Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Project Isis ❯ The Beast Revealed ( Chapter 2 )

Standard disclaimers apply, I only own the original characters.

The Beast Revealed

The blaring sirens sent the security agents scattering in all directions. A flashing light somewhere above seemed to add to the initial panic with its urgency. Even as far as John was inside the complex he could here a woman's voice over a microphone coming from outside.

"This is Preventers Unit 002, please cease all activity and exit the complex at once. We have no harmful intentions and only wish to inspect the laboratory." Meanwhile, an indoor speaker sent out far different directions.

"All security agents, report to the main lab facilities to assist in equipment and key personnel evacuation." The voice sounded nervous and hesitant.

John ignored all of the turmoil as he made his way to 1085's cell. His eyes swept the area briefly before opening the door and entering the darkness. 1085 was on her feet, her ears turning in every direction. Her agitation was plainly evident by her every muscle being flexed and her tail lashing in jerking movements. Her eyes fixed on him and she edged away slightly, caution outlining her regal features. Without any pretense John strode forward and pulled out a set of keys from his pocket.

"You're going to have to trust me." He said firmly as he reached out for her hand. Her eyes darted from the keys to his face to his approaching hand with increasing interest and perhaps even hope. She pursed her lips then held out her hand to him. John inserted the key and twisted unlocking the manacle. It fell to the floor heavily with a dull clanking sound. He swiftly unlocked all of her restraints then grabbed her wrist and made for the door. 1085 followed him, her steps a little uncertain. "Stay close to me." He ordered as he led her down the hall. By now the halls were almost empty since everyone was now either preoccupied with either holding back the Preventor forces or were frantically trying to help Carrington escape with all of his research. John halted at the corner of an intersection in the hallway and glanced down all the corridors. He started to move forward but a warm hand on his shoulder halted him. 1085 had a very intent look on her face as her ears twitched and swiveled atop her head. She looked up at him then her eyes darted to the hall on their left. John paused straining to catch any sound. A scant moment later harried voices could be heard coming up the hall with the faint clatter of metal. John edged away from the corner and sought refuge in the shadows of a doorway encouraging her to do the same. Gun shots sounded loudly in rapid succession followed by the groans of dying men. More shots rang out and then the outnumbered security agents fled down the hall. They were pursued by armed men and women baring the insignia of the Preventors on their green jackets. John waited until everyone had gone before urging 1085 back into movement down the hall. They exited the building without any further mishaps but once they were outside she refused to move any further. She stood with her nose in the air and inhaled deeply, something akin to relief washing over her face.

"We must keep going." John said pulling on her wrist for emphasis. With a precise snap of muscles she pulled her wrist free of his grip and began to run. The sound of a gun cocking had her pausing in her actions and turning her head a fraction. One of the Preventors was not ten feet away from her pointing his gun at her with shaky hands. His wide eyes stood out on his face pale with shock as he stared at the beast before him.

"Don't move!" He sputtered. She narrowed her eyes at the frightened man and her tail lashed with violence.

"Hey, what's all the commotion over he- WHOA!" Duo almost fell down from stopping so short. He glanced over at Trowa who was withdrawing a dart gun from his waistband. "Trowa, who's your friend?" He joked to cover his shock.

"Subject number 1085 from Project Isis." He replied then addressed 1085 herself, "Calm down, they are not your enemy, they are here to help." She merely flicked an ear in his direction. Slowly, Duo walked over to stand next to the Preventor frozen with fear.

"Drop the gun." He said sternly but kindly. The man didn't seem to register his words and continued to hold up his gun. Duo reached up, keeping a careful eye on 1085, and gently pushed his gun away from the glaring creature.

"I just got a transmission from Une at headquarters," came a soft, feminine voice approaching the scene, "Dr. Silus has safely arrived." 1085's ears pricked at the mentioning of his name. Sally proceeded forward, her hands raised, and continued speaking in a smooth tone, "He's there waiting for you. We don't want to hurt you but we can't leave you here, Carrington may attempt to recapture you." 1085 relaxed her posture slightly, her eyes took on that clear-eyed intensity as she gazed into Sally's pale-blue eyes as she did with Trowa's. Cautious doubt was laced in 1085's eyes but she relaxed her defensive stance slightly and walked over to Sally. A collective sigh of relief was expelled by the growing number of onlookers surrounding them. Sally gamely held her ground as the strange beast approached her but she could not hide the anxiousness and shock from her face. "Trowa," She addressed the silent man, "Does she understand us? Can she speak?"

