colonies better places to live; that it was Earth holding us back. It was always the fault of Earth when something went wrong.” Quate ran a hand lightly over his eyes, shadowing his gaze as his memory was shadowed by darker days. Bringing light into those dark memories was not possible; they were still too raw, too fresh. It would take him many more years before he could deal calmly with that time. “My father said open conflict was not the way; there were other ways to deal with imagined and real slights. I did not listen to him and even now, after what we have lived through, after the way he died… I do not believe I was wrong in my assessment of the situation. I believe there comes a time when talking serves no useful purpose and it come’s down to having to fight for what we want. Some people are meant to defend what we have, while others take the diplomatic route and work toward the same goal. We need to take a firm stand somewhere in our lives and not give way at every turn. Always backing down means we make no headway. It leaves you open to being walked over and the colonies were prone to backing down and avoiding important issues. Look what they did when we became hunted. They never made their position clear, but waited to see which way the wind blew. In the past there has been too much of that.” “If you do not stand up to school yard bullies you can expect to have no end to the beatings and domination?” Heero’s eyes were once again trained on the flames, his frown deeper, darker. Quatre was surprised he spoke and proved he was listening. He had half expected Heero to remain stoically silent and focused on his thoughts. “Yes. There comes a time when we reach a point where we must acknowledge that more than talking is required and we must take that final step and fight for what we want. Though I will admit some times we do not exactly understand what it is we want. There is a difference between what we want and what we need.” “I was retrained so many times.” Heero raised his head, bright blue eyes trained on the rafters overhead. “I was weak. I kept making mistakes. Time and time again I was a disappointment. Dr. J was angry so often and I thought he was angry with me; because I kept failing.” He was not certain what it was he was sensing from Heero as he spoke of the old scientist. Quatre had his own ambiguous emotions when it came to the Doctor who had overseen the construction of Sandrock; he could not say if he blessed him or cursed him. One question Quatre could not and never would be able to answer, was what state the ESUN would be in now had none of them taken part in the war. What changes would have been wrought had Oz remained in control under Romefeller’s rule? Would Kushrenada have succeeded in wresting control away from Romefeller and if so what would the ESUN have been like beneath his sway? The Alliance would have fallen to Oz, he did not doubt that for a second, but what if Kushrenada had retained control? What if there had been no split in Oz, no faction fighting to see Kushrenada in confinement? What if. A dangerous and usually unfulfilling game. It was never a satisfying exercise to play with the What If’s of life. //Enough. What might have been and what is now are far from each other. Neither scenario factors in to the now. Whether it would have been for better or worse, it simply is what it now is. There is no need to pursue the past and ignore the future because it is inconvenient to see what has not changed, despite the sacrifices made to reach this point.// What he needed to concern himself with was why he was sitting here, in a country Inn in the back hills of Sanc, before a roaring log fire and cut off from the rest of the world? He was locked here by a force no man could control; the force of nature and perhaps by the hand of Allah. A long time ago he had determined that nothing happened by accident. There was always the hand of Allah to be found guiding them, though one usually failed to feel His touch. It was usually much later one wondered and realized what forces had moved one to act. //It’s freezing outside. I’ve been linked and sharing my lover’s nightmares, which I am certain are not nightmares but premonitions. I’ve kept Heero awake when from the look of him he is on the point of collapse, and given his fortitude, that is saying a great deal. We have been told, by the old man who bares a striking resemblance to the Father Chistmas of a bygone era, that Milliardo Peacecraft is a White King. Basically a user of magic. Primitive does not begin to describe the superstitions of Sanc’s mountain folk. You could swear they still exist in the Dark Ages, despite the advances in science and technology they embrace in the city. I guess the country folk are very different to their city cousins.// Hardly fair, he corrected himself. The old man had acknowledged readily enough Sally’s more modern explanation of the use of Psychic abilities. Personally he could not discount the idea of Psychics, being one himself and knowing what Trowa endured from these dreams he experienced. No, he could not discount the possibility Milliardo Peacecraft might have a similar gift. The question was, did he use these visions, if visions he entertained, for good or for ill? That was not so easily determined. “Epyon was not the Zero system” Heero was watching him, he realized; eyes dark with emotion and a curious expression on his face. Quatre could not quite describe the expression, but he was certain he did not like it. “It had to be the same system. The chances of two operating systems being developed so closely together and not being the same, or variations of the same system, are astronomical. Given the technology of the day the odds of chance are against the two systems being unrelated. My guess would be Kushrenada had to have stolen the plans for the Zero system and made his own