Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ The Game ❯ Leaving the game ( Chapter 17 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Arigatomina 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.26.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 287 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.26.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 287 | Status: Work In Progress
Notes: This part is almost entirely dialogue.
The Game
Part 17: “Leaving the game”
They might have expected the real world to feel different after being in the game so long. It came as a dull surprise that the satellite seemed stale compared to the realms they'd gone through. The air itself was circulated and filtered continually, and they couldn't help but smell it. The stark, lifeless interior of the satellite appeared too bland, almost as if the game were reality and this were the sterile simulation. The very idea had Duo's nerves on end. How difficult would it be for the game to fashion a copy of their own realm, limited to the satellite as it was, and trick them into thinking they were unobserved?
He didn't want to dwell on that. If he started thinking of the game that way, he'd switch into paranoid mode and that was no way to act when Quatre was finally going to share some of his secrets with them. Despite how quickly they'd exited the game, Quatre didn't seem in a hurry to fill them in. Duo wasn't going to do anything that might make him change his mind.
They'd left the game the same way they'd entered, one moment they were in front of Setsuna and the next they were looking down at a view of her on the computer in front of each of them. Quatre had turned from the computer behind them and invited them to one of the back halls for a quick medical test. They hadn't thought to protest, but Duo had wondered at how quiet the amphitheater was when they arrived. The other two teams they'd gone in with were gone, along with the two interfaces who'd been assigned to them. Heero looked like he wanted to say something about their absence but chose to wait. It was a little harder for Duo to exhibit the same patience. He'd never been good at holding in curiosity, especially about matters that might affect him and his friends.
The exams were quick, but efficient. Although Duo had never studied medical equipment, he was pretty sure one of the tests included a scan to monitor his brain activity. It left him biting his lip to keep from snickering. If there was some radiation involved in 'entering' the game, they'd have infected everyone - including the racoon-eyed man running the tests. The idea of being tested for insanity, radiation-induced or not, left him wanting to laugh. If they were worried about that, they should have run the test before they let him in. He'd always been told he was a little insane.
When he was escorted down one of those back halls and into a small office, Heero was waiting for him. Duo flashed him a teasing grin and took the seat beside him. The office was little more than a rectangular white room, half filled by a large metal desk with one chair behind and two in front. Nothing adorned the walls and Duo was convinced Quatre hadn't been using it for long. Compared to the office building he'd found Quatre in the last time he'd visited a Winner site, this place was far too stark and ugly. Quatre fancied comfortable surroundings that put the mind at ease. This office made Duo want to squirm in his chair. It matched Heero better than it did Quatre.
"How did the tests go?" asked Duo. "The guy running mine wouldn't say a word about the results."
"That means he didn't find anything," Heero shrugged. "I don't know what they were looking for, but we're in the same condition now as we were when we first entered. The technician running mine said it was routine. They've never found any anomalies, which is strange in itself. So they keep checking everyone who comes out of the game."
"Hm, so you got the talkative guy. Not sure how that happened."
Heero didn't say anything, so Duo looked over the room again. There was no more to see this time than there had been a moment ago. He shifted in his chair again. It was quite uncomfortable, plastic, maybe, but hard and cold.
"Only two chairs," Duo commented. "You think Quatre's talking to Wolfwood separately?"
"No reason he would," said Heero.
Duo's eyes widened and he bit his lip to keep from grinning. Even after a year, he could hear the suspicious vehement 'Yes!' in Heero's bored monotone response. Did Heero think the room was bugged? Maybe Duo wasn't the only one prone to paranoia after being in the game so long. They'd agreed Quatre was hiding something, but that still didn't explain how completely Heero had gone into defensive stoic mode. He might as well have been preparing himself to be questioned by the enemy. If Duo hadn't been feeling rather paranoid himself, he might have laughed at how cute it was.
The door opened and Quatre took a seat in the stiff chair across the table from them. Duo looked over his serious expression and decided to stick with the direct approach.
"Where's Wolfwood?" asked Duo.
Quatre winced and glanced at the door. Guilt flashed over his face for a long moment as the silence stretched between them. Then he set a small ring on the table. Duo flinched at the sight of it.
He'd first noticed the ring when he was getting prepped for the examination. The racoon-eyed man had asked him to leave his jacket and any metallic objects he might have. Duo had wondered about the blue bracelet he'd worn into the game and had been shocked to find that it was no longer on his wrist. He'd been wearing it so long that he'd almost forgotten it was there. The wristband had been replaced by a small ring on his middle finger. It had a thin band and a round crest on the front, in some sort of pale white material. Symbols flashed over the top of it, changing colors like the fire in the portal had done, and the technician had said their rings would flash white when their time was almost up. He'd also warned Duo not to take the wring off if he planned to resume his game before the time was up.
