Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Digital Bath ❯ Chapter 8
[ 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: 11.03.2002 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.8K | Visits: 307 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Sci-fi / Fantasy / Cyberpunk / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.03.2002 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.8K | Visits: 307 | Status: Completed
+Title: Digital Bath - Part 9
+Author: Vinyl Koneko (Emily), roguegirl@att.net
+Rating: R
+Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11, 6x9, R+1, H+2
+Warnings: AU, yaoi, cyberpunk, possibly more lime in later parts
+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*, [flashback]. 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.
*~**~*
I wasn't going to stand around idle counting the days until the system would be terminated. I didn't know if my reasons for wanting to save Duo were purely selfish or I wanted to do it for him, but I was going to find a way while I still had a chance. I knew we were taking items from the system, but I wasn't entirely sure how. If the doctors didn't want to tell me, I would have to find out some other way.
I didn't care if Hilde hated me. She seemed to be the only one that could help. She was in a specialized class, reviewing ancient architectural techniques from columns and balustrades to buttresses and arches. "What do you want?" Hilde whispered harshly after I pulled her out into the hallway.
"I need your help," I began, hoping that single admittance would catch her attention. "I need to know how you are recovering objects from inside the LSOS."
Her expression was annoyed as if she was wondering why I couldn't have asked when she wasn't busy. "We print them."
I blinked. She couldn't have just said what I thought she did. "Print them?"
Hilde nodded carefully, explaining the concept as if I were a child. "We pull up the data code and run it through the printer. The printer reads the information, stores it, moves to where we tell it to, and creates exactly what it read in the system. It creates anything that isn't alive. Trees and animals we get back from Earth and people we have to do manual retrieval. It can take anywhere from a matter of seconds to hours, depending on resources and the file size. Why?"
"It can't recreate people?" I must have sounded crestfallen because I could see an ounce of sympathy in her gaze.
"We haven't had a successful run. It's too dangerous because if it doesn't work, the person dies. It was too risky to attempt outside of simulations."
I mentally repeated what she said, committing to memory anything that might be useful. "How many printers do we have?"
"Eleven that are active and one that was put out of duty. I don't think you could do anything with it, though. It's memory shot beyond all hell."
Memory. That was something I could fix, if anything. "Where is it?"
"Basement of the lab, but don't let the doctors know what you're planning or you're better off dead!" Hilde returned into the classroom, leaving me to review my plan in the hallway. There had to be a way to make it work. I went back outside, seeking out the one person I knew could help me.
*~**~*
The printer was actually smaller than I thought it would be. It looked like a mix between a mini-fridge and a copier with arms. Sure enough, when I plugged it into a power source, a red light flashed stating a memory error. I grabbed the tool kit I had swiped along with the printer and got to work. It didn't take long before I found the source of the problem. One of the chips looked like it had been melted. I frowned, taking a closer look. By the look of the partial fingerprint marking the edge, someone had melted it intentionally. But why?
I removed the chip carefully, putting it in a plastic bag to be scanned at a later time. All the Specialists were fingerprinted. Finding the owner shouldn't be too difficult, but at the moment, it wasn't my top priority. Repairing the printer was. The extra chip I stole from a microwave, holding my breath as I activated the machine. The green light flashed steadily, notifying me that it was ready to receive the data. Everything seemed to be working, but I still needed a test run.
I went over to my laptop, entering a simple program and sending it to the printer. A minute later, a plastic hairbrush was sitting in the tray. I smiled to myself. Obviously Hilde didn't know a lot about computers if she couldn't replace a simple chip. A nagging suspicion made me believe that Hilde had been the one to damage the printer in the first place, but I couldn't understand what her motive would be.
I heard footsteps approaching the door, and from the pattern I could tell it was Duo. I quickly deactivated the printer, shoving it in the closet and locking the doors by the time Duo entered my room. His behavior had changed, acting like it was his fault that he hadn't told me and tried to force me away. He looked down at his feet shyly. Duo's sudden change in temperament broke my heart.
"Hilde told me what you're going to try to do."
"I was going to tell you," I began, still leaning against the closet door, "but I didn't want to get your hopes up this early on."
