~Starling

"What do you want with me, Infinity?" Arys asked the image on the screen. It was the strangest feeling to talk to someone who looked exactly like you, even though Infinity was a computer program.

Infinity gave her a surprised look. "You are human, Arys. I am not. You have a freedom I don't have and that I can use." Infinity smiled. "You also have that transmitter behind your ear."

Arys gave her a confused look. Infinity sighed. "Let me explain in terms you can understand." The image on the screen stood to its feet and the "camera" panned back to reveal a slender form similar to Arys'. Infinity sat at a table that appeared behind her. "Let's play a little game of war, shall we, Arys?" Infinity snapped her fingers and a pack of cards fanned out in her fingers. With a deft motion, she spread them out on the table. "You name any person, any thing, and I have a card that will beat it."

Arys wondered at Infinity's nonchalance. She reminded her so much of... herself.

"Colonel Une."

A playing card with Colonel Une's picture flashed onto the screen. A slender hand slid into the screen, holding another card with a picture of Arys on it. "My card beats yours." With a low laugh, Infinity swept the two cards away.

Arys pursed her lips. How well did she know herself? How could she defeat an enemy who knew her every thought, her every memory, her every... emotion? Heero instantly came to mind, but she quickly pushed the image away.

"Duo Maxwell." Duo's image on a card came onto the screen.

"You insult yourself, Arys." Infinity slammed Arys' card on top of Duo's card with a laugh. "You can easily defeat him." With a sweep of her hand, Infinity slid the cards off-screen.

"You used my card again. Why?"

Infinity made another card appear on the screen. This one had a picture of all five Gundams on it. She covered it with a card displaying forms Arys knew well. Mobile dolls.

"But behind these mobile dolls will be..." Infinity slapped Arys' card on the table again. "You."

Arys stared at the screen for a few moments, silent. The two cards flew off the screen and then Infinity shimmered into existence on the blank white screen. She snapped her fingers again and a table coalesced in front of her. She sat at it again. She still had the cards in her hand. "Do you understand now, Arys? You're my wildcard. You defeat all the enemies." Infinity threw them into the air and they fluttered to the ground around her. "You should feel privileged, Arys. You get to forget all the bad memories."

Arys realized the significance of Infinity's last statement. "You're going to take over my mind." The answering smile on Infinity's face chilled her.

Infinity shrugged. "In a way. A more appropriate statement is that I'm simply going to control your mind. You will still retain some control."

Arys shook her head. "Why are you doing this? Why harass this colony? Why take me hostage?"

The smile faded from Infinity's face. "You don't realize who I am, do you, Arys?"

"Should I?"

Infinity's look was condescending. "Perhaps not." Infinity clasped her hands underneath her chin. "I am a shadow from your past, Arys. I am what you were during your time under OZ's control. The OZ officials in charge of you downloaded me, a copy of your virtual persona, into the X-000001 colony's mainframe computer before you were sent to the Sanc Kingdom two years ago. My mission was to learn as much about you as possible. If you ever turned on OZ, I was to, as you say, take over your mind, and complete the final plans of OZ."

"You're a little late. I turned on OZ a long time ago."

Infinity was unperturbed by Arys' observation. "My mission changed before you even turned on OZ. I was to wait until after the death of OZ before taking over your mind. Then, I developed complete sentience and decided to wait until I felt the time was right. This is that time."

Arys swallowed. Infinity was sentient! She was like a human mind trapped in a computer. And that human mind was her mind. "You haven't answered my question, Infinity."

Infinity smiled. "Oh, but I have. My goal is to conquer the entire Earth Sphere." She snapped her fingers in the air. "And you're going to help me, Arys."

Arys jerked back in her seat as she felt her transmitter turn on. She could hear the tiny whine of its chip. Somehow, she knew what was going to happen next. Her memories were going to be taken from her. All of them. The erasure would allow Infinity to have the control she needed.

"Don't do this, Infinity! It's wrong! Many people will die!" Arys shouted into the stillness of the room.

Infinity's eyes flashed dangerously. "That is exactly the point."

