Doctor S and Professor A
By Elly Leaverton

Chapter Two-Good for the Souls

A.C. 172 February, 15th 10:00am

"We did it! Two hours early," crowed her assistant.

"Well, it wasn't as good as I hoped but it will succeed in getting us this year's grant. I'm sure of that." Lisa Avilovski smiled at her assistant, Mandy.

"Yeah, and we're that much closer to mapping the zero interface," said Mandy.

"We have a long way to go still. But I have been living on pizza and cat-naps for the last month and a half...I think the next three days should be dedicated to sleep." Lisa yawned.

"I vote for that...it's so nice not to be Under anymore. Let's go home."

"Under" was an L3 scientist slang that describes the period in work where life was given up. It was thought to originate from the saying "Under the gun." It basically meant you had a huge deadline to meet--sleep, life, and food became optional.

The two of them began gathering their things to leave.

"So who was that guy who brought us Chinese food the other night?" asked Mandy.

"I thought you brought the Chinese?"

"Oh didn't I tell you? Some guy brought it--said he was a friend of yours."

Lisa's heart did a flip in her rib cage. She could only think of one person. The man who kissed her on New Year's Eve: Henrik Stein. He had asked to see her again at the time, of course. She agreed, but then told him of the deadline and going Under. He had asked for her business card and the exact date and time of the deadline. February 15th at noon.

"He left a note," Mandy added.

"Where is it?" asked Lisa.

"I'm such a scatter-brain! I just pocketed it and forgot about it." Mandy pulled the note from her coat pocket. "Sorry!"

The note read: February 15-12:01pm at the bottom a small "S".

"He's coming to see me!"

"Mousy Lisa has a beau? This I gotta see. Is he coming now?"

"In two hours."

Mandy yawned. "I'll never stay awake that long...maybe next time."

Lisa yawned as well. "I'm tired too! What'll I do?"

"Why don't you take a nap on the couch? If he wants to see you right after you emerge from Under, he'll have to take what he can get. I always tell my boyfriends to give me at least a day."

"Yes, I'll do that. I want to be coherent when he comes." Lisa giggled

Mandy smiled. "Look at you! All giggly. How old are you?"

Lisa pulled her alarm clock out of her bag, "Get lost twerp!" she joked.

Mandy laughed as she exited the laboratory. Lisa collapsed on the old couch they kept in the back. The alarm clock was set and on her chest. She hadn't had three hours sleep total in the last two days, but she wasn't going to miss seeing Henry. She'd thought about him quite a bit through the first half of January until work took over, now she was free to think about him again.





He came early. The quiet laboratory worried him. Did she not understand the message? The door was unlocked, so he let himself in. She was fast asleep on the couch in the back, and alarm clock clutched in her hand as if this was her standard practice. Most scientists who went Under had odd sorts of sleeping habits. He gently removed the clock from her grasp and turned it off. Without her glasses, she was the beautiful woman he'd caught a glimpse of that other day.

He found her glasses on a table nearby and her coat and purse on the desk. He returned to her side with the three things and gathered her into his arms. She was as light as a feather. He carried her from the room and down to a waiting cab.




Lisa woke up in her own bed, but she wasn't under the covers. That's odd, she thought. She threw of the blanket that covered her--she was still in her lab clothes. Only her shoes were removed. How did I get here? She asked herself.

She padded out into the kitchen still befuddled. Wait a sec...there had been at least five cereal bowls in the sink yesterday, and she was sure she didn't own a clean glass. She looked back into the hall she'd just come from--the pile of laundry was gone. This place certainly didn't look like she'd been under for a month and a half.

On the table was a vase with a long stemmed red rose in it. Under it, a card that read: Lisa, I'm sorry I couldn't stay until you woke up. I'm going Under myself for a while. I'll call you when it's over. Yours, H.S.



A.C. 172 February, 19th 8:00am



"You mean to tell me, he took you home, put you to bed, did your dishes and your laundry and then just left?" asked Mandy incredulously.

"Yes, and I found this note with a red rose." Lisa smiled happily.

"It doesn't say when he comes out from Under," Mandy observed. "That's so sweet, any guy I know would have told me when so I'd feel obligated to return the favor. And there'd be a helluva lot more than a few cereal bowls and a couple sets of lab clothes to clean. Where do you find these men? I thought I was the expert dater compared to you. I bow to the master!"

Lisa just smiled.



