Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 69 ( Chapter 69 )

"Family Ties"

 

January 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 69

 

"Professor, if you don't mind me asking, how did you end up here?” Duo questioned.

 

“How do I know I can trust you?” the professor replied.

 

“Guess that's a fair question.” Reading into the man's body language and going on what had already been confessed, Duo went with his gut feeling. “Look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I can tell you I was kidnapped and brought here, not for ransom or anything like that, but because I used to be a Gundam Pilot. With this planned take over of the earth and colonies, Barton needs a back up force. That force consists of mobile suits and an army. He's forcing me to program those mobile suits. I'm now a Preventer Agent and it is my duty to try to stop this from happening. If they have you working on the Firecell thing then it's a safe bet that you are pretty clued up in the computer area of things. Professor, I could really use your help in stopping Barton.”

 

The professor scratched at his chin and thought on Duo's words. The man seemed genuine enough, he also sported some fading bruises to support his claim he was not here by his own free will. Deciding to trust this man, the professor sighed. “I'll help you if I can.”

 

“Thanks.” Duo didn't get to say anything more as the bathroom door opened and Tewson stuck his head in, Duo and the professor quickly turning their backs to each other.

 

“You finished?” he growled at Duo.

 

“Just coming,” Duo snapped.

 

The door closed again and Duo turned back to the professor. “I have to go but I'd like to talk to you some more in regards to how we can try to stop Barton form achieving his aim.”

 

The professor nodded.

 

“How about we meet back here in the toilets in another three hours?”

 

“I'll try.”

 

“Thanks, prof.” Duo turned and exited the bathroom, Tewson shoving him none too gently from behind when he stepped out.

 

“Hurry up if you want that lunch,” he ordered.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Don't get your knickers in a knot,” Duo snipped and got another shove for his trouble.

 

* * *

 

“You're up early,” Trowa said as he wandered into the kitchen to make himself a coffee.

 

Heero shrugged and picked up his mug of tea that he'd just made. “There's work to be done,” he replied and left the kitchen, heading to the study and his computer.

 

Trowa watched him go and let a heavy sigh escape. For the umpteenth time he hoped and prayed that his and Quatre's hunch regarding the satellite would turn out to be what they suspected and that it would lead them to Duo. Trowa was beginning to seriously doubt that Heero would be able to continue to exist if they didn't find the braided man soon. Picking up the two coffee mugs, he carried them both back upstairs.

 

Heero checked his computer, the program he'd left running overnight to convert the file system had not long finished and Heero was eager to see if it had worked in converting everything and if it would stand up to a virus attack.

 

Tapping away on the keys, he was able to forget his troubles for the moment and let the complex system of the computer take over his mind. So involved in his task, he didn't hear Wufei enter the room and when the low voice spoke, he whirled around and only just managed to stop himself from pulling the trigger on the small hand gun he held.

 

“Shit, Wufei! Next time make some sort of noise or you just might find yourself dead,” he muttered and turned back to the computer.

 

“I did knock,” came the soft reply. Wufei was still a little pale after his up close and personal encounter with the barrel of Yuy's gun.

 

“Then knock louder.”

 

Wufei forgave the short tone, Heero wasn't himself lately and Wufei could overlook the snappiness given the strain his friend was under. “My apologies.”

 

Sighing, Heero turned to look at the Chinese man. “No, I'm sorry. It's not your fault, I shouldn't allow my defenses to drop like that.”

 

“Yuy, you are not a machine; and this sort of thing is exactly what I was talking about last night. I will be speaking with Sally today in regards to your sleeping habits and general health.”

 

Heero scowled. He really didn't want Sally to intervene, especially as she would most likely have to inform Une of his current state of health, both mental and physical and that could be detrimental to his finding of Duo.

 

Sensing where Heero's thoughts were most likely going, Wufei was quick to reassure the man. “I will ask Sally not to mention anything to Une.”

 

Cobalt eyes widened and Wufei gave a smirk.

 

“Contrary to belief, I do have a heart,”

 

“Thank you, Chang.”

 

“You can thank me by keeping yourself fit and healthy so that when we need you, you can respond professionally. Now, did that program work?”

 

Heero smiled inwardly and turned his attention back to the computer. “Hai, it has converted all the files.”

 

* * *

 

Duo ate a lunch that consisted of slightly stale sandwiches and a glass of recycled water. He hoped and prayed his stomach would keep the contents down as he would need all the nutrition he could get for the possible baby growing inside; not to mention his own physical state. With the meager lunch finished, he was once again ensconced in front of a computer console and programming the mobile suits.