Duo sighed. "You shouldn't waste your time. Everyone will be free of the system within the week and it'll be terminated. There are better things you could be doing."
I shook my head fiercely. "I'm not going to lose you without a fight!" I didn't mean to shout, but Duo's attitude was disturbing me. He shouldn't just cave because the doctors made him think his fate couldn't be altered. I wasn't going to give up on him like they had.
He smiled at me sadly. "You're such a kind person, Heero. Don't ever stop caring."
"I'm not giving up," I said firmly.
He reached up, stroking the side of my face, eyes still remorseful. "Just don't be too hard on yourself if you fail." I covered Duo's hand with mine, but he slipped out of my grasp, leaving as quietly as he had come in.
*~**~*
I entered the medical facilities, asking the woman at the desk where Sally Po was. The woman said she'd page Doctor Po, but she couldn't guarantee how quickly Sally could see me. I nodded, understanding. Sally was extremely busy with all the people we were retrieving from the system these days.
A young girl with bright red hair and blue eyes watched me curiously from where she sat in the waiting room reading a book. "Are you the one that's going to save us?"
I blinked, not understanding what the girl was asking. I remembered what Noin had said to me one of my first days here.
["Heero Yuy, you're the one they said would save us."
I turned to see who was addressing me. It was the dark-haired woman, Lucrezia Noin. "What are you talking about?"
"*You're* the one the doctors have been talking about. They said we'd have problems once the project was near completion, and when they came, you'd be able to help." She had a look her eye that seemed to be challenging me to accuse her of lying.
"Is that why I'm here?"
Noin nodded. "Duo picked you; you must be the one."]
"Who did you hear that from?"
"Papa told me."
I narrowed my eyes slightly, trying to figure out if everybody knew who I was or just her father.
["He misses his daughter, though; hasn't seen her in a few years."]
"You're Treize's daughter."
She nodded her head, still smiling at me. "My name is Mariemaia. What's yours?"
"Heero," I replied, frowning when she giggled.
"Your parents must have known you were supposed to be our hero, Mister Heero."
I smiled in response. She didn't seem like a bad kid. "What else did your father tell you?"
"That you're the reason Mister Duo is sad."
I was taken aback by her comment. Were people really thinking that about me? "I'm trying to make him happy."
"Mister Duo smiles a lot when he comes to visit, but I can see in his eyes that he doesn't really mean it. I like Mister Duo. You shouldn't make him unhappy."
"That's what I need to talk to Sally about. I have an idea on how to make Duo feel better, but I need her help in order to guarantee that it works."
Mariemaia jumped out of her seat, surprising me by planting a kiss on my cheek. "Well, good luck, Mister Heero. I'll see you again soon." She walked down the hall, disappearing into one of the rooms.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Heero." I turned to see Sally wiping her hands on a towel. "We've been busy. I see that you've met Miss Khushrenada."
I nodded. "She's quite intuitive."
"Most children are," Sally smiled. "She should be with her parents right now, not here. Her cousin's having complications getting used to Earth and I fear the worst. They're really close. It would devastate Mariemaia if anything should happen." She sighed heavily. "So what can I help you with?"
"I want to print Duo."
I knew she hadn't been expecting me to say that when I heard a sharp intake of air. "Heero, that hasn't been done before, and it puts Duo *and* the system at such a high risk."
"I know," I replied solemnly. "That's why I need your help. I need to know how you'd print a life form."
Sally chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "Well the printers need resources in order to create whatever they need to output. If I was going to print a chair I would check the printer's reservoir to make sure it had a sample of wood chips in order to create the chair from, so I'd imagine for a human or any type of animal you'd need a sample of that."
"So I'd need to put a body in the reservoir?"
"It seems that's what would be needed to be done. I don't know how that would work, though. Maybe if you just used a sample of stem cells..."
"Stem cells?"
"Blank cells," Sally elaborated, twirling her hand as she spoke. "They can become any and every specific cell in the body. In the past they were extremely important in scientific research for that reason, but people thought it was inhuman because it required aborting a fetus."
"Where would I get a fetus?" It seemed fair, right? Sacrificing one for the life of another? "Unless you have stem cells sampled somewhere..."