modifications to it.” Heero sighed and subjected Quatre to a penetrating stare. “Are you sure you have that order correct, Quatre?” “Pardon?” “Why does it have to be Kushrenada who had to steal the plans for the Zero system? It takes months to build a mobile suit as complex as the Gundams, and Epyon was basically a Gundam, merely not of the same design as ours. He must have had the operating system ready to install before or soon after construction was begun; you know how complex a job it is to fine tune such a system and machine. Given what we know of what it takes to build a Gundam, why do we automatically think Kushrenada stole Zero? It could as easily have been the Scientists who stole the Epyon AI system’s design. The differences between the two systems could have been they did not understand what was behind its design and modified it to something they could understand. They created an analytical combat system. Is that not as feasible as thinking Kushrenada was the thief?” “I…” Quatre snapped his jaw shut and considered. Treize Kushrenada had to have had the sort of backing, separate from Romefeller, to have constructed a machine as complex as the Epyon. His back up had to be as extensive as any of the scientists who were backed by the Barton Foundation. He had the distinct impression Romefeller had not known of the development of the Epyon and perhaps not the later versions of the Tallgeese series either. Billions of credits were involved when one spoke of mobile suit design and the development of artificial intelligence units. Kushrenada had enjoyed the backing of the Romefeller organization for years and Quatre knew they were the first to create the viable mobile suit designs. His information sources suggested the scientists who had constructed the Gundams had originally worked for Romefeller and there had been nothing in the designs he had found on the computer on L4 that came close to what he knew of Epyon. Why could Heero not be right? “I suppose that is possible.” But if that was right, if it was Kushrenada who had developed his system and suit first, then why had Romefeller not used that design? They must not have had knowledge of the suit, or the operating system, which begged the question, who had backed the development of the Epyon? “Do you think your Doctor and his project team believed in psychic abilities?” Heero’s voice dragged him out of the mire he found himself stepping through. He was, he knew, going to need to consider that question. It might have an unhealthy impact on the ESUN if there was another group out there developing advanced mobile suits. It took a precious few seconds for him to register the question he was asked and another few seconds to consider how best to answer. “Ahm, no, not really. Well… No.” “You don’t sound too sure.” Heero had such compelling eyes. They bored into you, forcing you to concentrate on what you were being asked and demanding you focus. Giving in to the need of the moment, Quatre filed away the question of Kushrenada’s financing for later consideration. They had to get some sleep this day and he was so tired he physically ached. “Well, it was known when I was younger that I had… That I was prone to...well, feelings… about things… about people. I can’t say for sure what he thought, Heero. It was not something we talked about as a general rule; with anyone who was not immediate family.” Heero nodded slowly, blue eyes still intense. “J never mentioned psychic abilities in my hearing. We probably will never know if any of the scientists knew anything about Psychic talents. J was a scientist, he dealt in science fact, not speculation and he was brilliant at what he did. In all honesty I can’t see him entertaining such a fanciful notion as psionic ability. If you can not measure it, if you could not prove it existed to exacting scientific standards, then I doubt he would have acknowledged it could feasibly exist.” “One of those,” Quatre murmured. “Too may people are like that. They look at you as though you are insane and belong in a hospital for the mentally infirm. That is one of the reasons the family do not mention psionics to anyone not of the family.” “The point is moot. The Scientists are dead, after all. I had more than one occasion to study the design of the schematics for my Wing. I was required to memorize every line of it so I could work repairs at need. I was also required to have an understanding of the AI unit they were installing in Wing. There was nothing that I saw in Dr J’s computer files that resembled the Zero system. You found the design for the complete Zero system filed with the design specifications for Wing Zero?” “Yes. Yes, I did. It was just after my father died and I was… not quite sane at the time.” It was a period in his past that gave him nightmares; the memories lingering and coming alive in his dreams. “I knew where the Doctor’s bunker was and how to access the computer files. I do not know when I decided to go, but I found myself there and was not surprised when my old codes worked, giving me access to the installation. What surprises me now and did not at the time, was that I had access to previously sealed files and found the schematics for the Wing Zero and its dual operating systems. It is a little vague.” He blushed. “I do not have exactly clear memories of that time, but I built what I found on the computer.” Heero’s eyes gleamed. “The dual operating systems; that always intrigued me. Why did they decide to have the two operating systems in the one suit? Zero was more than capable of handling the suit.” Quatre rubbed absently at his jaw, recalling that shadowed hazy time when he had not been in his right mind. It was not until the shock of thinking he had killed Trowa that the world around him had come crashing into horrible clarity. “The ALICE system was the unit designed to handle the normal