"What happened!" Duo asked sharply. "Did something-"
"He's fine," Quatre said quickly. "Fine. He just won't be going back into the game."
"You planned on that," said Heero, "when you told us to exit."
Quatre nodded. "Wolfwood was put with the two of you for a reason. He wanted to try the game, and I agreed to let him participate in the tests, but I wouldn't have trusted him with any other team. He's been very useful. But...it's too dangerous for him to continue playing. That last realm proves it. We've only had one other team go to a realm like that. They weren't as dedicated to completing the task as you were. They got personally involved. And the results..."
Quatre was staring at the ring with a cloudy expression. Duo shook his head in confusion. He was filled with an urge to protest. Loudly. He shot a grateful look when Heero did it for him, in a much calmer tone than he could have managed.
"What does that have to do with Wolfwood?" asked Heero.
"I let him go in with you for two reasons," Quatre said, in an almost casual tone. He didn't look up, though. "One, because I knew the two of you would act with caution. Two, because it was the best way to show you what the game really is. Wolfwood is a game character. He doesn't need the ring to go into the game because he came from the game. He was drawn out by a former player three months ago."
Duo's mouth opened, but no sound came out.
"His 'accident'," said Heero.
Quatre looked up and gave a slow nod. He didn't seem surprised by how sharp Heero's tone was, or how easily he took the revelation.
"How?"
"It was a mistake," said Quatre. "Sometimes when you complete a task, your import characters are drawn into the portal with you. If you use a resume with active characters, they are taken out with you. We didn't know there was a time limit. Import characters aren't given rings to show when the resume is nearing its limit. We didn't send him back in time."
"So he lost his memory?" Duo stared. "The game should have taken him back when the limit was up. Just disappeared like we did at the end of the 'Light Trip.' But...he couldn't have even come out because..."
"They're not real?" Quatre finished softly. "That's what we thought at first. You suspected it, didn't you, Heero. The more realms you visit, the more...people...you talk to... Even without that last realm, you would have noticed eventually. As far as we can tell, every one of those realms is as real as our own world. And some of them are more than that. The same people may exist in multiple realms. They're the same, but they aren't. There's a status that must be maintained in each. When you went into that last realm, you replaced other versions of yourselves. The game won't allow two of the same person to exist in a realm, it is...programmed...to prevent that. To maintain the balance. When we took Wolfwood out, we affected that balance."
"Did you try to send him back?" asked Heero.
Duo flinched at that. "How? We know him. We can't just go up to him and tell him, oh, by the way, you're a game character so we're gonna send you back now." He shot a disbelieving look at Quatre. "You should have told him. If he lost his memory when the limit was up, you must have given him a new one. That story about an 'accident'. Why would you do that?"
Quatre didn't get defensive the way Duo had expected him to. Instead, he looked sad, like he was disappointed that Duo didn't have more sympathy. Sympathy for what?
"He wanted out," said Quatre. "When the team first went into his realm and later imported him into another task, he was intrigued by the game. Other import characters had reacted so annoyed that we were surprised to find one so willing to be imported for multiple tasks. One of the players had replaced someone important to him in that first task. She got personally involved. So when she imported him later and learned that he'd died in his world, she quit the game.
"We only had two teams back then. The other team hadn't visited that realm. When they did, at the original task, they intentionally tried to bring him out. I - we didn't know it was possible. We still don't know how they learned the game would let them bring characters out. We were monitoring both teams, but there are some realms we can't follow them into. We had no idea what they were planning. Then...then, we were struck by the chance to study him. He had no memory of the first team, but he was just as eager to learn about the game as he had been before. Once I had a chance to meet him myself..."
He shook his head, still staring intently at Duo, as if willing him to understand. "We didn't know he'd lose his memory. That wasn't intentional at all. But I can't in good conscience send him back to his world knowing he's going to die in a matter of months. I didn't even want him going back in as a player, but...his curiosity about the game hasn't changed. When I learned that the two of you were here, and that you'd made friends with him on your own, I decided to give him what he wanted. For a while. The more realms you visit, the more dangerous things will become. If you don't go back into his realm willingly, the game will attempt to incorporate him another way. To maintain the balance. I won't risk that."
