Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Digital Bath ❯ Chapter 2
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Vinyl-Koneko 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Sci-fi / Fantasy / Cyberpunk / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.25.2002 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.7K | Visits: 355 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Sci-fi / Fantasy / Cyberpunk / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.25.2002 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.7K | Visits: 355 | Status: Completed
+Title: Digital Bath - Part 3
+Author: Vinyl Koneko (Emily), roguegirl@att.net
+Rating: R
+Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11, 6x9, R+1, H+2
+Warnings: AU, yaoi, cyberpunk, possible lime in a later part
+Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing because if I did I'd get rich auctioning it off on eBay... LOL, just kidding. I'd keep them for myself to make videos and become the real Sabintha. ^_~
+Notes: //Thought//, *emphasis*. Some ideas may seem similar to "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson, "The Matrix", and "Digimon", but I swear that isn't what I'm going for. "Digital Bath" is a song by The Deftones.
*~**~*
All I could see was darkness was a round circle of light, appearing red through my eyelids. I had to keep my eyes closed, as Duo instructed, but even then the light still burned. Every now and then the light source would get momentarily obstructed by a passing shadow, and I couldn't help but wonder if it were caused by trees moving in the wind or people walking by. I heard murmuring, but it seemed to echo. I couldn't tell how close or far away the people were.
"Who's there?" I attempted to call out, mentally wincing at the harshness of my voice. My real vocal chords have been unused for so long that they were probably starting to deteriorate.
"Calm down, boy, we're here to get you in shape." The voice was old and gravelly. It had to be one of the doctors.
"Who are you? Where's Duo?" My voice hitched at the last syllable, and I knew that I shouldn't speak anymore. I just had to hope that the old man would answer all my questions without further prompting.
"Duo's upstairs. He knows not to bother me when I'm working; my name's Doctor J, and I'll be bringing your body to its minimum requirement of proper functionality. It'll take a few days to get your muscles into working order, so just relax."
I felt electrodes being attached to my skin, seeming to go everywhere. I heard J pad over to the over side of the room, flipping a switch, and I had to bit my tongue to keep from crying out in pain. Hundreds of bolts of electricity were pouring into my muscles, causing them to quake and shudder, quickly causing the familiar burn from too intense of a workout.
"Relax, Heero; don't fight it or you'll tear something."
I wanted to open my eyes, rip off the electrodes and find someplace dark and quiet that didn't assault my senses, but I came here willingly and others had done this before me. I could manage. I needed to if I wanted to live on Earth, to be free of the confines of the system.
My last conscious thought was me wondering what Duo looked like out of the system before I let the darkness engulf me, tearing me away from the pain.
*~**~*
I jolted awake, pushing myself off the bed into a sitting position, and then proceeded to curse at myself for doing that. My pupils didn't shrink back from the light that was streaming in through the curtains. How long have I been here?
I stood up, slowly making my way towards the window. I was able to support myself, watching my legs uneasily, waiting for them to collapse out from under me like those of a newborn foal, but that never happened. I felt smaller, still, and caught my reflection in a mirror on the way to the window. That's right. I'm sixteen again. A pair of navy blue sweatpants, the only garment I happened to be wearing, became the object of my interest. They felt soft. I stretched around, reading the label. Cotton. We had cotton garments in the system, but they never actually felt like this. The constant feeling of the bodysuits from the real world had been the only material we could sense, even when our avatars were completely undressed. The bodysuits felt stiff, tight, and constraining. This cotton was soft, warm, and flexible.
Laughing outside drew me back to my original goal. I crossed the last meter to the window, surprised to see a group of teenagers outside playing kickball. I frowned. As far as he could tell they were all women. Wasn't Duo on Earth as well?
"I thought I'd bring you something to eat." I turned to see a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair in a pink skirt holding a tray. She set the meal down on a table, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear in a manner I would've called self-conscious if it weren't for the fact that she held herself in such a poised manner. "My name's Relena Darlian. You don't need to introduce yourself. I already know that you're Heero Yuy."
"How many others are here?" I asked.
"Seventeen including yourself, myself, and the doctors. We just need three more Specialists before we can start bringing in the ordinary people."
"Specialists?" I felt like a four-year-old, asking so many questions that I felt I should already know the answers to.
She blinked repetitively, as if I should have known. "The people who are going to help rebuild Earth. We need a government before any further actions can take place."
Sitting down at the chair and staring curiously at the meal, I thought over her last statement. "I'm no politician."
"Obviously," she laughed like she thought I had just made a joke. "Not all the Specialists need to do anything political."
I narrowed my gaze as Relena sat down beside me, resting her hand on my knee. "Then what was I chosen to do?"
She shrugged. "I'm not really sure yet, but when we saw your body in your suit and watched you in the system, Duo thought you would be a necessary ally. He has the doctors wrapped around his little finger somehow, so of course they gave in. Now that you're here, though, I have to admit that you are pretty cute."
I had to force myself to restrain from rolling my eyes. Like I didn't have to deal with that from users; now I have to put up with it from real people, too.
"Oi, Relena, who are you talking to- Hey! Welcome to the world of the living, sleeping beauty!"