operational functions of the suit. The Zero system was the combat analytical unit, a system dedicated to combat calculations.” “I have a vague memory of Dr J talking to someone by vid link. I was waking from an intense training session that required I be injected with…” Heero shivered and shook his head slightly, dismissing the thought. He did not want to go there, into the darkness again. He had no desire to remember the trials of his past and the demands placed on him. He had been too young to understand what they had been doing to him, what they had been making him into. “He was arguing with someone over the merits of using a system they had not fully investigated. I recall him saying they needed more time to understand the complexities of the design.” “Zero was incredibly complex.” Quatre murmured. “I had not intended to use the Zero system. I was intending to use the Alice System instead, but I ran a test on the combat systems and I… I can’t exactly remember what happened. I don’t think I turned the Zero system off again… Not until I… killed Trowa.” He did not want to remember that horror. Allah, the pain he had felt through his empathy, the Zero system had fed him all of Trowa’s pain as the explosion had ripped his suit apart around him. It had been enough to force him out of the synaptic links with the system which had dominated him. //Zero fed me information, somehow amplifying my ability to feel others emotions and I reacted accordingly. Everyone was tense, expecting war, expecting to be attacked, seeing a threat everywhere. Zero reacted to my insecurities and instability and everyone and everything around me became a threat to me. It was a never ending cycle of feeding negative after negative into me. It was my decision to destroy everything I saw as a threat and Zero showed me how to remove it. I fed off of my own insecurities.// “I think Dr J at was afraid of the Zero system.” Heero’s voice forced him to focus on something other than the memories of that horror he would never be free of. “He considered Zero unstable, I think. I remember him saying he would not install it until he was sure of its function. I vaguely recall myself thinking I was the weak link, that whatever the new system was, I was not considered good enough to use it. I think it was more than just me being inferior to the task, I think he was not certain the system was capable of efficiently running the basic functions of a suit. I’m not sure what that suggests about the system.” “The ALICE system was designed to run the standard non combat functions of the Wing Zero.” Quatre stirred from his warm cocoon to take a turn at poking at the fire and threw another log on. “The two systems were designed to work in conjunction with and to compliment each other.” “I wish I could remember all of that conversation. J seemed disturbed after the call ended. I was expecting at least another two hours of tests, but he sent me to bed and said nothing about the test results. As I left I remember looking back, afraid he would change his mind and order me back to work, but he was turning back to the video unit. I think he intended to contact someone else. He was frowning and that claw was clicking, a fast, irritated rhythm. He only ever did that when he was upset about something he saw as a personal threat.” “The schematics for the Wing Zero were complete. The robotic exoskeleton was far more advanced than were the design specs for my Sandrock. I found listings for all of the parts required to construct Wing Zero stored in the bunker. It was intended to be built, an additional Gundam to be called on to fight the war. I have to wonder if it was intended I pilot the suit, since it was stored on L4, but if I was the intended pilot, surely something would have been said?” “Perhaps Dr. J’s reservations made a difference. It may have been experimental and deemed unsuitable for the purpose.” “I never knew my Doctor to be picky about weapons to deal with the Alliance and Oz. The final date on the Zero system files and the schematics for modifications was November AC194.” “When was the file originally logged into the computer?” Heero queried. “November AC 194.” “There must have been earlier versions of the design. From prototype to the final schematics.” “The file was dated AC 194. November.” “You saw no earlier files? No earlier versions, not even a discussion…” “No.” Quatre scowled, cutting Heero off cleanly. “No, I never found any other references to the Zero System in any of the files stored on the computer. There was only the one file containing the schematics for the suit and the two operating systems, with a brief note designating ALICE as the base operating system and ZERO as the combat AI. As I recall there were reference numbers, but when I tried to retrieve them all I could get was ‘file deleted’ messages.” He suspected, now in the cold light of sanity, that the Doctor may have been captured in the act of deleting related files from the system. He would not suggest it though; Heero was smart enough to have come to the same conclusion. The bunker had not been discovered so something must have stopped the Doctor from deleting the Zero folder. Perhaps he had simply run out of time? Yet surely he would have deleted that particular folder before other, less volatile references? “We may never know, but I think it likely they were still examining the system; modifying it to suit their purpose. It is possible, if the design was originally stolen from Kushrenada or who ever designed it, they were trying to understand it. If it was based on Epyon. They may have determined to build their own version, one they could understand; the Zero system. A system based purely on mathematics and sound science.” “If it was based on Epyon. If it was not designed by the scientists from the start. If it was in any way, shape or form related to Epyon.” Heero