Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ The Game ❯ Into The Game ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Category: Anime, Gundam Wing, Yaoi, Timeline-What-Timeline, Alternate Universe
Minor Anime: Trigun, Sailor Moon
Pairings: 1x2 main
Warnings: very light shonen ai
Author: Arigatomina
Email: arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com
Website: www . geocities . com / arigatomina

The Game

Part 3: “Into the game”

Heero and Duo were up an hour in advance the next morning, giving more than enough time to dress and still themselves for their first attempt at playing The Game.

Duo had washed his hair in the stripped shower-rooms the night before, so he merely combed it out – with his fingers since he hadn’t brought anything with him to the satellite. He braided it back up without any of the little slivers of metal he liked to keep in the folds. There wasn’t any point getting dismissed on the off chance that he might want to unlock a door or blow something up.

He was surprised, and secretly amused, to see that Heero was wearing the same jacket he’d had the last time he saw the boy – over a year ago. It was just like him not to replace perfectly serviceable clothing. The white shirt was different, though, and he’d exchanged his ugly puke-yellow sneakers for simple tan boots. Duo almost hadn’t brought a jacket with him, since he’d been living in the colonies so long the idea of cold weather was foreign to him. Luckily he’d snagged one at the last minute before boarding the shuttle. Now he slung on the black jacket with a smug look at Heero.

“You do realize that coat is long enough to get caught in anything you walk past,” Heero stated, frowning at Duo’s teasing expression.

“What do you think I’ll be walking past?” asked Duo, more playful than ever. “We’re just going into the amphitheater, right? It’s not like we’re going into…The Game.”

That last bit was said with a dramatic stage whisper that earned him a sharp twitch of Heero’s eyebrow. Duo grinned and reached back to fold down the collar of his coat. He tucked his dark blue shirt into his loose black slacks. Then he sat on the edge of his cot and laced up his thick boots. He was careful to do it slowly enough for Heero to scowl at his choice of footwear.

“Can you even walk in those?” Heero demanded. “The heels alone have to weigh at least five pounds.”

“Very good exercise,” Duo said cheekily. “And they look good on me, too, don’t you agree? Like they say, you should march confidently into battle. And the clothes make the man.”

Heero’s eyebrow twitched again. “Those two sayings do not go together, Duo.”

“Says you,” Duo smirked. “Are those pants of yours tight enough, Heero? Looks like they’ve shrunk a few sizes since the last time I saw you in them. That can’t be comfortable. Though…it is easy on the eyes.”

Heero’s head snapped down and he turned his back to Duo’s cot, his hand raising so he could rub his temple. He was trying to ignore the comment, to keep from saying anything that would give Duo another opening to tease him. A low whistle sounded from behind him and he bit back a growl. He turned just in time to see Duo’s gaze fly up to the ceiling, the boy’s quiet whistle turning innocent.

“What a nicely curved ceiling they have,” Duo remarked. His shoulders jerked a little with silent laughter. He could hear Heero’s quiet growl as surely as he could feel the glare heating his face.

“You’re in a very good mood,” a cheerful voice commented.

Heero scowled at the man who’d come to stand near their cots, but Duo flashed Wolfwood a bright smile. A moment later both Duo and Heero were frowning in surprise, their expressions very similar. Wolfwood was dressed in black, a plain long-sleeved shirt, loose slacks, and a simple belt. But it was his high collar that had caught their eyes. Heero stared hard at that. Then he shot a questioning look at Duo. Duo shook his head.

“Are you a priest…?” Duo asked Wolfwood.

Wolfwood blinked in surprise and glanced from Heero to Duo. Then he looked down at his outfit and gave a weak smile. “Not that I know of. I didn’t realize I looked that way. For a second there I thought maybe I’d left a bit of my clothing…undone.”

Duo laughed at that and waved a dismissive hand. “It just surprised me. I used to wear a collar like that. It would have been one strange coincidence if you’d been a priest.”

The two shared a quiet laugh, and Heero resumed his scowl.

For a brief second there, he’d almost accepted the idea of Duo being so friendly with the stranger. With Duo’s past, it would be natural for him to like someone outgoing who shared a similar religious background. True, Duo had only used his religion as a symbol – that old outfit he’d sported for years. He’d still been raised by a priest. Heero could easily see where Duo might be drawn to an acting priest, and that would have explained how Wolfwood could have such marksmanship without having acted in the military – self defense, without any killing. Since that wasn’t the case, he was back to resenting the man.

