Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ I'm Free ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Trigun Fanfic

Summary:Why did it all go wrong? When did it all go wrong? He has a vague sense that he isn't where he's supposed to be, that he's being held by invisible bonds that he cannot see. Great sadness engulfs him as he looks upon the glowing bulbs and one thought reigns in his mind as he looks at the people looking back at him: You can't take me! I'm free!

 

Trigun © Yasuhiro Nightow * Shonen Gaho-sha * Tokuma Shoten * JVC * Pioneer Entertainment (USA) Inc.

The following fan fiction was written by me (Chiruken) and is intended for the sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for publication or sale.

 

I'm Free

 

By Chiruken

 

Chapter 6

 

On Board Project SEEDS, 132 Years Ago:

 

He wasn't certain who she was or what she wanted from him, but her face was always so sad that he felt compelled to follow her through the dark and deserted corridors despite his growing sense of dread. It was always the same. The same girl, the same corridors and the same sad, knowing expression in her large, sorrowful blue eyes. She never spoke to him and he wondered at that. No matter how many questions he'd ask, she would always maintain silence. And so he would follow, blindly, all the time wondering who she was and where she came from.

 

As he followed, he would realize that he was in a part of the ship he'd never been in before, a place that had been deemed “Off Limits” to Vash and himself. The floors were covered in thick dust, implying that no one had been there for some time, which made him wonder even more. Why would they seemingly abandon a part of the ship? Was there something he was missing? But whenever he would ask, the girl would merely shake her head and gaze at him sadly.

 

At the end of the corridor was a set of doors, always closed, signs posted warning of potential hazard…bio-hazard. It was always to these doors that the girl would lead him, silently, her footfalls so light they didn't disturb the dust coating the decking beneath her. Dimly, he was aware that if he were to look down, his own trail would be invisible. He knew why, but he was reluctant to acknowledge the truth, even now as he reached forward to place his hand against the console that would trigger the mechanism to open the doors.

 

Of course, he always awakened before the doors could actually open. He would sit up on the bunk and stare into the darkness, wondering, questioning, and never finding answers in the dim glow of the low lighting of the room he shared with his brother. It had been the same for months on end and he was becoming quite concerned by the recurring dreams. The girl, with her pale blonde hair and large blue eyes, was strangely familiar to him, though he couldn't remember ever seeing her before in the personal files he'd been diligently perusing for nearly a year now.

 

He never spoke of the dreams, not even to Vash. He was worried that it would be just another thing that would mark him as being different from everyone else. He didn't want to be different…he wanted to be the same as all the other people on board Project SEEDS. Unfortunately, as time passed and he learned more, he was beginning to realize just how different he truly was. He suspected that even Vash was beginning to notice the changes taking place, though thankfully he hadn't mentioned anything…yet.

 

He looked down at his arms with a frown. He twisted his hands, staring at first the backs of them, then his palms, before studying his forearms intently. This was yet another secret he kept from everyone. Swallowing passed a lump of fear forming in his throat he concentrated and stared with morbid fascination at the blades that seemed to grow through his flesh along his arms. Shivering, he twisted his arms again and tried to study the strange phenomenon with scientific detachment. A futile effort, he realized as he felt the panic growing and immediately retracted the blades again. Rubbing his hands up and down his arms, he shivered and allowed his body to fall back onto the comfortable mattress as he curled into a tight, protective ball and stared at the wall.

 

He was fairly certain that his brother wasn't suffering from a similar affliction…if affliction is what it could be called. Though he couldn't be absolutely certain, he thought that perhaps what he was experiencing was similar in many ways to the mutation process he'd read about in the bio-engineering files. He frowned and shivered, reaching out to pull his blanket more securely around his shoulders. He shook his head slowly. No, to the best of his knowledge he hadn't been exposed to large amounts of radiation, so how could it be that his body was rapidly mutating like it was? Besides, he knew that his situation was somewhat unique, different than the reports he'd been reading. The people…test subjects, he thought bitterly, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth…had not been able to grow blades out of their arms, make computer monitors explode with their thoughts, nor could they read other peoples thoughts. They grew sickly, sores spread across their bodies, and they died horrible, gruesome deaths. Which left him with the impression that what he was experiencing wasn't similar at all to those early attempts at bio-engineering experimentation.

 

He wished, not for the first time, that he had someone he could turn to, someone to talk to about what was happening to him. He thought briefly of Rem, his surrogate mother, but immediately dismissed the idea. He couldn't go to her with this. It wasn't the same as being confused by his studies or her philosophy of life. He was afraid that if he told her the truth that she would start to look at him the same way that Steve looked at him. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter and tried to force the image of the man from his mind. It hadn't been so bad at first, the man had merely been stand-offish and refused to interact with Vash and himself as the others did. But, as time passed, the looks had started. Looks filled with distrust that grew into fear and ultimately into hate. He knew Steve hated him…probably even more than he hated Vash, though he couldn't prove it. Shaking his head sharply, he pushed thoughts of the intolerant crew member from his mind. Thinking about, he knew, wouldn't do anything to fix the problem.

 

With a deep sigh he acknowledged that he had no one to rely on but himself. He didn't want to burden his brother with his troubles. He would continue to monitor the changes and if they became too severe, he'd go to the medical lab and run the tests himself, just to ensure that whatever was wrong with him wasn't contagious. He hated not knowing, but at the same time he dreaded discovering the truth.

 

Finally giving up on sleep, he quietly slipped off his bunk and bent to check on Vash. Shaking his head with an indulgent smile, he tugged his brother's blanket back over his body, tucking his sprawled limbs back onto the bunk carefully, not wishing to awaken him. Satisfied that Vash was now comfortable, he grabbed his oversized coat from the hook near the door and left quickly. Hurrying down the corridors he paused at each intersection to ensure that he wouldn't be spotted by any of the members of the crew. Finally, after an interminable amount of time he was standing before a set of familiar doors. Looking around furtively one last time, he pressed his palm flat against the control panel and smiled when the doors opened with a near silent whoosh, a blast of cold air reddening his cheeks. Looking upon row upon row of humans placed in cold sleep, his smile widened. If no where else on the ship, he could be assured that he could find a little bit of peace here.

 

 

 

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