A.C. 172 March 8th 7:30pm



Lisa had a pair of magnifying glasses on. She looked at the intricate wiring in front of her. She consulted her notes and made two changes. This had better work, she told herself. She was running out of options. She placed the device in a harness and strapped it to her head.

"Left," she said concentrating, "Go left."

A pair of mechanical eyeballs on the desk looked left.

"Yes!" she squealed clapping her hands. "Yes Yes YES!"

She took the harness off. Finally. Now she could go home and...she gasped in horror. The clock on the wall said 7:30. Henry! She'd stood him up! They were supposed to meet for a date at 7pm. It was to be their first date since New Year's Eve. The way her scatterbrain worked, it looked like she'd blown her only chance of ever getting a second kiss.

"Oh no! Oh how could I do that? The time. What must he think of me?" she moaned.

A voice from behind her said, "I think you're wonderful."

She spun around. There he was in her lab, all dressed up and looking handsome.

"Oh Henry, I'm so sorry...I got so wrapped up...Your first day out from Under too...I..."

"Don't worry," he said, "I didn't go to the restaurant."

"You didn't, but I th..."

"I just had this feeling you wouldn't come there. So I came here. I've been watching you work since seven. I hope you don't mind."

"No I don't m...you came here? Since seven?" Her mouth moved without a sound as she processed the information.

"You know me that well already?" she asked.

She saw a spark that kindled to a fire behind his eyes. He took a step toward her. "Like the other half of my soul."

Her heart did a flip-flop, but her mind was still in control. "Plato? Duality of souls? I don't believe in that." She took a step towards him. "You see, it's not very scientific."

"I plan to have long discussions about it with you in the future." He took another step towards her.

"W-we should discuss it, because it's a very controversial theory." She took the last step, which placed her right in front of him.

"Controversial?" he brushed a wisp of hair away from her cheek.

Her eyes fluttered to his mouth and back, "Well, yes, you see there's very little...proof." His hand felt so nice next to her cheek.

"I have all the proof I need." He captured her mouth with his.

Chapter Three - Will We Survive?

A.C. 173 June 22nd



"Here put this on," said Lisa holding out a head harness with a computerized box attached.

"Like this?" Henry asked.

She nodded. "Now slide the box around so it's behind your ear."

"Here?"

"No, here let me." She moved the harness slowly. "It's got to be in just the right spot."

A light on the box flashed.

"Got it." She smiled. "Okay, now make a fist with your left hand."

Henry did as she instructed. On the laboratory bench in front of him another left hand also made a fist.

"Hey, wow!" he cried.

Henry wiggled his fingers; the prosthetic hand mirrored action.

Lisa smiled. "It has full range of motion from the wrist up. It will do what ever your brain normally tells a left hand to do."

"Lisa, you're amazing!"

"And that's not all." Lisa reached out and tapped the prosthetic hand.

Henry jumped in surprise. "It felt like you tapped my hand!"

"Yes, it's totally interactive with the mind. Both sending and receiving, but only pressure so far, we haven't got it to understand temperature. See?" She slipped her hand inside the prosthetic hand to where a normal hand would feel her warm skin.

"Your right. It feels kind of numb."

"Well a hand has many more nerves than we can allow for. A person would never get a total recovery with this--could never read brail for instance."

"Would they have to wear this box too?"

"We've developed implants for it. Only problem is the smaller the box the fewer features the hand has. And we can't put this big a box inside someone's head. That's our goal for this year, along with eye-sight."

"I bet that takes a huge harness?" He asked distractedly.

"Yes, right now it takes a whole helmet for black and white vision. But I have a few theories, which I hope will get it down to a reasonable size."

"What about your book?" He shifted nervously in the seat.

She sighed. "You always ask me about that!"

"Publish or perish!" he coined an old phrase.

"I've set a goal to have `Map of the Zero Interface' to the editors by Christmas." She read his body language--something was up.

He forced a laugh, "You're so much like me: always setting too many goals."

"And you're stalling."

"Huh?"

"Instead of asking me the same old questions, why don't you just tell me what's on your mind?"

He a look of fear passed over his face, "Uh...I have news." He looked down at his hands. "And I'm not sure...what it will mean for us." He finished in a rush.

"Oh," she said. "Let me sit down then."

"Yes, you'd better."

She pulled a stool over and perched on it next to him. The prosthetic hand cavorted in a worried half twiddle mirroring his hand in his lap.

"So what's the news?"

"Oh, it's good news really...partly. It's a new job. Designing mobile suits."

"Oh Henry! That's wonderful! It's your dream, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is but..." There was no easy way to say this. "It's on Earth."