An announcement sounded in the room, warning of the approaching hour. The nine people in Heero’s group moved off toward the hall that led to the showers. The boring man who’d spoken to them the night before was waiting for them at the mouth of the hall. He inclined his head, did a count of them with his eyes, and told them to follow. He then led them past the door to the restrooms and bathing facilities. The hall ended in a door with a flickering red ‘Do Not Enter’ light above, and a new computer lock to the side. He opened that and motioned them inside.

The amphitheater was surprisingly small, perhaps half the size of the all-purpose room they’d come from. It was lit with blinding white lights along the ceiling, sterile things that didn’t flicker so much as glare down on the equipment below. There were nine computers set up along the walls, three each, and three more in the center of the room, which were arranged back-to-back in a circle. Three men sat at the center computers, and they didn’t so much as glance up when the participants entered the room.

The tired man stopped and turned to them. For the first time, he showed some flash of life in his eyes, his tone giving evidence of excitement by the way it wavered a bit higher than the monotone he’d used before.

“You will go in pairs,” he said quickly. “The teams will not be competing. There are multiple options, so we need different groups to make different approaches toward the ultimate goal. Pair up, please.”

Duo shot a surprised look at Wolfwood, wondering what became of the three extra people. He was startled when Heero snatched his wrist and jerked him a step away from the taller man. He almost laughed at the possessive glare Heero was sending Wolfwood.

“We’re partners, then?” Duo smiled.

“Yes,” Heero snapped, still glaring at Wolfwood and not relinquishing his tight grip on Duo’s wrist.

For his credit, Wolfwood took the incident well. He flashed Duo a weak smile and held his hands up in front of him, telling Heero he wasn’t going to threaten his claimed partner. The formerly tired man gave a quick nod to the three pairs.

“Each pair will be assigned a sniper and an interface. The interface is the direct feed to the programmer. You will obey him as the programmer, since he will be handing the orders directly to you.”

Heero glowered at the man, and Duo almost laughed, his grin very wide when he waved a hand at Wolfwood. His friend joined him and Heero with a wary look down at the bristling Japanese boy. Heero didn’t say a word. He just glowered all the more.

“I’ll be your interface,” a quiet voice spoke up. “It’s good to see you again, Heero, Duo.”

Wolfwood glanced over in surprise, a suspicious smirk pulling his lips. “Quatre. I might have known. I bet I have you to thank for my making it through the trial.”

Heero and Duo snapped around at the same moment, both shocked to see the blond boy. Quatre was wearing the white coat and suit of the three men in the center of the room. He gave them a pleasant, if slightly reserved smile, and then shook his head at Wolfwood.

“I didn’t interfere at all,” said Quatre. “You are the most apt sniper we’ve seen. And you couldn’t be with a better pair.”

Duo shook his head in bewilderment, not sure what to make of Quatre’s presence on the satellite, or his obvious role in the proceedings. Heero was quicker to react. He stepped forward and leveled a sharp look at his friend.

“Is the Winner family running this?” asked Heero.

Quatre sent a quick look over the other six men, making sure they were too far away to have heard Heero’s quiet statement. Then he drew the three a bit further.

“We are,” Quatre said quietly. “Or rather, the Winner Corporation is a large part of the endeavor. I didn’t plan to involve any of my friends in this, but since you’ve come of your own accord, I’m pleased to have you here. I won’t be going into the game, but at least I’ll be certain you have the most able link to the real world. I’ll be here to bring you home safely if anything goes awry.”

“Into the game,” Heero repeated, his eyes fairly gleaming. “Where did the technology come from, Quatre?”

Quatre glanced away, his expression very reserved. “We don’t know.”

He sent a faint smile at Duo and turned back to them. “I actually suspect the technology may be alien in origin, it’s that far removed from anything we’ve ever seen. But isn’t dangerous in itself. We simply haven’t been able to beat the game and learn what is at the root of it. That’s where you come in.”

The formerly tired, and now highly animated, man stepped over sharply and nodded to Quatre. “We are ready to proceed.”

Quatre nodded in return and handed a wristband to each of them, two reds to Duo and Wolfwood, and a blue one to Heero.

“These are your transponders,” said Quatre. “I’ll be able to track all of you through these, and to communicate through the blue. I take it Heero will be the natural leader of your team?”

This was stated with a faint smile that struck Duo as a ghost of Quatre’s old nature. He stared at the boy. While he’d only seen him for a few minutes, he could feel how much Quatre had changed since they’d all been together during the rebellion. He seemed harder, more distant. And it was almost painful to realize he didn’t feel as close to the boy as he would have expected, given all they’d gone through together. Where his reunion with Heero had been like slipping into comfortable shoes, this was akin to trying on a pair two sizes too small.