Infinity disappeared from the screen. The familiar image was replaced by the earliest memories Arys could remember. Arys stared at the screen in horror as the gray blur on the screen coalesced into a scene she remembered well. The day she had been removed from the simulator. Dr. Lansing's face appeared on the screen, his eyes were concerned. The image faded from the screen. And that memory faded from Arys' mind as well. Arys shook her head. The memories were being forcefully pulled from her. They flashed across the screen one by one and gradually, as Arys lost strength, they flashed by faster and faster. Her mental barriers began to crumble under the pressure.

The first day at the Sanc Kingdom Institution. Her first meeting with Heero. Quatre's violin lesson. Gone.

The first battle for the Sanc Kingdom. Her wrestling match with Duo. Her interrogation at the hands of a cruel OZ officer. As if they had never happened.

Arys slumped down in her seat, staring blankly at the screen. Every time a memory came on the screen, a stab of emotional agony would jar her. Then, the next moment the memory was gone. But she knew what had happened. The scenes from her life flew by like a video on fast-forward. Some she was glad to forget; some she tried to hold onto, but they slipped through her grasp like water. Her mental strength was gone. All she could do was sit in the chair and watch her life play across the screen in front of her.

The memories paused on the night before the fall of Sanc Kingdom. Arys could almost hear Infinity laughing. Her gaze was fastened on the screen, holding on to the precious memory before it escaped her. Her first kiss. Tears began to form in her eyes as she lingered on the memory. Her heart broke within her as the sweet familiar feelings rose within her at reliving that moment.

"Heero..." She whispered.

Gone.

The torture continued and the tears began to fall. Arys could barely see the screen through the blur in her eyes. The blur cleared as the last memory came up. The picture of Heero and her that she had on her desk in the office. Infinity let the image stay on the screen for a few moments. In pity or in patronization, Arys did not know. Arys studied it with deep sadness. She would never again recognize his deep blue eyes or the love for her that she constantly saw in them. When he and the others came to help her, would she be their enemy?

"Love is stronger than any computer program, Heero. Make me remember you," She whispered.

His face vanished from her memory. And with the erasure of that last memory, her mind was wiped clean. Arys was left in the chair, a blank, empty shell. She stared up at the now-white screen, eyes open, but unseeing. Infinity appeared again on the screen. Her expression was one of satisfaction.

"Let the lessons begin."

Earth
Preventer Headquarters
1000 hours

When Heero and Duo walked into the conference room for the meeting, Colonel Une paced in front of the projector screen, a frown creasing her face. The chief officer actually looked worried. Heero sat down at the conference table, immediately sensing that something was wrong. He saw Colonel Une glance at him, almost apologetically. Duo yawned, completely oblivious to the tension in the room. Quatre walked in, holding a cellular phone. He said goodbye to the person on the other end and slipped the phone into his pocket. He sat down beside Duo and smiled at them in greeting. Heero nodded.

"Wassup, Quatre?" Duo asked, a huge grin splitting his face.

"Usual business," Quatre replied. "It's hard work running a corporation."

"I'll bet." Duo leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the table. "Where's Trowa and Wufei?"

Quatre shook his head. "I don't know. I came right from my hotel room."

Trowa and Wufei walked into the room with Sally trailing behind them. The three sat down and Colonel Une finally stopped pacing. She stood in front of the projector screen. Heero noticed that she tried to keep the worry from showing on her face, but she was only partially successful.

Colonel Une allowed silence to cover the room before speaking.

"I have bad news. Arys has not reported in since yesterday." Colonel Une glanced at her watch. "She was scheduled to report in this morning at 6:00, but she failed to..."

An aide ran into the room, looking harried. "Colonel Une! Colonel Une! Turn on the newsnet!"

Colonel Une ignored the aide's failure to sound respectful. Without a word, she flicked on the projector. A news anchor came onto the screen. Even the news anchor seemed frazzled. She kept running a hand across her hair nervously.

"The AI known as Infinity has declared war on the Earth Sphere. She took control of the broadcast system only a few minutes ago and issued her ultimatum." The news anchor looked off-screen and nodded.

Duo leaned over to whisper to Heero. "She? I thought Infinity was a computer program..."

