Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Circle of the Earth ❯ Prologue

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Circle of the Earth: Prologue








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Di sclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of
the characters from the series. I do own Arys Walker. I'm just writing this for
my own enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others. Yada, yada... I'm not
making any money so don't sue me, um, please.
Note: All < or > mean the thoughts of the person. I thought it'd be
easier than trying to get italics to work on all word processing programs.

Circle of the Earth
Prologue:
A.C. 195
"Arys Walker. It's time. Wake up."
The words echoed through the fifteen year old's mind.
Arys Walker. That was her name. The words were familiar but the voice was
not.
It's time. Time for what? She had just gone to bed, for goodness' sake!
Surely Oz couldn't be attacking again! She had just defeated a whole army of Oz
mobile suits a few hours ago.
Wake up. Those last two words seemed to trigger something in her mind. It was
not sleep she needed to wake up from, but something else...
"Arys. It's time. Wake up."
Her mind jerked back to half-awareness. What did they want? Couldn't they see
that she was exhausted? Something else... She needed to wake up from something
else, not sleep. For one second, she knew and then denied it.
"No! Leave me alone!" Arys tried to wrap the comforting darkness around her,
to get away from that voice.
"Wake up."
No! But even as she pushed the voice away, it carried her with it, up and up
and up... toward a level of consciousness she had not experienced for a long
time.
The light blinded her.
"Dim those lights!"
Arys slowly opened her eyes. The voice had said those words. She blinked
once, trying in vain to see something, anything.
"Relax. Your brain needs to reconfigure how it gets image input."
That voice again. At first, Arys had found it frightening. Now, it was
comforting. She blinked again as the world began to coalesce into fuzzy objects
of light and dark.
"It's working. The optic nerve is functioning again."
A different voice, not as comforting as the first one. Who were all these
people murmuring to each other around her bed? She needed to touch something,
feel that this world was real.
"Can you feel this?" Someone touched her hand. "Blink once for yes, twice for
no."
Arys blinked once. The world was finally coming into focus. The ceiling above
her was smooth and white. She never thought something so trivial would be so
nice to know.
"Auditory, optic, and tactile senses all check."
"We'll check the other two later. For now, that's all she'll need to function
normally."
"Where am I?" Arys' voice squeaked out, sounding like a metal chair slowly
scraping across a tiled floor.
A man wearing blue scrubs and a white lab coat pulled her to a sitting
position. He smiled at her.
"Arys, you're at the Antarctic Outpost on Earth. My name is Dr. Jay Lansing."
Arys gazed at him silently. Vague memories were beginning to come back to
her, but they seemed to linger at the edges of her mind. Finally, she gave up
trying to remember and the memories fled.
"Arys, how far back do you remember?"
"Five years, "Arys stated flatly. "Nothing before that."
The doctor sighed. "I didn't want to be the one to tell you this, but..." He
gestured to a coffin-like structure sitting on the floor near the wall across
the room. "You've been living in a virtual world for the past five years. We had
to wipe your memory of anything before A.C. 190 so that you would accept the
simulation."
Arys' steel-gray eyes widened in astonishment. None of it had been real? The
people she had commanded, served under, befriended, and loved, weren't real? How
did she know that this world was even real? She looked around the room, taking
in everything: the doctors looking at her with fear hidden behind a
professionalist bravado, the "coffin" sitting in the corner like a discarded
cardboard box, the stark white walls, the digital clock by the door that said
7:23 SET, and Dr. Lansing, who waited for her response with patient compassion.
"Is this all real, Dr. Lansing?" Arys waved her hand weakly to indicate the
entire room. "You're a real person?"
Dr. Lansing put a hand on her shoulder. "Yes, Arys, this world is real, I'm
real, and unfortunately, the battles will be real.
The concept was almost too much for Arys to handle. She had wasted, wasted,
the past five years of her life fighting battles that had never happened. She
bit her lip to keep the confusion and anger from bubbling to the surface.
"Why was I in that box?" Arys asked. She needed more information before she
could fully trust the doctor.
"It was the only way to train you... as a Gundam pilot."
Arys blew out a sigh of relief. At least that was still the same. But why use
a simulator to train her?
Dr. Lansing saw the question in her eyes. "The Zero System, Arys. You're one
of only three people who can handle using it without going insane. And that's
because you had already merged with your Gundam's computer by the time we
installed it."
"Silverwind. Yes, I remember."
"Your Gundam is in the cargo bay, being prepped. But before you can see it,
we need to get you through rehab."
Arys swung her legs off the side of the bed and stood up easily. No nausea or
fatigue assailed her. Perhaps some things would carry over into this world, the
real world, after all. Dr. Lansing looked on, amazed at her quick recovery.
Arys disgustedly swatted a hand at her hospital gown. "Rehab won't be
necessary, but I would like some clothes."
Dr. Lansing smiled. "Of course."
______________________________________
"It functions the same way."
"All controls are configured as in the simulator." The tech was a little
nervous. He found this girl who stood a mere five feet intimidating.
"Weapons?"
The tech handed her a readout. "Full arsenal: Double beam sabers, Shiv
rifle..."
Arys scanned the paper and waved him off. "Fine." She handed the readout back
to him and walked over to the console connected to her Gundam.
The tech, knowing he was dismissed, watched her walk away. He shook his head.
"Only fifteen years old..."
Arys ignored his comment. She reached up to touch a metal contact positioned
behind her right ear.