Heero had accepted the band. He gave Duo a light prod on the shoulder to make him snap out of his seemingly blank stare. Duo shook his head as if throwing off a bit of water. Then the three of them started to put on the bands.

“The moment they are in place,” Quatre said quickly, “I’ll start your game. Be warned that I cannot communicate with you unless you start the transmission – using the blue band. If you keep it active, I can follow you through the game. If it’s inactive, I can track your movements and that is all. If anything goes amiss, contact me.”

“Right,” Heero nodded sharply.

They wrapped the bands in place, threading them like watches so they were too snug to fall off. Then they followed Quatre to the three monitors on the right side wall, his own interface being the computer in the center facing that side of the room. They were told to stand in front of each computer and wait. No more than two minutes later, their bands were activated.

From Duo’s perspective, it looked as if the computer he’d been watching had suddenly grown very, very large. One minute he was standing and looking down at a screen that showed a purple background with a paler purple pillar of flame in the center. The next moment he was mere feet from a really tall and oddly cold flame, the sensation making his hands tingle. He stepped back without thinking. Heero quickly put a hand on his shoulder, making him aware that he and Wolfwood were in the same place with him.

It was a circular room of sorts, that tall pillar of cold flame taking up only a small portion of the center. Behind them was a dark purple wall that seemed to be made of cotton candy, or smoke – it had the appearance of texture and of being insubstantial at the same time. To their left were three arcing doorways that looked to be openings to pitch blackness. Three more arches stood on the other side of the flame. There seemed to be words written above each of the doorways, but they didn’t have time to make them out.

The flame suddenly billowed and grew warmer. And the figure of a tall, slender woman appeared to be standing in the center of it, her short dress almost the same color as the blue-violet flame, and her straight greenish black hair falling nearly to her feet. She was holding a tall staff with a purple ball at the top, held in an ornamental arch. She smiled when the three of them stared at her.

“Welcome,” the woman greeted in soft Japanese, “I am the guide.”

Duo shot Heero a startled look, and Quatre’s voice sounded quietly from Heero’s blue wristband.

“The game uses the native language of the majority of the players,” said Quatre. “Since Heero and Wolfwood are natively Japanese, the game will most likely keep that as the main language. Do you know enough Japanese to communicate, Duo?”

“Sure,” Duo said faintly. “If I didn’t, I could always use Heero to translate for me…”

He was staring at the woman. Her smile had changed when Quatre spoke. Now she was giving them an oddly disconcerting smile, a knowing and pleased one that made him wonder if he should be distrustful of a game character. She looked so real…

“I am the guide,” the woman repeated gently. “You may call me Setsuna, or merely guide, as you choose. As you see,” she waved a white-gloved hand at the doorways, “you have six portals available to you. You will choose one and enter. The task will be given once you’ve entered the portal. Upon completion, you will return here.”

The moment she waved at the doors, turning in a circle in the midst of that purple flame, the symbols above the portals became legible. They were written in bold kanji, impossible for Duo to read. He might have picked up enough Japanese to communicate verbally, but he couldn’t read a word of the text. Heero knew this, so he nodded at each one.

“The first door,” said Heero, “reads ‘Gunslinger,’ second door ‘Fantasy,’ third door ‘Samurai,’ fourth door ‘Demons,’ fifth door ‘Magic,’ and the sixth door ‘Random.’ They’re numbered as well.”

Duo nodded, his eyes starting to glow. “It’s like a choose your own adventure novel. I’ve heard about games like that. I want to try ‘Fantasy.’”

“I’d be more for the ‘Gunslinger,’ myself,” Wolfwood smirked, “since that’s about the only thing I’m good at.”

“Random,” Quatre’s voice sounded. “We believe you have to pass each realm eventually, and Random gives you realms that aren’t available as portals. You may still end up in one of the portals here, but Random is the only way to get to the other places at the start of the game.”

Heero frowned at that, namely because Duo was sulking quietly. But Quatre would know more about the game. He caught Duo’s gaze and raised an eyebrow. Duo sighed and shrugged his shoulder.

“Random it is,” said Duo.

“To enter,” said Setsuna, “step into the portal of your choice. Step together, lest you be rejected and members lost.”

That subtle warning made Duo flash the ‘woman’ a playful glower. He was startled when she returned his glower with a teasing wink. Again, he marveled at how real she seemed. Then he shook the thought off and moved to stand in front of the chosen arch, Heero and Wolfwood to either side of him. There was just enough room for them to step together. Duo caught their hands, just in case. Then they walked into the seeming void.

.-.
TBC