"I'll see what I can do, Heero - for Duo's sake and yours."
*~**~*
End Part 9
+Author: Vinyl Koneko (Emily), roguegirl@att.net
+Rating: R
+Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5xM, 13x11, 6x9, R+1, H+2
+Warnings: AU, yaoi, cyberpunk, possibly more lime in later parts
+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*, [flashback]. 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.
*~**~*
I wasn't going to stand around idle counting the days until the system would be terminated. I didn't know if my reasons for wanting to save Duo were purely selfish or I wanted to do it for him, but I was going to find a way while I still had a chance. I knew we were taking items from the system, but I wasn't entirely sure how. If the doctors didn't want to tell me, I would have to find out some other way.
I didn't care if Hilde hated me. She seemed to be the only one that could help. She was in a specialized class, reviewing ancient architectural techniques from columns and balustrades to buttresses and arches. "What do you want?" Hilde whispered harshly after I pulled her out into the hallway.
"I need your help," I began, hoping that single admittance would catch her attention. "I need to know how you are recovering objects from inside the LSOS."
Her expression was annoyed as if she was wondering why I couldn't have asked when she wasn't busy. "We print them."
I blinked. She couldn't have just said what I thought she did. "Print them?"
Hilde nodded carefully, explaining the concept as if I were a child. "We pull up the data code and run it through the printer. The printer reads the information, stores it, moves to where we tell it to, and creates exactly what it read in the system. It creates anything that isn't alive. Trees and animals we get back from Earth and people we have to do manual retrieval. It can take anywhere from a matter of seconds to hours, depending on resources and the file size. Why?"
"It can't recreate people?" I must have sounded crestfallen because I could see an ounce of sympathy in her gaze.
"We haven't had a successful run. It's too dangerous because if it doesn't work, the person dies. It was too risky to attempt outside of simulations."
I mentally repeated what she said, committing to memory anything that might be useful. "How many printers do we have?"
"Eleven that are active and one that was put out of duty. I don't think you could do anything with it, though. It's memory shot beyond all hell."
Memory. That was something I could fix, if anything. "Where is it?"
"Basement of the lab, but don't let the doctors know what you're planning or you're better off dead!" Hilde returned into the classroom, leaving me to review my plan in the hallway. There had to be a way to make it work. I went back outside, seeking out the one person I knew could help me.
*~**~*
The printer was actually smaller than I thought it would be. It looked like a mix between a mini-fridge and a copier with arms. Sure enough, when I plugged it into a power source, a red light flashed stating a memory error. I grabbed the tool kit I had swiped along with the printer and got to work. It didn't take long before I found the source of the problem. One of the chips looked like it had been melted. I frowned, taking a closer look. By the look of the partial fingerprint marking the edge, someone had melted it intentionally. But why?
I removed the chip carefully, putting it in a plastic bag to be scanned at a later time. All the Specialists were fingerprinted. Finding the owner shouldn't be too difficult, but at the moment, it wasn't my top priority. Repairing the printer was. The extra chip I stole from a microwave, holding my breath as I activated the machine. The green light flashed steadily, notifying me that it was ready to receive the data. Everything seemed to be working, but I still needed a test run.
I went over to my laptop, entering a simple program and sending it to the printer. A minute later, a plastic hairbrush was sitting in the tray. I smiled to myself. Obviously Hilde didn't know a lot about computers if she couldn't replace a simple chip. A nagging suspicion made me believe that Hilde had been the one to damage the printer in the first place, but I couldn't understand what her motive would be.
I heard footsteps approaching the door, and from the pattern I could tell it was Duo. I quickly deactivated the printer, shoving it in the closet and locking the doors by the time Duo entered my room. His behavior had changed, acting like it was his fault that he hadn't told me and tried to force me away. He looked down at his feet shyly. Duo's sudden change in temperament broke my heart.
"Hilde told me what you're going to try to do."
"I was going to tell you," I began, still leaning against the closet door, "but I didn't want to get your hopes up this early on."
Duo sighed. "You shouldn't waste your time. Everyone will be free of the system within the week and it'll be terminated. There are better things you could be doing."