"Explain the reasons," said Heero. "The two reasons our presence here made you decide to let him go back in. The first is the realm we failed. The second doesn't hold. If we would have discovered the 'characters' were real eventually, there was no need to use Wolfwood."
"The realm we failed?" asked Duo, frowning at Heero. "That guy. He thought he recognized Wolfwood the way Hilde thought she knew me. But we weren't in any danger in that realm, we just couldn't figure out the task."
"I believe that realm was fixed," said Quatre. "Set up from the start so that you would fail. That was Wolfwood's original world. I didn't recognize it immediately, but it's the only realm where you were given an option to replace one of the players with an import character."
Duo shook his head in confusion. "Why would it do that? If it wanted us to screw up so it could take Wolfwood back, why would it give us a chance to trade him out for someone else before we started?"
"Because the offer was given before we started," Heero said slowly. "We couldn't have known what would happen, but by giving us an out, it was giving us at least some slight chance of avoiding the planned failure."
He sent a look at Quatre. "Have the other teams had similar problems with that realm?"
"They can't go there at all," said Quatre. "We haven't seen that realm since Wolfwood was drawn out. It's the Gunslinger realm. Everyone else who has started a fresh game has gotten only five realms available to them. It wasn't even available through Random. I had hoped as long as you didn't enter the realm itself, you wouldn't be drawn there."
"Gunslinger," Duo murmured. "That's the realm Wolfwood wanted when we first went in. If we'd gone there from the start..."
"Some part of him remembers," said Heero. "Like his skill with firearms."
"Yes," admitted Quatre. "And if he's imported back into the game, he'll take his place in his own world without any memory of having left. The Game doesn't just connect worlds, it twists time to suit its purposes. Anyone incorporated into the game is indistinguishable from the other characters. The same goes for players..."
"Setsuna said that," Duo remembered, "when we were talking about retrying that realm. She said a second failure would end with one of us being incorporated. Lost. But if Wolfwood was a character to begin with, it would have been putting him back into the world he was born in."
"The threat isn't limited to characters," said Quatre. "Players who die, or who fail a realm on two attempts are incorporated. And there's no way to know which realm they are taken into..."
Quatre's voice had grown hushed. He sent a look over Duo and Heero, one that was heated with a desperate gleam in his eyes, but was somehow subdued at the same time, a shadow of the passion he'd shown as a pilot.
"After the last tests failed, I thought using men with a military backgrounds would be better. They have more discipline. But the two of you have been approaching this like...a game. You're taking your time. And yet you've still gotten further than any of the teams we've sent. I can't keep endangering Wolfwood, but...I need your help. Trowa was taken into the game. If we can find him, we can bring him back out."
Duo's eyes widened. "Quatre...how long...?"
Quatre took a deep breath and stared him in the eye. "It's been almost five months. I thought I could play the game myself to find him, but my family found out. They don't understand what the game is. No...no, it's not that they don't understand. They don't care what it is. If I go in and fail, if something happens, they'll shut the entire project down. One of my brother-in laws found the participants for the first try. After that... I haven't spoken with them since the second team brought Wolfwood out. I'm doing this entirely by myself. I have the resources - it shouldn't be this hard...! There must be a way to find someone in the game. We tested the teams so carefully and still, eight of them have dropped out. None of them have learned nearly as much as you have. We didn't even know they had items in the game, let alone ones to heal people."
Heero had closed his expression off to the point where Duo couldn't read it anymore. Not that he was trying. Duo felt that he should have known. He had known. He'd thought earlier that if Quatre got involved in a project this big, he would have had Trowa involved as well. And he'd been so sure the two had resolved their differences after the rebellion. They should have been together. The changes in Quatre's personality suddenly made sense. He sounded so frustrated, angry even. At the same time he looked like he would have liked a shoulder to cry on, but wouldn't let himself do it. Because the moment he broke down, he'd give up hope and that was something Quatre would never do.
"You should have contacted us immediately," said Heero.
He was angry. Duo turned in his chair to look at Heero's expression. Clear anger, written in the way his dark blue eyes were narrowed and sharp, cutting Quatre to the quick. Duo understood why Heero would be annoyed, but not as angry as that. They'd both been bothered by Quatre's strange behavior, by the fact that he was keeping secrets, and...they'd been bothered by the fact that Quatre hadn't intended any of them to find out what he was doing. But it was natural. Duo knew Heero would have done the same thing if he'd been in Quatre's position. Having lost one comrade, he'd never risk losing another. Why was Heero so angry to find that Quatre had done just what he would have done?