I couldn't find my voice to respond. Real-world-Duo looked exactly the same as avatar-Duo only smaller; he seemed less serious, less determined and more cheerful. That impossible hue of blue-violet that made up his eyes were even more stunning on Earth. My forehead creased as my brows drew together in an expression of perplexity. Stunning? When the hell did I start thinking like that?
"Relena if you don't mind I need to get Heero into something more than a pair of pants." Duo waved his hands at in the way you would to get a cat off your kitchen table. "Shoo! Get out!" I caught her shooting a glare in Duo's direction before leaving.
"Now you can eat and I'll just talk, okay?" I nodded, beginning to pick at what I came to realize what was chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas. The taste of the food was pretty much the same experience as with the sweatpants all over again. It was like I had been living in a cold, dark cave my whole life and just found fire. "I'm sorry Relena got to you first. She's a smart cookie when it comes to politics but doesn't really have any interrelationship skills whatsoever. I don't know how we manage to put up with her."
"She thinks I'm 'pretty cute'," I said around the fork. "How long is it going to take before I'm not being paraded around as the fresh meat anymore?"
"Ah, don't know," Duo's voice echoed back from inside the closet. "There's eight girls and nine guys - technically four guys, actually, because I don't think they're gonna go for the doctors anytime soon." He visibly shuddered. "You might want to get used to it because it's going to be that way until they find a guy, or they all just decide to become lesbians and go at it with each other."
I snickered at the thought of Miss Prim-and-Proper Darlian being a lesbian. Not that I thought there was anything wrong with homosexuality (as I catch myself staring at Duo's denim-encased backside that's sticking out of my closet); I just saw it as a little too unconventional for Relena.
"Here, these should be all right." A pair of faded blue jeans and a black T-shirt found their way to a chair adjacent to mine. I finish my meal in time to catch a pair of sneakers and a rolled up ball of socks fly in my direction. "I figured you'd be a boxers kind of guy. Those are in one of the drawers under the mirror along with bath items, swim trunks, and a box of condoms because G is convinced that we're all a bunch of horn-balls. He doesn't realize that it's just the girls." Duo winked. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "So whenever you feel ready I can take you out to meet the rest of our little family here."
"What about you?" I asked on sudden impulse.
"Uh, I've met everyone already?"
I shook my head. "What role do you play? How long have you been involved?"
Duo ran his hand through his bangs in a gesture I came to realize he did whenever he was thinking of a way to avoid a subject. Whether it was a subconscious gesture or not, I had no idea. "Maybe some other time, okay? You have a lot to take in, so don't feel pressured to get it all at once."
I nodded, getting dressed quickly while wondering why Duo didn't want to talk about his life in the system and how he managed to escape it.
*~**~*
End Part 3
+Author: Vinyl Koneko (Emily), roguegirl@att.net
+Rating: R
+Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11, 6x9, R+1, H+2
+Warnings: AU, yaoi, cyberpunk, possible lime in a later part
+Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing because if I did I'd get rich auctioning it off on eBay... LOL, just kidding. I'd keep them for myself to make videos and become the real Sabintha. ^_~
+Notes: //Thought//, *emphasis*. Some ideas may seem similar to "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson, "The Matrix", and "Digimon", but I swear that isn't what I'm going for. "Digital Bath" is a song by The Deftones.
*~**~*
All I could see was darkness was a round circle of light, appearing red through my eyelids. I had to keep my eyes closed, as Duo instructed, but even then the light still burned. Every now and then the light source would get momentarily obstructed by a passing shadow, and I couldn't help but wonder if it were caused by trees moving in the wind or people walking by. I heard murmuring, but it seemed to echo. I couldn't tell how close or far away the people were.
"Who's there?" I attempted to call out, mentally wincing at the harshness of my voice. My real vocal chords have been unused for so long that they were probably starting to deteriorate.
"Calm down, boy, we're here to get you in shape." The voice was old and gravelly. It had to be one of the doctors.
"Who are you? Where's Duo?" My voice hitched at the last syllable, and I knew that I shouldn't speak anymore. I just had to hope that the old man would answer all my questions without further prompting.
"Duo's upstairs. He knows not to bother me when I'm working; my name's Doctor J, and I'll be bringing your body to its minimum requirement of proper functionality. It'll take a few days to get your muscles into working order, so just relax."
I felt electrodes being attached to my skin, seeming to go everywhere. I heard J pad over to the over side of the room, flipping a switch, and I had to bit my tongue to keep from crying out in pain. Hundreds of bolts of electricity were pouring into my muscles, causing them to quake and shudder, quickly causing the familiar burn from too intense of a workout.
"Relax, Heero; don't fight it or you'll tear something."
I wanted to open my eyes, rip off the electrodes and find someplace dark and quiet that didn't assault my senses, but I came here willingly and others had done this before me. I could manage. I needed to if I wanted to live on Earth, to be free of the confines of the system.
My last conscious thought was me wondering what Duo looked like out of the system before I let the darkness engulf me, tearing me away from the pain.
*~**~*
I jolted awake, pushing myself off the bed into a sitting position, and then proceeded to curse at myself for doing that. My pupils didn't shrink back from the light that was streaming in through the curtains. How long have I been here?