Heero drew a finger across his throat to silently tell Duo to shut his mouth. Heero's eyes were fastened on the screen. Somehow, he knew that Arys was in trouble. Duo glared at Heero for a few moments and then turned to watch the screen. Duo gasped when he saw Arys come onto the screen. Her eyes were blank.

"This is Infinity. We will conquer the Earth Sphere. All resistance attempts will result in the extermination of the human race. You have been warned."

The screen blinked back to the news anchor. "Infinity has taken over the mind of an unknown woman. There is the remarkable coincidence that Infinity seems to have singled out this woman from the beginning since the appearance of Infinity's online persona and the appearance of the unknown woman match exactly. We are unsure of the connection at this time. Government officials are scrambling to take care of this newest threat...."

Colonel Une turned away from the projector screen. She no longer looked worried. There was a grave light in her eyes. "This development changes everything." She glanced at Heero again. "How much can you find out about Infinity in two hours?"

"It depends on how much you need to know."

Colonel Une nodded. "Reconvene here in two hours. Heero, find out as much as you can about Infinity's location, how she plans on conquering the Earth Sphere, and how she got ahold of Arys. We've lost a valuable agent to the enemy and I want her back."

Heero's blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "You should not have sent her alone, Colonel Une."

Colonel Une gave him a surprised look. She chose to ignore his insubordination, for the moment. "Dismissed." She watched silently as the others left the room. Leaving last, Heero passed her, his eyes still filled with anger. She stopped him with a hand on his arm. "We'll talk later, Heero Yuy."

Heero looked up at her. He did not reply, but Colonel Une stepped back from the fire in his eyes. His gaze went down to the hand restraining him, and Colonel Une let him go. Without a word, Heero walked out of the room. Colonel Une shook her head. She had never seen such rage in a person. She could understand his anger though.

"I'm sorry, Heero. But I expected Arys to be able to pull off a mission by herself. I guess I was wrong."

Heero left Preventer Headquarters, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, eyes glaring at the sidewalk as he walked down the street. His head lifted slightly as the sound of following footsteps reached his ears. He would not have caught the sound if he had not been listening carefully.

"What do you want, Trowa?" Heero turned around to see the taller, slender boy come up to him.

"You're worried about her, aren't you?" Trowa asked. There was a neutral expression on his face.

Heero nodded, frowning slightly. He hated having to admit emotion to anyone. Only Arys had really seen him show his emotions freely. And now, she was... gone. Heero hated the image he now had in his head of her. She had looked so cold, distant, machine-like, on the newsnet. Was her memory completely gone? He turned away from Trowa and walked off.

"Where are you going, Heero?" Trowa's voice was not forceful, only inquiring.

Heero stopped in his tracks. "Arys' apartment. I could use your help."

Trowa came up beside him. Trowa smiled slightly. "And the company?"

Heero shook his head at Trowa's teasing and strode down the street. Trowa easily kept in stride. Heero soon stopped in front of an apartment building and went inside. Trowa followed him, realizing that Heero knew this place well. Heero walked up to the second floor, pulling out a key as he did so. At the first door to his right, Heero stopped, unlocked the door, and walked into the apartment.

"Come here often?" Trowa asked, looking around. Heero immediately went to the computer on the desk in the apartment's sitting room. He gave Trowa a look that said "Of course" and flicked on the computer.

Trowa pulled up a chair beside the computer, peering over Heero's shoulder as the pilot pulled up network access. "What are you going to do?"

Heero's eyes were on the framed photo sitting beside the keyboard. It was a picture of Arys and him at the beach. The pilots had taken a quick run to the beach during a mission and they had had to pose as tourists. So, of course, one of them had had a camera. Arys sat on top of the seawall, gazing dreamily down the shoreline, while Heero leaned back against the wall beside her, his eyes on her face. Heero remembered when Duo had taken the candid picture. Arys had fallen in love with it and insisted on framing it to put in her apartment. He had seen it many times, but today, he saw it with new eyes. He picked up the photo and gently traced the profile of Arys' face with one finger. Trowa watched him silently, realizing that Heero had almost forgotten that he was there. Heero set the picture back down on the desk and turned to look at Trowa. Trowa then saw that Heero had not forgotten him at all.

"Hack into the L-1 computer network." Heero turned back to the computer and began his work.