"At the very least, you should have explained before we entered the game," glared Heero.
Quatre didn't even attempt to argue with that. He dropped his eyes and toyed with Wolfwood's ring. "I didn't think you would believe me if I had explained that the game connects unknown worlds and has the capability of incorporating people into itself. I didn't want to risk losing anyone else, but...you came here on your own. I couldn't not take advantage of the chance that you might succeed."
Suddenly, Quatre looked far too young to have fought in a war, killed people, and lost loved ones. Duo couldn't stand to see him like that. It was too familiar. Like the last time Trowa had been lost...and found, with no memory of any of them. Too familiar. Because this was the same, wasn't it?
"That realm we just went to," said Duo, tentatively. "There was a Trowa there. But they had powers and a history in that world. If we find him, he won't remember anything about us, will he."
"I don't know," Quatre admitted, without looking up. "He belongs here. But...if we find him and know that he's safe and happy, that would be enough. There are so many dangerous realms he could have been taken into..."
"But we won't know if it's him," said Duo. "That's what I meant. If the same people are in different realms - multiple versions of the same people - we won't know which one is our Trowa. He can't tell us if he doesn't remember."
"There were shadowed profiles in the last realm," said Heero. He didn't lose his glare, but it softened, just a bit, when Duo looked at him. "The only ones that weren't shadowed were Hilde, Wufei, Zechs, and the blue-haired one. The Game may register only one importable version of each person. A former player should stand as the only 'usable' version of that person. The Game offered a slight chance to get around losing Wolfwood in that realm - possibly a way to avoid failing at all. There's reason to suspect it would give a similar slim but real chance to take back a lost player."
Duo straightened slowly. "So if we can find a Trowa whose profile isn't shadowed, we'd have the right one!"
"Most likely," said Heero.
Heero turned his glare back to Quatre, who was still staring at his hands. He was furious that Quatre hadn't told them sooner - preferably before they started playing. But more than that, he felt threatened. The Game was impossible and real at the same time. And the ramifications of it were astounding. As a weapon. He'd seen some of the 'powers' in those realms during their time in Wanderweb's library. There were creatures and people with inhuman abilities. Being able to bring them into the real world with blank memories... Anyone who got control of the game could take them and mold them any way he wanted. The Game would be a horrible source of ready, living, weapons. And somehow it had fallen into Quatre's hands?
"Where did the game come from?" demanded Heero. "Why hasn't a military faction used it, yet?"
Quatre flinched and raised wide eyes to him. "I would never allow that! Never. I've already arranged for my copy of it to be disabled and destroyed should anything happen to me. As far as I know, mine is the only copy. It will stay that way."
"Where?" Heero pressed.
Quatre sighed and dropped his eyes once more. "I don't know where, Heero. I never had a chance to ask. Trowa found it. Or maybe it found him..."
There it was again. Duo almost shivered at the idea of The Game and the unknown entity behind it. He was suddenly sure that Quatre was right about there being only one copy. Only one copy in their world, anyway.
"Hey, Quatre?" Duo said, almost whisper soft.
Quatre looked up, surprised by the soft tone. "Yes?"
"Do the teams have to use three people?"
Quatre's pale blue-green eyes widened, and Duo flashed him one of his classic grins.
"I can't speak for Heero," Duo beamed, "but I'm not about to quit now. If it's too dangerous for Wolfwood to keep playing, then that's just the way it is. I'd never leave a friend trapped in some game, especially when we don't know who or what is behind the thing. You know me. I'm not one for giving up when a friend's in trouble."
Heero sighed. He'd hoped Duo would be a little more resentful at having been left in the dark so long. He had no intention of letting him go back into the game alone, but he wasn't about to be as affable about helping Quatre. Heero stood up and waved at the ring on the table.
"That's the red band," said Heero. "It stays off. We'll continue playing, but we aren't taking you along for the ride. You can track the realms we visit with the blue bands. When we learn something, we'll activate the band and tell you. Until then, you can monitor your other teams and wait."
Duo winced at Heero's harsh tone. Quatre looked stricken for a moment, before his expression settled into guilt and gratitude. He offered the ring to Duo without a word.
"Don't worry so much," Duo smiled. "I'll keep you updated. We'll definitely find Trowa. It's like you said, right? If anyone can do it, it's the two of us."
.-.