"Carrington's research indicated a high intelligence but there is no mention of language skills. I believe, though, that she understands well enough our intentions."

"I see." Sally frowned trying to think of a way to get 1085 into the shuttle to be transported to headquarters. The mutterings and exclamations from the assembled group soon had 1085 tensing with her ears flattening back on her head.

"Not good..." Duo murmured then hurriedly started to motion away the crowd, "Nothing to see here, perhaps your friends trying to secure the interior could use a little help against the armed enemy?" An unanimous expression of guilt passed around all those assembled before they all fled to do the clean-up work. Meanwhile, Trowa gently placed a hand around her arm and began to lead her to the shuttle. Sally sighed and slumped her shoulders.

"You going to be okay?" Duo asked with a mixture of concern and understanding.

"Yea, you?"

"I'm working on it, but this is going to be....interesting."

"Yes. The implications of her existence is going to bring on a lot of complex problems."

"Yea....." Duo trailed off as he watching 1085 disappear into the shuttle hatch with a lingering flick of her tail.

* * *

When the shuttle finally landed in its final destination there were five people waiting near the runway. Une was flanked by Noin and Zechs with Heero standing nearby eyeing the shuttle warily. A bit behind them was a middle-aged man who looked to the shuttle with great anticipation.

Wufei and Sally were the first to exit the halted shuttle followed by Trowa, again leading 1085, with Duo taking the rear. Une, having been slightly prepared for what she was about to face, managed to greet them with a kind smile.

"I'm glad all of you are safe. We'll discuss the findings of the raid later, I'd like for you each to prepare a report." Une then gestured to the man behind her with silver streaked ash-blonde hair. "This is Dr. Silus, he has agreed to cooperate with us in the search for Carrington." Silus stepped forward, but his attention was not on the people before him.

"Kyana," Silus breathed holding out his arms to her. With an inarticulate cry of joy she catapulted headlong into his arms where she clung to him tightly a look of sublime joy on her face. Silus hugged her just as tightly, a tear or two slipping down his face,

"My dear Kyana." Everyone stood to the side with muted surprise as they watched the reunion.

Finally, Silus held her back a little to examine her, "My god, did he even feed you?" He grumbled noting her malnourished condition. He then rubbed gentle fingers on her neck where, like her ankles and wrists, the fur was matted and the skin underneath was red and irritated from the harsh iron chafing it. "We'll need to bandage these; that, a bath, and a good meal will be a good start." He murmured to himself. He then allowed himself a fond grin at her, "How do you feel?" Kyana paused her eyes gesturing to the others nearby. Silus caressed her cheek and sighed, "It's all right, dearest. I'm afraid I'll have to eventually tell them everything. It's the only way that I could make sure you would be safe. Besides, they're not so bad." Kyana nodded although she held suspicion and unease in her eyes.

"I'm well, just a little fatigued and stiff." She replied in a low, smooth voice thick with an exotic accent. Everyone was shocked all over again but the smallest of smiles graced Trowa's lips.

"We'll take care of that." Silus was oblivious to the people around him. With a final lasting gaze at Kyana he turned to Une, "Kyana, this is Lady Une head of the Preventors. We have her to thank for the rescue party." Kyana nodded her head slowly and gravely.

"My thanks." She said softly. Une smiled at her,

"Our pleasure."

"Lady Une, I'm aware that you and your friends have a great deal of questions, all of which I'll be sure to answer. However, while I get started would you mind letting Kyana get cleaned up a bit?"

"Of course. Noin," Une turned toward the woman at her side with short dark-purple, hair, "would you show Kyana to the facility's shower room and also see if you could get something for her to eat from the kitchen?"

"Yes, mam." Noin turned to Kyana,

"What would you like to eat?" Kyana hesitated then addressed Silus,

"Tais quelas meityia il mek tomar?"

"I think we'd better take this one step at a time. I don't think they're ready for that aspect of your enhancements yet." Silus replied with a ghost of a smile then addressed Noin, "Although this will seem terribly stereotypic of bad movies, raw meat would be best." Noin chuckled and nodded,

"That's just fine. Kyana, just follow me and we'll get you situated. Kyana nodded and promptly followed Noin into the building.

"Now then," Silus continued addressing the others, "shall we reconvene inside? I believe a little more privacy is in order for this kind of information."