sighed. “Yes. I think it might be coincidence, that two systems were designed at two different locations, from purely independent bodies. But I think we will never know for sure.” In the following silence the fire spat and crackled as it caught on the new log. Quatre rubbed at his face, confused and aching in his heart to know what was happening out in space. Trowa was alone with the dream and he knew how his lover refused to acknowledge the prophetic elements of some of his nightmares. Worrying about Trowa would do him no good. However, there was not even the means available to contact him. Until the storm lifted they had no means of communicating beyond the sounds of their own voices. “Heero, you used both of the systems, the Epyon and the Zero. With that knowledge, tell me, what were the differences you most noticed between the two?” Heero looked like he wanted to pull his hair out by the roots, his fingers interlocked tightly together to stop such an action. “They were… vast. I… I don’t know how to explain it. It’s not just in how they calculated combat sequences, so much as… Zero I understood. It was… ah… logical? I think that might explain best what I felt from the system. I knew where I was with Zero. The system showed me who my enemies were, who I should fight to stay alive. How I should fight them to avoid a variety of options from happening, resulting either in my death or in the death and destruction of someone, or something, I wanted to protect. I would ask it who my enemy was and it would show me. It showed me what would happen in the combat leading from events leading up to the point I activated the system. I had no problem following the logic of the deductions.” Quatre brushed blonde hair from his eyes, looking thoughtful. “That is not how I experienced the Zero system. How did you deal with the Epyon?” Heero seemed to be struggling with whatever it was he wanted to say. Quatre watched the struggle on his face, the battle to decide what best to say, feeling his uncertainty, his confusion; his determination. Heero knew only too well for him to accurately assess the situation he needed facts, not supposition and it intrigued Quatre how much difficulty Heero was experiencing in how best to describe what he had felt from the system. “Epyon… lied.” The words were dragged out of him and he looked relieved to finally voice them. Quatre could feel the relief in Heero, the release of some of the tension. He was sure Heeo had thought he would not be able to say those simple words. “Epyon lied.” He repeated. The implications were mind boggling. If Heero had any idea of the implications he was suggesting, it was no wonder he had fought to get the words out. It suggested something about Epyon that was indeed very different to Zero. Artificial Intelligence systems were not designed to lie. “How exactly did Epyon lie?” “Well… It… “ The struggle now was more a reaching for words to describe the flood of emotion Quatre sensed surfacing. Heero wanted to talk. He wanted the words out, his confusion and suspicions to be aired and shared with another who could understand the oddities to be found in the system. Quatre had experienced Zero; it was a link between them few others could claim. All of the pilots at one stage or another had experienced Zero, but only three of them had flown it for an extended period of time. Quatre himself, Heero and Zechs Merquise. “Zero showed who the enemy was.” “Epyon, Heero. Forget Zero and tell me what you experienced when you piloted Epyon. I need to know what you experienced in that suit.” “It showed… It… Everyone… every face it showed, every person it showed me… Everyone was my enemy. People I had met, people I had never met. They were the enemy.” The words were coming faster now. “I knew the faces; the people it showed me were not my enemies. I knew it, Quatre. I had been fighting alongside some of those faces not an hour before and it showed them to me as my enemies. A multitude of faces, nameless faces who would kill me; they would be my enemy. I knew it was wrong, but it filled my mind and I could think of nothing but how the world was filled with people who were my enemy.” Quatre drew his knees up tight to him, locking his arms around his legs and rubbed his face into his knees. His fingers where they gripped his ankles were trembling. He rubbed his forehead into his knees, drawing them up close to him, gripping his ankles tightly enough that they hurt. “Everyone was your enemy, even your friends.” Quatre squeezed his eyes tightly shut. “Yes. It lied.” “No, Heero. Epyon did not lie.” His breath was warm on his knees and he wanted to sink into the floor, run away; escape the cold harsh reality surrounding him. “I think Epyon was trying to communicate with you, not to show you your enemies to kill, but to show you a basic fundamental of life.” Scowling, Heero shook his head, unable to understand where Quatre’s thoughts had taken him. “I don’t understand. What fundamental of life? Epyon lied. It played games with my head. Everyone was my enemy; everyone had to die because they were the enemy, they stood between me and…I don’t know what they separated me from, but they were my enemy. I knew they were not, but they… were.” Stiffening his back, Quatre straightened, lifting his head and capturing Heero’s eyes with his own. He was very sure of himself, though he was not quite certain how he had arrived at the conclusion he had. It was just… right. He was sure he was certain he understood and it led to some frightening conclusions and even more frightening questions. Answers and questions he was not eager to pursue at this time. “We all have the potential to be a friend or an enemy. The decisions we make every day affect how people react around us. We choose what happens to us and by making those decisions which, at the time they are made, seem to have nothing