TBC
Notes: Whoot! Next up we have a mini-arc. I expect five parts. Hopefully some of the chapters will be rather long. And no, we haven't seen the last of Wolfwood. I wouldn't do that. :)
The Game
Part 17: “Leaving the game”
They might have expected the real world to feel different after being in the game so long. It came as a dull surprise that the satellite seemed stale compared to the realms they'd gone through. The air itself was circulated and filtered continually, and they couldn't help but smell it. The stark, lifeless interior of the satellite appeared too bland, almost as if the game were reality and this were the sterile simulation. The very idea had Duo's nerves on end. How difficult would it be for the game to fashion a copy of their own realm, limited to the satellite as it was, and trick them into thinking they were unobserved?
He didn't want to dwell on that. If he started thinking of the game that way, he'd switch into paranoid mode and that was no way to act when Quatre was finally going to share some of his secrets with them. Despite how quickly they'd exited the game, Quatre didn't seem in a hurry to fill them in. Duo wasn't going to do anything that might make him change his mind.
They'd left the game the same way they'd entered, one moment they were in front of Setsuna and the next they were looking down at a view of her on the computer in front of each of them. Quatre had turned from the computer behind them and invited them to one of the back halls for a quick medical test. They hadn't thought to protest, but Duo had wondered at how quiet the amphitheater was when they arrived. The other two teams they'd gone in with were gone, along with the two interfaces who'd been assigned to them. Heero looked like he wanted to say something about their absence but chose to wait. It was a little harder for Duo to exhibit the same patience. He'd never been good at holding in curiosity, especially about matters that might affect him and his friends.
The exams were quick, but efficient. Although Duo had never studied medical equipment, he was pretty sure one of the tests included a scan to monitor his brain activity. It left him biting his lip to keep from snickering. If there was some radiation involved in 'entering' the game, they'd have infected everyone - including the racoon-eyed man running the tests. The idea of being tested for insanity, radiation-induced or not, left him wanting to laugh. If they were worried about that, they should have run the test before they let him in. He'd always been told he was a little insane.
When he was escorted down one of those back halls and into a small office, Heero was waiting for him. Duo flashed him a teasing grin and took the seat beside him. The office was little more than a rectangular white room, half filled by a large metal desk with one chair behind and two in front. Nothing adorned the walls and Duo was convinced Quatre hadn't been using it for long. Compared to the office building he'd found Quatre in the last time he'd visited a Winner site, this place was far too stark and ugly. Quatre fancied comfortable surroundings that put the mind at ease. This office made Duo want to squirm in his chair. It matched Heero better than it did Quatre.
"How did the tests go?" asked Duo. "The guy running mine wouldn't say a word about the results."
"That means he didn't find anything," Heero shrugged. "I don't know what they were looking for, but we're in the same condition now as we were when we first entered. The technician running mine said it was routine. They've never found any anomalies, which is strange in itself. So they keep checking everyone who comes out of the game."
"Hm, so you got the talkative guy. Not sure how that happened."
Heero didn't say anything, so Duo looked over the room again. There was no more to see this time than there had been a moment ago. He shifted in his chair again. It was quite uncomfortable, plastic, maybe, but hard and cold.
"Only two chairs," Duo commented. "You think Quatre's talking to Wolfwood separately?"
"No reason he would," said Heero.
Duo's eyes widened and he bit his lip to keep from grinning. Even after a year, he could hear the suspicious vehement 'Yes!' in Heero's bored monotone response. Did Heero think the room was bugged? Maybe Duo wasn't the only one prone to paranoia after being in the game so long. They'd agreed Quatre was hiding something, but that still didn't explain how completely Heero had gone into defensive stoic mode. He might as well have been preparing himself to be questioned by the enemy. If Duo hadn't been feeling rather paranoid himself, he might have laughed at how cute it was.
The door opened and Quatre took a seat in the stiff chair across the table from them. Duo looked over his serious expression and decided to stick with the direct approach.
"Where's Wolfwood?" asked Duo.
Quatre winced and glanced at the door. Guilt flashed over his face for a long moment as the silence stretched between them. Then he set a small ring on the table. Duo flinched at the sight of it.
He'd first noticed the ring when he was getting prepped for the examination. The racoon-eyed man had asked him to leave his jacket and any metallic objects he might have. Duo had wondered about the blue bracelet he'd worn into the game and had been shocked to find that it was no longer on his wrist. He'd been wearing it so long that he'd almost forgotten it was there. The wristband had been replaced by a small ring on his middle finger. It had a thin band and a round crest on the front, in some sort of pale white material. Symbols flashed over the top of it, changing colors like the fire in the portal had done, and the technician had said their rings would flash white when their time was almost up. He'd also warned Duo not to take the wring off if he planned to resume his game before the time was up.