"Yes, we'll discuss everything in my office. We've taken special precautions to make sure that it is secure." As they entered the Preventors main building Une made the introductions, "You've met Preventers Zechs, Noin, and Heero," She began, "these are agents Chang Wufei and Sally Po. Duo Maxwell and Trowa Barton are private citizens but they agree to help us every so often in our major investigations." Silus raised his eyebrows,

"Hmm, that's four out of five, is there something more you should be telling me about your findings?"

"What do you mean?" Zechs asked.

"I may have spent the last eleven years deep in the rainforest but even I know about the infamous gundam pilots who throurally rattled the Alliance and all of its predecessors. For so many of you take such an active interest makes me nervous that Carrington isn't just working alone to further his research."

"I see.....yes, there are more implications. However, I'd like to hold off on those until we can better understand our position."

"Fair enough." Silus replied, a dark undertone in his voice.

***

The showers were arranged much like a locker room. There was a wide area with multiple shower facets and an adjoining area with lockers. Noin smiled encouragingly at Kyana as she handed her a couple of towels.

"I'm going to get some fresh clothes and food, I'll be back in a minute." Kyana nodded and took the towels. Once Noin left she eagerly cleansed her golden fur of the filth and dirt of her imprisonment. She then carefully took out the beads and braids from her lengthy strands to wash her hair. Once done, she swathed herself in the towels in a hurried attempt to dry off so that she might join her father again; she absolutely hated being left in the dark on such a big topic. The fact that her father was there and conversing openly with these strangers had her very worried. However, before she could dwell long on the subject Noin appeared with the promised items with an additional surprise of a hair dryer. "I thought you'd might like something a little quicker than air-drying." She explained noting Kyana warily staring at the foreign object. "I've also brought a first aid kit. Dr. Silus mentioned that your skin was chaffed." Kyana nodded and reached for the items. "Would you like some help?" Noin asked uncertainty since Kyana was turning the hair drier over analyzing it.

"That's fine, I'm familiar enough with electrical devices. I would prefer to be left alone."

"All right, if you're sure?" Kyana nodded and further proved her point by taking the hair drier to a power outlet and plugged it in. "Everyone's in Ms. Une's office, which is down the hall from here. I could wait if you want me to show you....?"

"I'll really be fine." Kyana assured her. Noin couldn't help but note the emotional and physical exaughstion in her posture and voice but relented to her request. Once Noin had left, Kyana took in a deep breath and tried not to let her raging fears take over her self-control and pride.

* * *

Once settled in various chairs within Une's spacious office and Noin had reappeared, Silus wasted no time in beginning the lengthy history of Kyana's creation.

"Twenty-two years ago Carrington was making incredible advances in genetic development. Being a proclaimed genius in his own time, he had devoted his life to the purpose of improving the human body and mind through genetic manipulation. One of his experiments was the attempt to take the best qualities of the animal kingdom and integrate them into a human's body. Due to the great similarities between the feline and human's neurological systems he decided to begin with that species. Carrington used various chromosomes ranging from a house cat to a lion to blend into the human DNA code or often he would replace a human chromosome with one from the feline family. For years he attempted to combine the codes for a greatly enhanced human being, but all of his endeavors ended in failure. Many of his creations did not survive the gestation period and those that did were too malformed to survive without the aid of machines. Finally, eighteen years ago, he produced a creature that not only survived the gestation period but was also perfectly healthy and capable of survival and growth. That specimen was the 1085th attempt. Thus, she was labeled subject number 1085. Upon her `birth' I was hired for my degrees in zoology and psychology. Carrington wasn't overly concerned with her development so he hired me to ensure that she was physically and mentally well developed. While I was to monitor her growth and potential, he returned to his research. It was always rather ironic that anyone associated with the project called her its first success, for she was only the first survivor and was no where near the state that Carrington had planned for. His goal was to have the enhancements while keeping the appearance as human as possible."

"That's a bit different from the Alliance's view of the project." Noin remarked thoughtfully.

"Yes indeed. The Alliance had far different plans for the project then what it was originally designed for. They wanted to use science as a weapon, they wanted Kyana to be a soldier for them." Heat entered his voice as the memories flashed before his eyes. "She was only seven when they began to teach her physical combat and some weapon use. She was only a child but they ruthlessly started to desensitize her emotions and encourage her predetorial nature."