to do with anyone else. It’s deceptive. Everything we do affects the world around us. It has to have some level of impact on other people or places.” It was not going to be easy to find the right words, or the right way to say them. He knew what he was feeling; what he was trying to get across to Heero, but he was uncertain if he could make it as clear to his friend. “I suppose you could describe it as having the same effect as if you threw a stone into a still pond. Throw a stone into the water and you get ripples reaching out into the pond, moving further and wider until they all blend in together at the outer edges of the pond. All of those ripples, every single one of them, was brought into existence by the one action of throwing the stone into the water. If you threw that stone in the pond and waited a few seconds then threw a second stone into the water, what would happen?” Heero sniffed and rolled his eyes, but he was listening and he answered quickly enough. “More ripples.” “Yes, but you would not be able to get the stone into the exact same place as the first stone landed. The ripples it created would intersect and warp the preceding ripples from the first stone. The second stone would have changed the pattern of ripples that cross the pond and the more stones you threw into the pond, the more ripple effects you would have and the greater the changes you would effect to the original ripples.” Heero ran a hand through his uruly hair, looking annoyed. He plainly did not follow where Quatre was trying to lead. “So?” “So, because of the multiple ripple effects everything gets confused, mixed together.” “I understand that, but what does it mean, Quatre?” He really was not explaining this well. He could not blame Heero for misunderstanding when he was not certain exactly what he was trying to describe. The fault lay with him, with what he was trying to say and he was having more difficulty containing his empathy. Heero was honestly confused, not merely bull headed and unwilling to understand. “If I understand correctly what you have said, then I have to determine Epyon was indeed a different operating system to Zero. It is possible Epyon might have been designed and constructed for some specific person. Someone who had the ability to read and understand the effect of so many ripples in our fictional pond. Who could, theoretically, devise a path through the ripple effect. Someone who could design and follow a path to a clear resolution.” Silence fell between them, each considering the implications of Quatre’s assessment as the fire ate merrily at the wood and the room slowly warmed. They were tired, aching physically and mentally. Beyond the Inn the wind howled and the old building seemed a shield against the encroachment of the world. “I would hazard the suggestion there were similarities between the two systems. It would explain why my empathy was magnified and increased my grief and anger at my father’s death. It is possible, if Zero was a modification of the Epyon’s design, or a product of an earlier design specification of a prototype Epyon system; I think it possible it was a design intended to work specifically with a Psi mind.” “I think Epyon was designed for Zechs, ” Heero whispered and slowly straightened, inclining his head to look intently at Quatre. “What did you just say?” He had not been listening? Allah! Did he need to go over the whole thing again? “If Zero was an off shoot of a system that led ultimately to what became the Epyon system, then Zero was probably sensitive to the workings of someone who had psychic potential. That would explain why I went crazy on the overload of emotion I sensed from the colonies, not that I was not crazy before that point, but I really lost it when I got near the colonies after activating the Zero function..” Heero straightened, dropping the eiderdown around his waist and waving a hand negligently in the air. “No, what was it you called that psychic mind?” Quatre blinked and tried to recall exactly what it was he had said. “Ahm… Psi?” “Yes. Yes, that is it.” Heero’s eyes were bright, almost feverish. “That has to be it.” Quatre could pick up his mounting excitement; feel the rush of a jumble of emotions pushing aside his confusion. “That has to be what, Heero?” “Would you spell that p-s-i?” Quatre resisted the urge to scream. He was being swamped by the intensity and excitement in Heero and he was too tired to barrier. It was dangerous, this amount of emotion when he was so tired. “Yes. P.s.i. It is just an abbreviation of the word Psychic, which means ‘a person apparently sensitive to things beyond the natural range of perception’, or alternately, ‘affecting or influenced by the human mind’ and even ‘outside the sphere of physical sciences’.” Heero nodded, his thoughts racing and suddenly he was not so tired. A puzzle piece fitted the jigsaw and he motioned toward the wall of the room and the howling wind beyond the Inn. “It has to do with the Romefeller records Duo found and I told you about. The ones that contained the information on the Pilots of the Gundams were not the only ones we have access to. Both Treize Kushrenada and Zechs Merquise, aka Milliardo Peacecraft, have files in those records. Duo showed me, but we have not had time to break through the security coding the system files. From what I glimpsed, the security protocols will give my hacking skills a good, solid work out to break into the bulk of the records. There has not been enough time as yet to investigate, but both of their files contained the letters p-s-i in the code grouping heading their files.” “So… It probably denotes Psychic ability,” Quatre whispered. “If that is so… We really need to get into those files. We need to know what Romefeller may have if they are trying again to rise in the world order.” t.b.c.
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