"What happened!" Duo asked sharply. "Did something-"
"He's fine," Quatre said quickly. "Fine. He just won't be going back into the game."
"You planned on that," said Heero, "when you told us to exit."
Quatre nodded. "Wolfwood was put with the two of you for a reason. He wanted to try the game, and I agreed to let him participate in the tests, but I wouldn't have trusted him with any other team. He's been very useful. But...it's too dangerous for him to continue playing. That last realm proves it. We've only had one other team go to a realm like that. They weren't as dedicated to completing the task as you were. They got personally involved. And the results..."
Quatre was staring at the ring with a cloudy expression. Duo shook his head in confusion. He was filled with an urge to protest. Loudly. He shot a grateful look when Heero did it for him, in a much calmer tone than he could have managed.
"What does that have to do with Wolfwood?" asked Heero.
"I let him go in with you for two reasons," Quatre said, in an almost casual tone. He didn't look up, though. "One, because I knew the two of you would act with caution. Two, because it was the best way to show you what the game really is. Wolfwood is a game character. He doesn't need the ring to go into the game because he came from the game. He was drawn out by a former player three months ago."
Duo's mouth opened, but no sound came out.
"His 'accident'," said Heero.
Quatre looked up and gave a slow nod. He didn't seem surprised by how sharp Heero's tone was, or how easily he took the revelation.
"How?"
"It was a mistake," said Quatre. "Sometimes when you complete a task, your import characters are drawn into the portal with you. If you use a resume with active characters, they are taken out with you. We didn't know there was a time limit. Import characters aren't given rings to show when the resume is nearing its limit. We didn't send him back in time."
"So he lost his memory?" Duo stared. "The game should have taken him back when the limit was up. Just disappeared like we did at the end of the 'Light Trip.' But...he couldn't have even come out because..."
"They're not real?" Quatre finished softly. "That's what we thought at first. You suspected it, didn't you, Heero. The more realms you visit, the more...people...you talk to... Even without that last realm, you would have noticed eventually. As far as we can tell, every one of those realms is as real as our own world. And some of them are more than that. The same people may exist in multiple realms. They're the same, but they aren't. There's a status that must be maintained in each. When you went into that last realm, you replaced other versions of yourselves. The game won't allow two of the same person to exist in a realm, it is...programmed...to prevent that. To maintain the balance. When we took Wolfwood out, we affected that balance."
"Did you try to send him back?" asked Heero.
Duo flinched at that. "How? We know him. We can't just go up to him and tell him, oh, by the way, you're a game character so we're gonna send you back now." He shot a disbelieving look at Quatre. "You should have told him. If he lost his memory when the limit was up, you must have given him a new one. That story about an 'accident'. Why would you do that?"
Quatre didn't get defensive the way Duo had expected him to. Instead, he looked sad, like he was disappointed that Duo didn't have more sympathy. Sympathy for what?
"He wanted out," said Quatre. "When the team first went into his realm and later imported him into another task, he was intrigued by the game. Other import characters had reacted so annoyed that we were surprised to find one so willing to be imported for multiple tasks. One of the players had replaced someone important to him in that first task. She got personally involved. So when she imported him later and learned that he'd died in his world, she quit the game.
"We only had two teams back then. The other team hadn't visited that realm. When they did, at the original task, they intentionally tried to bring him out. I - we didn't know it was possible. We still don't know how they learned the game would let them bring characters out. We were monitoring both teams, but there are some realms we can't follow them into. We had no idea what they were planning. Then...then, we were struck by the chance to study him. He had no memory of the first team, but he was just as eager to learn about the game as he had been before. Once I had a chance to meet him myself..."
He shook his head, still staring intently at Duo, as if willing him to understand. "We didn't know he'd lose his memory. That wasn't intentional at all. But I can't in good conscience send him back to his world knowing he's going to die in a matter of months. I didn't even want him going back in as a player, but...his curiosity about the game hasn't changed. When I learned that the two of you were here, and that you'd made friends with him on your own, I decided to give him what he wanted. For a while. The more realms you visit, the more dangerous things will become. If you don't go back into his realm willingly, the game will attempt to incorporate him another way. To maintain the balance. I won't risk that."