I shook my head fiercely. "I'm not going to lose you without a fight!" I didn't mean to shout, but Duo's attitude was disturbing me. He shouldn't just cave because the doctors made him think his fate couldn't be altered. I wasn't going to give up on him like they had.
He smiled at me sadly. "You're such a kind person, Heero. Don't ever stop caring."
"I'm not giving up," I said firmly.
He reached up, stroking the side of my face, eyes still remorseful. "Just don't be too hard on yourself if you fail." I covered Duo's hand with mine, but he slipped out of my grasp, leaving as quietly as he had come in.
*~**~*
I entered the medical facilities, asking the woman at the desk where Sally Po was. The woman said she'd page Doctor Po, but she couldn't guarantee how quickly Sally could see me. I nodded, understanding. Sally was extremely busy with all the people we were retrieving from the system these days.
A young girl with bright red hair and blue eyes watched me curiously from where she sat in the waiting room reading a book. "Are you the one that's going to save us?"
I blinked, not understanding what the girl was asking. I remembered what Noin had said to me one of my first days here.
["Heero Yuy, you're the one they said would save us."
I turned to see who was addressing me. It was the dark-haired woman, Lucrezia Noin. "What are you talking about?"
"*You're* the one the doctors have been talking about. They said we'd have problems once the project was near completion, and when they came, you'd be able to help." She had a look her eye that seemed to be challenging me to accuse her of lying.
"Is that why I'm here?"
Noin nodded. "Duo picked you; you must be the one."]
"Who did you hear that from?"
"Papa told me."
I narrowed my eyes slightly, trying to figure out if everybody knew who I was or just her father.
["He misses his daughter, though; hasn't seen her in a few years."]
"You're Treize's daughter."
She nodded her head, still smiling at me. "My name is Mariemaia. What's yours?"
"Heero," I replied, frowning when she giggled.
"Your parents must have known you were supposed to be our hero, Mister Heero."
I smiled in response. She didn't seem like a bad kid. "What else did your father tell you?"
"That you're the reason Mister Duo is sad."
I was taken aback by her comment. Were people really thinking that about me? "I'm trying to make him happy."
"Mister Duo smiles a lot when he comes to visit, but I can see in his eyes that he doesn't really mean it. I like Mister Duo. You shouldn't make him unhappy."
"That's what I need to talk to Sally about. I have an idea on how to make Duo feel better, but I need her help in order to guarantee that it works."
Mariemaia jumped out of her seat, surprising me by planting a kiss on my cheek. "Well, good luck, Mister Heero. I'll see you again soon." She walked down the hall, disappearing into one of the rooms.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Heero." I turned to see Sally wiping her hands on a towel. "We've been busy. I see that you've met Miss Khushrenada."
I nodded. "She's quite intuitive."
"Most children are," Sally smiled. "She should be with her parents right now, not here. Her cousin's having complications getting used to Earth and I fear the worst. They're really close. It would devastate Mariemaia if anything should happen." She sighed heavily. "So what can I help you with?"
"I want to print Duo."
I knew she hadn't been expecting me to say that when I heard a sharp intake of air. "Heero, that hasn't been done before, and it puts Duo *and* the system at such a high risk."
"I know," I replied solemnly. "That's why I need your help. I need to know how you'd print a life form."
Sally chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "Well the printers need resources in order to create whatever they need to output. If I was going to print a chair I would check the printer's reservoir to make sure it had a sample of wood chips in order to create the chair from, so I'd imagine for a human or any type of animal you'd need a sample of that."
"So I'd need to put a body in the reservoir?"
"It seems that's what would be needed to be done. I don't know how that would work, though. Maybe if you just used a sample of stem cells..."
"Stem cells?"
"Blank cells," Sally elaborated, twirling her hand as she spoke. "They can become any and every specific cell in the body. In the past they were extremely important in scientific research for that reason, but people thought it was inhuman because it required aborting a fetus."
"Where would I get a fetus?" It seemed fair, right? Sacrificing one for the life of another? "Unless you have stem cells sampled somewhere..."
"I'll see what I can do, Heero - for Duo's sake and yours."
*~**~*
End Part 9