Metamorphosis Part 8
Quatre shared the front seat with Wufei as he drove back to the rebel's makeshift headquarters. Heero and Zechs occupied the back seat. Trowa and Heavyarms escorted the convoy of several vehicles matching their speed as he hovered protectively overhead.
Zechs rested his heavy head in Heero's lap. As Heero absentmindedly fumbled with the Lightning Baron's silky hair his anxious thoughts were centered on Duo as he hoped against ever-narrowing odds that his lover would be alive when they arrived at their safe haven.
"I want to tell you what to do to help Duo." Zechs spoke before a weak sigh broke off his words.
"Rest now." Heero insisted, "You can tell us when we get there."
Zechs' head nodded insistently causing his long hair to slip through Heero's fingers. "No, as feeble as I am I may not be able to tell you then." he stated knowing that he was growing weaker by the moment. "I have to tell you now."
Heero nodded.
"From how you have described Duo's erratic behavior, the agitation and confusion, I believe OZ must have fitted him with a Probe Chip."
Quatre turned quickly in his seat staring back at the rebel pair. "Probe Chip? What kind of shit is that?"
"Sometimes the Manipulators don't want to do a total "brain bending", don't want to wipe out the entire thought process, so they use a Probe Chip designed for the specific purpose of "refining" certain parts of the brain. That way the mind raping bastards have control but still allow their "prey" to keep the knowledge and skills OZ wants to exploit."
Zechs sucked in a shallow gulp of air then winced as his shaky fingers trailed over his throbbing head. Heero placed his hand over Zechs' entwining his fingers. "Take it easy."
Zechs squeezed Heero's hand, "Please let me finish. The Probe is a thin, flexible square chip about the size of you fingertip. It is slid under a flap of skin at the base of the skull. Twin Senor-Tipped Probes, one on each upper corner, press into the spinal cord's nerve-endings.
These sensors can "short-circuit" impulses traveling to the brain, this causes an interruption in the signal. Then the Manipulators can feed any input they wish into the various isolated areas and relay the distorted mental "Prints" to whatever section of the mind they choose."
Heero tensed as he realized exactly what Zechs was saying. "You mean that Duo has a damned Probe in his neck? Why didn't we find it when he was examined?"
"When the Probe is inserted correctly, you wouldn't notice it even if you ran your finger over it. Except for a reddish line where the skin was cut you couldn't find it unless you knew where to look and Duo's thick braided hair hid it perfectly.
What I believed happened is that the exchange took place before the "Benders" completed the process. That is why Duo had been so agitated and easily frightened." Zechs declared.
"With the chip not fully fine-tuned, Duo's brain is constantly receiving scrambled messages. His mind can't focus on anything for very long before the signal skips. This instability is why he had been so unpredictable."
Zechs shifted, "I also know," he sighed lowering his eyes away from Heero's face, " that the Security Sentries would not have hesitated to take advantage of Duo's confusion for any physical pleasure they might decide he could provide."
Heero closed his eyes remembering with heartbreaking clarity Duo's fear, his pleading to "Make them stop." Duo." he whispered as tear welled up blurring his sight.
"But why go to all that trouble?" Quatre wondered. Not much of anything was making sense right then, "I mean what does Duo have that OZ wants so badly?"
"His Gundam and him to pilot it."
"But Duo would never fight for OZ!" Heero proclaimed angrily "He would self-destruct before doing anything like that."
Zechs shook his head, " If the Manipulators had completed the programming Duo not only would have done anything OZ asked of him but he would have thought it was as natural as breathing. If fact they could have made him believe that taking Deathscythe out against you was his own idea."
"I don't believe that. No matter what OZ did Duo would never betray us. No!" Heero stated emphatically, "NEVER!"
"Believe what you will," Zechs replied, "but I think you are damn lucky they didn't get a chance to follow through," he stated locking his sight with Heero's livid glare "or you might have had to destroy Duo and Deathsycthe yourself."
"So what you're saying," Quatre began trying to get his facts straight, "All we have to do is take out the Probe and Duo will be all right."
As he looked over at Quatre, Zechs' eyes were angry, too. "I wish it was that simple." he declared his voice quivering over each word, "I'm afraid that Duo's mind has been flooded with so much dissimilated information it won't be able to realign its thought patterns without help."
"Help!" Heero exclaimed, "What are we supposed to do go back to OZ and ask for their help? I bet if we make a really polite request the bastards will fall all over themselves to save Duo." he proclaimed as acute sarcasm hissed in his voice.
"I say," Wufei finally spoke up breaking his silent reflection, "we go back, get the Gundams and force OZ to make everything right. I will, for Duo's sake, personally pilot Deathscythe so "he" can share in the extraction of justice."
"No." Zechs shook his aching head, "We have the means to "make things right" as Wufei says. "All we need is Wing Zero."
"Zero!" Heero declared, "How in the hell will my Gundam help?"
Zech winced again as he pushed up on his elbows until he was able to lean against Heero's shoulder. He blinked twice but the vehicle's interior still wanted to blur and spin.
Before Heero could comment or suggest that Zechs rest he licked his dry lips and continued. "What I purpose to do is feed the Zero System Integration Programs into a computer then we can modify the data so we control the feedback speed.