 

He kept one eye on the clock as he fiddled away, counting down the time to when he could meet with the professor again and possibly glean some information from the man. He hoped his bladder would hang on until then as he didn't want his toilet visits to become too noticeable.

 

His bladder decided to play nice for once and it had only started to let Duo know of its presence half an hour before the three hours were up. Duo managed to hang on for the remaining thirty minutes before informing Young of his need for the bathroom. Young had replaced Tewson just after lunch and the man was clearly bored, sitting not far from Duo and fiddling with a deck of cards.

 

“Um, I need a bathroom break,” Duo announced.

 

Looking up from his game of Solitaire, Young frowned. “Can't you hold it?”

 

“And how do you propose I do that? Tie a knot in it?” Duo returned, his voice full of sarcasm.

 

Young grunted and reluctantly left his game of cards. “Come on then, hurry it up. I want to finish off my game,” he snarled.

 

“Okay, okay. No need to get on your high horse,” Duo muttered and got up.

 

The pair walked to the bathroom, Duo about to enter and realizing that Young was still right with him and looked like he had every intention of following Duo into the bathroom too.

 

“You gonna come in and hold it for me?” Duo asked as he paused at the door.

 

Young stopped and drew himself from his thoughts. He hadn't been paying attention and as Duo's words hit him, he realized where he was and what he was doing. “I think you're capable of holding it yourself,” he snapped, trying to hide his embarrassment.

 

Chuckling to himself, Duo nodded in response. “I am, but you know how it is, some men seem to enjoy having someone else...”

 

“That's enough,” growled Young. “Just hurry up and take your bathroom break. I'll wait out here.”

 

Still snickering to himself, Duo entered the bathroom and noticed one of the stall doors was closed. He hoped it was the professor. He entered the remaining empty stall and closed the door. Lifting the seat he allowed his bladder the joy of relieving itself, annoyingly amused by the small amount that came out.

 

“That you, Duo?” came a whispered voice.

 

“Yeah. That you, Prof?”

 

“Yes.”

 

There was a pregnant pause in the air and then the professor spoke again, keeping his voice low. “You said you were programming the mobile suits, correct?”

 

“Yeah. They want these suits to respond to pilot and also a main frame program.”

 

“I see. How much do you know about computers?”

 

“A bit. Well. I used to have to do my own programming during the war on my Gundam, plus I've hacked a few systems in my time,” Duo replied without going into too much detail.

 

“I'll try to keep this as brief and simple as I can. I take it you're using the standard form of programing in the suits? By that I mean the NTFS file system?”

 

“Well, yes, there isn't another that I'm aware of and that is usually how you program things.”

 

“Good. Duo, this Firecell that Barton proposes to unleash, I'm the one who originally came up with the idea of it and I've been working on it for a while now, figuring out how it could work, how to implement it, what damage it would do, and so on. In a nutshell it will take control of all the computers in the Earth and colonies.”

 

“I'm not completely in the dark, prof. I do know how the theory of the Firecell works, although not the more intricate details.” Duo glanced at his watch. “We're gonna have to speed this up a bit or my babysitter will come in looking for me.”

 

“Okay. Here's what I've thought of. We can't stop Barton from unleashing the Firecell, to do so would take more time and planning than we have. Once he unleashes it, then all the computer systems that run on the FAT, NTFS and such file systems will become controlled by him.”

 

I understand that, prof. The mobile suits are all using the same file system and he'll be controlling them anyway so I don't get what it is you're proposing here.” Duo was starting to become a little frustrated.

 

“Here.” A small piece of paper was passed under the stall partition, Duo taking it and looking at it in curiosity.

 

“What's this?” he asked. The paper contained a sequence of numbers and symbols.

 

“Add that sequence of numbers and symbols to the main coding in the suit programs.”

 

“Eh?”

 

“Trust me on this. That code won't be detected as it will appear to be a part of the necessary coding - which in one way, it is. Once Barton releases the Firecell and the virus comes through to the suits' computers, instead of allowing him complete control which he would have had without the Firecell anyway, that code will kick in and destroy all the programming that allows the suits to function on their own.”

 

“You mean it will fry the circuits of the suits?”

 

“Pretty much.”

 

“But, prof, there's going to be pilots in those suits too.” Regardless of the fact that the pilots would be the enemy, Duo didn't want to see them left out there in space to die a lonely, painful death by asphyxiation. Space could be cold and cruel enough.

 

“Don't worry, it won't affect the life support systems, it will only destroy the programming that allows the suits to function as dolls. The pilots will still be able to fight and engage the enemy, only they will have to do it using their own skills and nothing else,” replied the professor.