"Why didn't you interfere if you disproved of it so much?" Zechs asked quietly from where he sat."

"Until the lessons started I was kept in the dark on who funded the project. Initially I was just as excited as Carrington was about the prospect of genetic manipulation. All I could think of was how much medical use there could be; the elimination of disease, bones that would never break, elimination of birth defects. All he cared for was his work, he didn't really care what happened to them past their initial creation." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I was rather young and naive then. I assumed that the investor was contributing for the love of science and progress. Progress has the tendency to blind you from reason and morals. If I had not become so attached to Kyana, it is very possible that I would have gone along with the Alliance's plans. However......" A slow, affectionate smile spread over his face, "....however, I fell in love with her almost the instant I saw her. Heh, it was the same for just about anyone. She was rather cute as a baby and her nature was very sweet and friendly. It was my duty to monitor her and develop all of her mental skills so I ended up spending a great deal of time with her. Soon, even when I didn't have to be there, I'd find myself in her nursery just to play with her or watch her sleep. I think the only person who grew as attached as I did was the head nurse, Jade. She was always there too and treated Kyana like a normal little girl. In fact, she's the one who gave 1085 a name. She was originally from the Brazilian area and she said that in the ancient language of her people, Kyana meant `blessed creation.'

"Anyway," he continued after a brief moment of reflection, "once the lessons started I began to look into our benefactors and uncovered what and who they were and what their intentions were for Carrington's incomplete creation. As soon as I found out I went to Carrington for an explanation but he was apathetic at best and informed me that she was his to do with as he pleased. The Alliance refused to fund him any further unless he gave them a sample of his work to use in their efforts. He clearly didn't care about Kyana's fate and I was far too in love with her to walk away. So, I did something stupid. I gathered up those I knew who were against the use of Kyana as a weapon and formed a plan to get her away from the laboratory. It wasn't enough to get her out of the Alliance's hands, we had to stop Carrington from creating more like her. At night I secretly set up bombs all over the building and the next day I called in a bomb threat to get everyone out. From there I sent a virus to his home computer then hand destroyed his office computer and all of his hard files. Meanwhile, Jade left for the airport to secure us a jet to take us to Brazil, from there we figured we could hide Kyana near the rainforest where we hoped to hide her from other people while allowing her to be near her natural habitat. Once I was finished I got Kyana and left the building, then activated the detonation device once we were safely away."

"And you've been hiding ever since?"

"Yes, as far as I could tell the world had forgotten about us. As an additional favor, those we remained in the country worked to hide Kyana's existence from the Alliance's records. All of my investigations through the computer showed that they were successful in getting the public to beleive that the project's success was a hoax."

"And now Carrington reappears out of oblivion to recapture her and begin right where he left off." Duo mused.

"Not just Carrington, there's also...." Heero was interrupted by the door softly swinging open as Kyana slipped into the room. She looked a hundred times better although her fatigue and malnutrition were still painfully evident. She now donned a white tank top with kacky shorts that had an improvised hole in the back to allow for her tail. Her fur was now neatly groomed so that it shone and every strand was neatly combed into place. Around her afflicted areas were soft, cotton bandages wound efficiently with the ends neatly taped. With grace that a ballerina would be jealous of, she slid over to Silus' chair and lowered herself to sit at his feet with her legs tucked to her side and her tail languidly wrapping around to twitch at her knees. Silus caressed the sensitive area behind her ears with an infinitely affectionate and paternal expression. Kyana smiled contentedly up at him easily ignoring the uneasiness of the room brought on by her arrival.

"Sorry for the interruption, I believe you were about to inform us of Carrington's alliances?" Silus spoke after briefly indulging in his happiness at seeing his adopted daughter again.

"Yes, we've recently discovered that a new terrorist group that focuses on restoring the environment has started funding Carrington's new endeavors." Heero continued.

"Not just them." Kyana remarked softly.

________________________________________________________________ ________

Okay, I know that this is just a lot of boring information but I can't really go on with a decent plot without developing the situation. I'm afraid the first few chapters are going to have to be this way to give you all a feel for the tone and setting of the story. Things will liven up soon enough. Also, yes there was a name change. I just remembered that the use of Kitana is plagiarism from Mortal Combat. I will be making changes in the first chapter to accommodate that as well. Plus, Relena will be making an appearance later on with some possible Heero romance! Heh, I just can't resist!

Lady Eclipse