The Zero System can capture Duo's skewed sensory patterns, analyze the brainwaves, correlate and return the edited information directly into his neuro-mechanism. Hopefully this will allow his scattered thoughts to "merge" together. By controlling the interfusion rate we won't have to worry about the Zero System's overload factor. If everything works right Duo should make a full recovery."
Quatre leaned over the front seat's back. "Sounds like a workable plan but how do we link Duo and the computer?"
Heero's face brightened as he began to understand the process. "The sensor-pads we use when we have mental practice sessions with the Zero System so we don't have to actually sit in the Gundam?"
Suddenly the pilot trio understood. A long collective sigh was breathed out in unison. "I believe we will beat those bastards after all!" Heero proclaimed with a rare smile shining on his face.
*********
Heavyarms stood like a silent sentinel by the abandon warehouse serving as Sally Po's temporary headquarters. Trowa held the door as Quatre and Wufei half-carried Zechs inside. Heero fell in behind as his own batter body set his sluggish pace.
Halfway to the sleeping quarters a Field Medic met the slow moving group. It didn't take a high degree of medical training to see that the Epyon pilot was hurting and on the verge of passing out.
"Bring him in here." the Medic ordered stepping inside a small examination room.
The Lightning Baron groaned as his weakness-weighted body reclined on a padded table. Now a profuse sweating ran down his face. His arms folded in a cumbersome fashion over his chest. Languidness of both mind and body was rapidly setting in and Zechs had little reserves left to fight off the encompassing exhaustion.
As the Medic began his preliminary examination, a feverish flashback invoked repressed demons lurking in Zechs' subliminal memory. Their awakening brought into sudden focus his horrendous suffering at the OZ Security Interrogator's hands.
Zechs' entire body jumped as phantom electrified currents wrenched already strained muscles. Raw terror seized his mind. Suddenly arms flew forward to block the imagined, but menacingly real, physical invasion. Trowa jumped back barely avoiding the flinging extremities then caught hold of the arm closest to him. Quatre intercepted the other. It took all of their combined strength to restrain Zechs in his adrenaline charged alarm.
"Shit!" Trowa yelled struggling to keep his balance.
Daring to brave Zechs' thrashing onslaught, Wufei took the frightened man's face firmly in his hands. Again a meditative calm caressed his black eyes. "Zechs." he called so softly that Quatre and Trowa wondered if their frightened friend could hear his name.
Once more Wufei spoke never lessening his soothing tone. "Look at me." he ordered firming the pressure to persuade Zechs to listen. "Zechs, tell me who I am."
Zechs jerked rigidly bowing off the table. Wufei spoke once more but instead of raising his voice to command Zechs' attention, he simply breathed out his name.
As if a peaceful breeze brushed his face, Zechs suddenly settled into a state of composed serenity. His body relaxed. Arms drooped in his holder's grasp Wild sight shifted to take in Wufei dark pupil's placid gaze.
"Wufei." he whispered in a distant tone. "Duo" he said with more power. "I have to help Duo."
Contrary to the Medic's advice, Zechs slowly sat up swinging his legs over the table's side. "We can't wait." he announced with a sense of urgency accenting his words. "Give me some Medophene."
"Sir." the Medic responded shaking his head, "In your weakened condition I don't think that is a wise idea. If your system can't handle the stress......"
"Look!" Zechs interrupted clearing not in the mood to debate his condition or the strong stimulant's possible dangerous side effects. "Just give me the damn shot, just enough to keep me going an hour or so, then I promise," he swore raising one hand in a solemn oath, "I'll cooperate and collapse."
Still ardently protesting the Lightning Baron's demands, the Medic dispensed a forced-air injection into Zechs' upper arm. "I WILL NOT be held responsible for any injurious consequences." the upset Medic loudly proclaimed as he exited the room.
"Take me to Duo." Zechs ordered still relying on Wufei and Trowa's help to walk.
*********
Heero hesitated at the door to Duo's room trying to summons the courage to face what he knew would be the hardest thing he would ever have to do. For some time his heart had felt Duo slipping away. Even the miles of separation had not broken his and his soul mate's intrinsic bond.
Despite Zechs' faith that Duo could be saved, Heero knew his friend, comrade-in-arms and lover was almost beyond reclaiming. But if they had only moments more together Heero knew his sweet soul mate would not die without feeling his tender embrace, without knowing how much he loved him.
Heero also knew that if Duo did find his way home to a peaceful place free from war and suffering that Heero's heart would travel with him and keep him safe. At the journey's end, when Heero's soul had gone to dwell with dear Duo the empty hole left behind would be refilled with hate. The avenging Perfect Soldier would then wreak Wing's vengeance on OZ until nothing remained of the Spawns of Hell.
Soon after the retributive vendetta was fulfilled, after his spirit was spent, Heero Yuy, himself, would employ Wing's self-destruct system and he and his Gundam would join Duo forever.
Heero prayed that his terrifying premonition was only a product of heartsick worry. That the grave omen was inspired by fear and magnified by an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
Zechs' plan would work. It had too!
Duo could not leave...not now when Heero finally realized just how empty his life would be without Shinigami's saving grace.
TBC...
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