 

Duo's face lit up into a wide grin. “Prof, that's great.”

 

The door to the bathroom opened and Young's voice cam in. “You finished yet?” he bellowed.

 

“Almost,” Duo snapped back.

 

“Hurry up or I'll come in and drag you out,” Young sneered. The door closed again.

 

“I gotta go, prof. Thanks for that and I sincerely hope we will meet again under better circumstances. Take care and stay alive.” Duo pushed the flush button.

 

“Good luck to you too, Duo. I hope this will help in some way to stop Barton,” replied the professor, careful to keep his doubts from his voice. He really couldn't see how one person could stop Barton, even with the code he'd passed over. Barton was too well organized and once the Firecell was deployed it would pretty much be the end of everything.

 

Duo had no such qualms though. He'd take every scrap of help he could get and do his level best to stop this madman.

 

* * *

 

Inside Duo's body, the miracle of life was steadily growing and developing. The tiny human was taking shape, bone, muscle and other tissue growing and taking on the form of what the blueprint in the DNA dictated it was to be.

 

The small, slightly deformed uterus that housed the precious bundle was doing its best to cope with the second pregnancy, along with Duo's other internal organs. It was a strain on them all, Duo's previous pregnancy having stretched his body to its limits, both figuratively and literally.

 

Somewhere, at some stage, something would have to give.

 

* * *

 

With Trowa and Quatre both now up and dressed, the four met in the kitchen for breakfast. Nurse Brown was busy bathing Keitaro, Siska assisting the nanny when she needed the help and they would join them soon.

 

Trowa made waffles for them all and Heero couldn't help the lump in his throat when he looked at his own plate.

 

Duo loved waffles.

 

“How did the computer conversion go?” Quatre asked, disturbing Heero's thoughts and bringing him back to the current plane.

 

“It worked on my system, all files have been converted.”

 

“Then it should work on the Preventer system,” said Quatre with utmost conviction.

 

“In theory. Don't forget though, there are a lot more files on the Preventer data base and it will take a while to convert all those.”

 

“It will work, Heero. We all have faith in you.” Quatre's eyes met with cobalt and told the Japanese man that Quatre, along with the others, all trusted him to make this work.

 

Heero gave a short nod and focused back on his waffles. He had to fuel his body.

 

“Is everyone packed?” asked Wufei.

 

“Yes. All done and ready to go,” Trowa said.

 

“Good. Once breakfast is finished we need to get to headquarters and report in. Une will be waiting for us to brief us on the assignment.” With there being nothing more to say, Wufei continued to eat.

 

The rest of the group followed suit, Heero amazing even himself by managing to force down just about all of his waffles. Nurse Brown appeared with Keitaro and sat the child in his high chair. Heero strapped his son in whilst the nurse fetched the baby's breakfast.

 

With the other three fetching their bags and preparing to leave, Heero assisted the nanny and fed his son. Keitaro thought it was great fun and gurgled his way happily through his cereal, some of it getting spat out with the child's chuckles. Heero managed to avoid getting any of the cereal on himself and once Keitaro was finished, he wiped the babe's mouth with a wash cloth and removed him from the high chair.

 

“Outusan has to go to work now,” Heero told his son, “but I will be home later to check on you.”

 

Keitaro pulled a funny face and tried to grab for Heero's hair as the Japanese man pressed a kiss to his son's forehead.

 

“You be good for Nurse Brown.” Heero took the child through to the lounge room and placed him in his playpen, checking there were toys there to keep the child occupied.

 

Looking around himself, Keitaro ignored his toys and reached his arms out to his father. His face began to screw up and a soft wail made its way past his lips.

 

“Don't cry, Keitaro. I'll be home soon enough, but I have to go to work and try to stop this bad man from taking over; and find your other dad.” Heero's heart was breaking with the soft whimpers of distress his son was making.

 

“He'll be fine, Heero.”

 

Turning at the sound of the voice, Heero found an amused Nurse Brown standing behind him.

 

“He's getting to the stage now where he he wants to be the center of attention all the time. He knows you have to leave for a while and he's trying the guilt trip on you.”

 

“Smart kid,” Trowa said from where he'd appeared in the doorway.

 

“All children do it, although at this age they're not aware that they are trying to manipulate you,” replied the nanny. “All they know is they want attention and if they scream, yell or cry, they usually get it.”

 

“Kind of like Duo in a way,” Wufei said, having joined Trowa in the doorway to find out what was keeping Heero.

 

Heero's eyes narrowed and he directed a glare in the Chinese man's direction.