"Explain the reasons," said Heero. "The two reasons our presence here made you decide to let him go back in. The first is the realm we failed. The second doesn't hold. If we would have discovered the 'characters' were real eventually, there was no need to use Wolfwood."
"The realm we failed?" asked Duo, frowning at Heero. "That guy. He thought he recognized Wolfwood the way Hilde thought she knew me. But we weren't in any danger in that realm, we just couldn't figure out the task."
"I believe that realm was fixed," said Quatre. "Set up from the start so that you would fail. That was Wolfwood's original world. I didn't recognize it immediately, but it's the only realm where you were given an option to replace one of the players with an import character."
Duo shook his head in confusion. "Why would it do that? If it wanted us to screw up so it could take Wolfwood back, why would it give us a chance to trade him out for someone else before we started?"
"Because the offer was given before we started," Heero said slowly. "We couldn't have known what would happen, but by giving us an out, it was giving us at least some slight chance of avoiding the planned failure."
He sent a look at Quatre. "Have the other teams had similar problems with that realm?"
"They can't go there at all," said Quatre. "We haven't seen that realm since Wolfwood was drawn out. It's the Gunslinger realm. Everyone else who has started a fresh game has gotten only five realms available to them. It wasn't even available through Random. I had hoped as long as you didn't enter the realm itself, you wouldn't be drawn there."
"Gunslinger," Duo murmured. "That's the realm Wolfwood wanted when we first went in. If we'd gone there from the start..."
"Some part of him remembers," said Heero. "Like his skill with firearms."
"Yes," admitted Quatre. "And if he's imported back into the game, he'll take his place in his own world without any memory of having left. The Game doesn't just connect worlds, it twists time to suit its purposes. Anyone incorporated into the game is indistinguishable from the other characters. The same goes for players..."
"Setsuna said that," Duo remembered, "when we were talking about retrying that realm. She said a second failure would end with one of us being incorporated. Lost. But if Wolfwood was a character to begin with, it would have been putting him back into the world he was born in."
"The threat isn't limited to characters," said Quatre. "Players who die, or who fail a realm on two attempts are incorporated. And there's no way to know which realm they are taken into..."
Quatre's voice had grown hushed. He sent a look over Duo and Heero, one that was heated with a desperate gleam in his eyes, but was somehow subdued at the same time, a shadow of the passion he'd shown as a pilot.
"After the last tests failed, I thought using men with a military backgrounds would be better. They have more discipline. But the two of you have been approaching this like...a game. You're taking your time. And yet you've still gotten further than any of the teams we've sent. I can't keep endangering Wolfwood, but...I need your help. Trowa was taken into the game. If we can find him, we can bring him back out."
Duo's eyes widened. "Quatre...how long...?"
Quatre took a deep breath and stared him in the eye. "It's been almost five months. I thought I could play the game myself to find him, but my family found out. They don't understand what the game is. No...no, it's not that they don't understand. They don't care what it is. If I go in and fail, if something happens, they'll shut the entire project down. One of my brother-in laws found the participants for the first try. After that... I haven't spoken with them since the second team brought Wolfwood out. I'm doing this entirely by myself. I have the resources - it shouldn't be this hard...! There must be a way to find someone in the game. We tested the teams so carefully and still, eight of them have dropped out. None of them have learned nearly as much as you have. We didn't even know they had items in the game, let alone ones to heal people."
Heero had closed his expression off to the point where Duo couldn't read it anymore. Not that he was trying. Duo felt that he should have known. He had known. He'd thought earlier that if Quatre got involved in a project this big, he would have had Trowa involved as well. And he'd been so sure the two had resolved their differences after the rebellion. They should have been together. The changes in Quatre's personality suddenly made sense. He sounded so frustrated, angry even. At the same time he looked like he would have liked a shoulder to cry on, but wouldn't let himself do it. Because the moment he broke down, he'd give up hope and that was something Quatre would never do.
"You should have contacted us immediately," said Heero.
He was angry. Duo turned in his chair to look at Heero's expression. Clear anger, written in the way his dark blue eyes were narrowed and sharp, cutting Quatre to the quick. Duo understood why Heero would be annoyed, but not as angry as that. They'd both been bothered by Quatre's strange behavior, by the fact that he was keeping secrets, and...they'd been bothered by the fact that Quatre hadn't intended any of them to find out what he was doing. But it was natural. Duo knew Heero would have done the same thing if he'd been in Quatre's position. Having lost one comrade, he'd never risk losing another. Why was Heero so angry to find that Quatre had done just what he would have done?