I stood up, slowly making my way towards the window. I was able to support myself, watching my legs uneasily, waiting for them to collapse out from under me like those of a newborn foal, but that never happened. I felt smaller, still, and caught my reflection in a mirror on the way to the window. That's right. I'm sixteen again. A pair of navy blue sweatpants, the only garment I happened to be wearing, became the object of my interest. They felt soft. I stretched around, reading the label. Cotton. We had cotton garments in the system, but they never actually felt like this. The constant feeling of the bodysuits from the real world had been the only material we could sense, even when our avatars were completely undressed. The bodysuits felt stiff, tight, and constraining. This cotton was soft, warm, and flexible.
Laughing outside drew me back to my original goal. I crossed the last meter to the window, surprised to see a group of teenagers outside playing kickball. I frowned. As far as he could tell they were all women. Wasn't Duo on Earth as well?
"I thought I'd bring you something to eat." I turned to see a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair in a pink skirt holding a tray. She set the meal down on a table, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear in a manner I would've called self-conscious if it weren't for the fact that she held herself in such a poised manner. "My name's Relena Darlian. You don't need to introduce yourself. I already know that you're Heero Yuy."
"How many others are here?" I asked.
"Seventeen including yourself, myself, and the doctors. We just need three more Specialists before we can start bringing in the ordinary people."
"Specialists?" I felt like a four-year-old, asking so many questions that I felt I should already know the answers to.
She blinked repetitively, as if I should have known. "The people who are going to help rebuild Earth. We need a government before any further actions can take place."
Sitting down at the chair and staring curiously at the meal, I thought over her last statement. "I'm no politician."
"Obviously," she laughed like she thought I had just made a joke. "Not all the Specialists need to do anything political."
I narrowed my gaze as Relena sat down beside me, resting her hand on my knee. "Then what was I chosen to do?"
She shrugged. "I'm not really sure yet, but when we saw your body in your suit and watched you in the system, Duo thought you would be a necessary ally. He has the doctors wrapped around his little finger somehow, so of course they gave in. Now that you're here, though, I have to admit that you are pretty cute."
I had to force myself to restrain from rolling my eyes. Like I didn't have to deal with that from users; now I have to put up with it from real people, too.
"Oi, Relena, who are you talking to- Hey! Welcome to the world of the living, sleeping beauty!"
I couldn't find my voice to respond. Real-world-Duo looked exactly the same as avatar-Duo only smaller; he seemed less serious, less determined and more cheerful. That impossible hue of blue-violet that made up his eyes were even more stunning on Earth. My forehead creased as my brows drew together in an expression of perplexity. Stunning? When the hell did I start thinking like that?
"Relena if you don't mind I need to get Heero into something more than a pair of pants." Duo waved his hands at in the way you would to get a cat off your kitchen table. "Shoo! Get out!" I caught her shooting a glare in Duo's direction before leaving.
"Now you can eat and I'll just talk, okay?" I nodded, beginning to pick at what I came to realize what was chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas. The taste of the food was pretty much the same experience as with the sweatpants all over again. It was like I had been living in a cold, dark cave my whole life and just found fire. "I'm sorry Relena got to you first. She's a smart cookie when it comes to politics but doesn't really have any interrelationship skills whatsoever. I don't know how we manage to put up with her."
"She thinks I'm 'pretty cute'," I said around the fork. "How long is it going to take before I'm not being paraded around as the fresh meat anymore?"
"Ah, don't know," Duo's voice echoed back from inside the closet. "There's eight girls and nine guys - technically four guys, actually, because I don't think they're gonna go for the doctors anytime soon." He visibly shuddered. "You might want to get used to it because it's going to be that way until they find a guy, or they all just decide to become lesbians and go at it with each other."
I snickered at the thought of Miss Prim-and-Proper Darlian being a lesbian. Not that I thought there was anything wrong with homosexuality (as I catch myself staring at Duo's denim-encased backside that's sticking out of my closet); I just saw it as a little too unconventional for Relena.
"Here, these should be all right." A pair of faded blue jeans and a black T-shirt found their way to a chair adjacent to mine. I finish my meal in time to catch a pair of sneakers and a rolled up ball of socks fly in my direction. "I figured you'd be a boxers kind of guy. Those are in one of the drawers under the mirror along with bath items, swim trunks, and a box of condoms because G is convinced that we're all a bunch of horn-balls. He doesn't realize that it's just the girls." Duo winked. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "So whenever you feel ready I can take you out to meet the rest of our little family here."
"What about you?" I asked on sudden impulse.
"Uh, I've met everyone already?"
I shook my head. "What role do you play? How long have you been involved?"
Duo ran his hand through his bangs in a gesture I came to realize he did whenever he was thinking of a way to avoid a subject. Whether it was a subconscious gesture or not, I had no idea. "Maybe some other time, okay? You have a lot to take in, so don't feel pressured to get it all at once."
I nodded, getting dressed quickly while wondering why Duo didn't want to talk about his life in the system and how he managed to escape it.
*~**~*
End Part 3