Transmitting her thoughts to the Gundam had come in handy in her virtual
world. She hoped to put it to good use in the real world. The Gundam transmitted
back diagnostic data. Arys nodded, pleased. The techs had done a good job.
"Arys Walker?"
Arys lowered her hand to her side. "Yes."
A man in uniform stood in front of the computer console. He was graying at
the temples, but he still looked the part of a commanding officer. He held a
hand out to her.
"I'm Commander Gabrin. I'm in charge of this base."
Arys said nothing in return, but she accepted his handshake. He knew who she
was.
"You've quite impressed us, Arys."
"Why did you remove me from the simulator?"
Gabrin seemed almost grateful for the question.
"Arys, the Earth needs you right now. Oz has taken over the colonies, but now
they want Earth too. We can't let Oz have it."
Arys clenched her hands. Her Gundam she knew, and Oz she knew, but there was
so much she did not know. She touched the transmitter behind her ear.
Download my mission profile.
The commander continued his speech, not realizing that Arys now already knew
what he was going to tell her.
"There is a country here on Earth called the Cinq Kingdom. Their princess,
Relena Peacecraft, is a total pacifist. She is defenseless against attack, so we
are sending you to be part of her defensive force."
"Part of?" Arys already knew the answer.
"There are two other Gundam pilots protecting her. Only one of them has his
Gundam available for use. Their names are Heero Yuy and Quatre Raberba Winner.
They are both excellent pilots, but I'm sure Noin would not mind your help.
Relena's chauffeur, Pagan, is the one who asked us for help. He has probably
informed Noin already of your coming. If not, do not reveal your identity until
absolutely necessary."
Arys nodded.
Gabrin pulled a disk from his coat pocket. "This contains everything..."
Arys pushed it away. "I already know what I need."
"How?" Gabrin calmly placed the disk back in his pocket.
A chill wind began to blow through the cargo bay as two Leos came back from
guard duty. Arys gazed up at her Gundam as the wind whistled by them. Her
midnight-black hair whipped around behind her. One side of her mouth quirked
into a grim smile.
"The wind told me," She replied.
Author's Note: I know that it's a little slow right now, but all good
stories need a little bit of background to them. Now, I'm not saying that this
is a good story, but I'm hoping that people will think it is :-) Anyway,
there'll be a few twists and turns in this story and hopefully they'll keep your
attention. I have Chapter One written; I just need to type it all up. In the
meantime, if you have suggestions (no flames please!), write me at
Starling14@aol.com
~Starling (who wishes she could have a Gundam :-)