 

Seeing there could very well be a verbal, if not physical sparring match about to start, Quatre intervened. “Ah, there you all are. Are you ready? Everything is in the car and we need to get going now unless we want to catch the sharp side of Une's tongue.”

 

Both Heero and Wufei backed off, the thought of an irate commander overriding all other possible forms of violence. Heero turned to bid the nanny farewell and exited, trying not to let the child's sniffles affect him too much.

 

* * *

 

“The agents are here to see you.”

 

“Thank you, send them in,” Une replied and pushed the paperwork she was reading to the side. The four agents filed in and she motioned for them to take a seat. Once they were all comfortable, Une looked at each agent in turn, cleared her throat and then spoke.

 

“Agent Day, do you have all you need to convert the Preventer computer file systems over?”

 

“Hai, I do. I set up a program and ran it through my own computer last night as a test run and it worked. All my own files have been converted to the new system.”

 

“Does everything still work okay?”

 

“Yes, yes it does, Commander. The entire system continues to operate exactly as it did before.”

 

“Good. That was what I was hoping to hear. I spoke with the higher heads and they have agreed to having the entire Preventer system changed over, that was providing everything remained operational as before, which you have now assured me it will. If you would head to the main frame section on level sub three, I have other agents and technicians waiting to assist you in any way they can. I also request that you reprogram the Preventer shuttle fleet first.”

 

Heero cocked an eyebrow in question.

 

“The second part of this inquiry will require these three agents being sent out to that abandoned satellite. I do not intend to lose any of them because of the computer system failing or being taken over whilst they are out there.”

 

“Aa.” Now Heero fully understood. How could he have forgotten his friends would be going out there and risking themselves to find Barton and Duo? “I will get onto that immediately.”

 

“Thank you, Agent Day. You are free to leave.”

 

Nodding again, Heero stood and before he left, he spoke to Chang. “Please, let me know before you board for the assignment.”

 

“I will,” came the reply.

 

“Good luck, Heero,” Quatre whispered.

 

Without looking back, Heero left to get started on converting the file systems.

 

With Heero gone, Une turned to the rest of the group. “As soon as the shuttle is pronounced ready for flight, you three will leave. I have looked over all the data you have accrued in relation to this case and I have to agree with your findings. It does seem likely that this satellite could be where those shuttles disappeared to. It also has all the facilities to produce mobile suits. I want you three to check it out, look for any evidence of those shuttles being there, anything that might show mobile suit parts have been manufactured recently, and if so, where they may possibly have gone. It's a long shot, but Barton just might be there too. I have no need to let you know just how important it is that you are not detected in any way?”

 

“Of course, Commander.”

 

“You are to report any and all findings immediately and await further instructions as to what procedure to deploy.”

 

All three nodded.

 

“If you should come across Barton, do not engage the man. Observe and report those findings immediately to me. You will be informed a the the course of action t be taken in that instance. Does anyone have any questions?”

 

“What if we find Duo?” Quatre asked.

 

Une thought about that. “I will have to trust your judgment on that, make the decisions necessary based on the situation at hand, gentlemen. But!” she glared at all three agents. “I do not expect you to risk the success of the operation or put the lives of yourselves or Agent Night in jeopardy. Am I clear?”

 

“Crystal.”

 

“Good. Chang, you are in charge of this assignment. Agents, move out to supplies where you will be given your basic operations field kit and anything else you may require to bring about a successful result.”

 

“Thank you, Commander,” Wufei replied and stood.

 

Trowa and Quatre also stood and picked up their duffel bags from the floor.

 

“Agents?”

 

They all turned to look at the Commander.

 

“Good luck and stay safe.”

 

Two nods and a soft smile were returned and the agents left Une's office to finish their preparations for their trip to the satellite.

 

* * *

 

Duo returned to his console and took up his programming where he'd left off. Young had gone back to his unfinished game of Solitaire and only glanced at Duo from time to time. The piece of paper in his pocket felt like it was burning a hole there. Keeping one eye on the computer, Duo did his best to check out everyone else in the room and see who exactly was watching him.

 

After the course of an hour or two, Duo did notice that the surveillance of him did start to dwindle. That caused him to grin.

 

He let things go for a little while longer and then noting Young completely absorbed in his game and no one else within the room paying him any attention, Duo slipped the paper out of his pocket, brought up the section in the computer's files he would need and began to type in the code.

 

The computer accepted the code, transferring it to all the on-board computers of the mobile suits.

 

With the deed done, there wasn't anything more Duo could do to assist the cause of bringing Barton down. He would just have to hope that what the professor had given him would be enough.

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...