"At the very least, you should have explained before we entered the game," glared Heero.
Quatre didn't even attempt to argue with that. He dropped his eyes and toyed with Wolfwood's ring. "I didn't think you would believe me if I had explained that the game connects unknown worlds and has the capability of incorporating people into itself. I didn't want to risk losing anyone else, but...you came here on your own. I couldn't not take advantage of the chance that you might succeed."
Suddenly, Quatre looked far too young to have fought in a war, killed people, and lost loved ones. Duo couldn't stand to see him like that. It was too familiar. Like the last time Trowa had been lost...and found, with no memory of any of them. Too familiar. Because this was the same, wasn't it?
"That realm we just went to," said Duo, tentatively. "There was a Trowa there. But they had powers and a history in that world. If we find him, he won't remember anything about us, will he."
"I don't know," Quatre admitted, without looking up. "He belongs here. But...if we find him and know that he's safe and happy, that would be enough. There are so many dangerous realms he could have been taken into..."
"But we won't know if it's him," said Duo. "That's what I meant. If the same people are in different realms - multiple versions of the same people - we won't know which one is our Trowa. He can't tell us if he doesn't remember."
"There were shadowed profiles in the last realm," said Heero. He didn't lose his glare, but it softened, just a bit, when Duo looked at him. "The only ones that weren't shadowed were Hilde, Wufei, Zechs, and the blue-haired one. The Game may register only one importable version of each person. A former player should stand as the only 'usable' version of that person. The Game offered a slight chance to get around losing Wolfwood in that realm - possibly a way to avoid failing at all. There's reason to suspect it would give a similar slim but real chance to take back a lost player."
Duo straightened slowly. "So if we can find a Trowa whose profile isn't shadowed, we'd have the right one!"
"Most likely," said Heero.
Heero turned his glare back to Quatre, who was still staring at his hands. He was furious that Quatre hadn't told them sooner - preferably before they started playing. But more than that, he felt threatened. The Game was impossible and real at the same time. And the ramifications of it were astounding. As a weapon. He'd seen some of the 'powers' in those realms during their time in Wanderweb's library. There were creatures and people with inhuman abilities. Being able to bring them into the real world with blank memories... Anyone who got control of the game could take them and mold them any way he wanted. The Game would be a horrible source of ready, living, weapons. And somehow it had fallen into Quatre's hands?
"Where did the game come from?" demanded Heero. "Why hasn't a military faction used it, yet?"
Quatre flinched and raised wide eyes to him. "I would never allow that! Never. I've already arranged for my copy of it to be disabled and destroyed should anything happen to me. As far as I know, mine is the only copy. It will stay that way."
"Where?" Heero pressed.
Quatre sighed and dropped his eyes once more. "I don't know where, Heero. I never had a chance to ask. Trowa found it. Or maybe it found him..."
There it was again. Duo almost shivered at the idea of The Game and the unknown entity behind it. He was suddenly sure that Quatre was right about there being only one copy. Only one copy in their world, anyway.
"Hey, Quatre?" Duo said, almost whisper soft.
Quatre looked up, surprised by the soft tone. "Yes?"
"Do the teams have to use three people?"
Quatre's pale blue-green eyes widened, and Duo flashed him one of his classic grins.
"I can't speak for Heero," Duo beamed, "but I'm not about to quit now. If it's too dangerous for Wolfwood to keep playing, then that's just the way it is. I'd never leave a friend trapped in some game, especially when we don't know who or what is behind the thing. You know me. I'm not one for giving up when a friend's in trouble."
Heero sighed. He'd hoped Duo would be a little more resentful at having been left in the dark so long. He had no intention of letting him go back into the game alone, but he wasn't about to be as affable about helping Quatre. Heero stood up and waved at the ring on the table.
"That's the red band," said Heero. "It stays off. We'll continue playing, but we aren't taking you along for the ride. You can track the realms we visit with the blue bands. When we learn something, we'll activate the band and tell you. Until then, you can monitor your other teams and wait."
Duo winced at Heero's harsh tone. Quatre looked stricken for a moment, before his expression settled into guilt and gratitude. He offered the ring to Duo without a word.
"Don't worry so much," Duo smiled. "I'll keep you updated. We'll definitely find Trowa. It's like you said, right? If anyone can do it, it's the two of us."
.-.
TBC
Notes: Whoot! Next up we have a mini-arc. I expect five parts. Hopefully some of the chapters will be rather long. And no, we haven't seen the last of Wolfwood. I wouldn't do that. :)