Her heart plummeted. She also looked down. "Well, it had to happen sooner or later."

They sat that way side-by-side for several minutes, staring at the lab counter in front of them. A lump started to form in her throat. The more she thought about them breaking up, the more her heart hurt. She tried to think of something else to suppress these feelings...maybe they should add hearing to the list of goals? But the feelings persisted, distracting her, refusing to be ignored.

"Lisa!" He turned to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Marry me, please."

Her eyes filled with tears. "You know I can't! I can't leave L3! The center of my career is here. That's why I live here instead of with family on the Mars colony!"

"I know!" he cried. "I'm not asking you to leave here. Marry me anyway."

"But."

"Lisa, please listen," he begged. "This last year and a half--I've never been so happy. Even if I only get to see you once and a while it would be better than giving you up!"

Tears streaked down her face. Sobs racked her body. "No...no..."

"People like us...scientists...we burn out early. When we get off this technology roller coaster, at least we won't have to be alone! We'd have each other." He brushed a tear away from her cheek. "Too grow old with."

She gulped a sob, "So you want us to marry now and be apart?"

"Yes, don't you see? I understand about your work. You're helping to reverse blindness. You love it. I could never take that away from you!" He sighed. "It wouldn't be much different than it is now...with the way you and I go Under all the time. I'm never going to find another woman like you...I don't want to loose you."

"We'd have to plan our time-off better," She wiped her face with the sleeve of her lab coat.

"It'd be good for us," he agreed. "Please say yes...you're my soul mate. We were meant to be together."

"Oh Henry, I love you so much!" She threw her arms around him. "It won't be much different--not really. But people will say we're crazy."

He hugged her tightly.

"I don't know about you, but people already say I'm crazy," he said.

"How can I bare you being so far away?"

"Just think about the future. We have so much to look forward to, my love!" He pushed her back so he could look into her eyes. "I can do this...I can spend long hours in a think-tank, go Under for months on end, invent the world's best mobile suit, if I know that someday you and I will be together forever. You protect my sanity. And you, my miracle worker, will make `lame beggars walk and blind men see'."

She smiled through her tear-stained cheeks. "What did I do to deserve you? I will marry you Henrik Stein! Tonight if you want me too."

"Yes, tonight." He kissed her, then pulled her in tightly to his chest. Over his shoulder she saw the prosthetic hand flop helplessly on the desk. It had fallen off its stand in all the excitement.

She giggled, stepped back and removed the harness from his head.

"I still don't believe in Plato's dual soul mumbo-jumbo."

"Then, I'll have to work harder at convincing you."



A.C. 175 June, 27th



Lisa had checked her email at least three times every day for the last two months-nothing from him. Her voice mail was equally empty.

Heero Yuy was dead.

It was still so hard to believe! Heero had been the hope for colonial independence. His assassination on April 7th had thrown L3 into chaos. Gunmen, papers, military rule...but nothing bothered her half so much as loosing touch with Henry. She could get no word of him, whether he was still on Earth, whether he was still alive. Her last email was dated May 2nd. It was just a few lines. "Love, things are hectic. I'm leaving here as soon as I can. I'll call you tomorrow. H.S."

But he hadn't called.

She had terrible nightmares--red glaring lights, people screaming. Lately they'd become physically painful to her. She figured she must have been thrashing around in her sleep. She must have whacked her head against the headboard a week ago--her nose still throbbed in pain. Before that, it had been her hand, which was still numb in places. The dreams had only grown in terrible images-torture, the sound of a familiar voice screaming.


It was a good thing the Technology District closed down as often as it did. She could never work in this state of worry. But it left her pent up in her apartment--pacing like a tiger in a cage.

She'd just started in on a second bout of dusting that morning, when several loud sounds drew her to the window. A hover cab floated there. She opened the window.

The back door of the cab flew open and a young man poked his head out.

"Hey, Lady! You Dr. Stein? Dr. Lisa Avilovski-Stein?"

"Yes, I..."

He cut her off. "Get in quick!"

"What?"

"Lady, I don't have time to explain it to you. You see that patrol down there?" Fifteen stories down a patrol of Alliance soldiers came to a stop in front of her building. "They're here with a warrant for your arrest and execution! You wanna stay and invite them for tea?"

"Who are you?"

"Doctor S sent me."

Could Doctor S be her husband? She heard shouting below. The elevator was very fast. She didn't have much time. She made up her mind. Taking the man's hand she jumped into the cab. It sped away as a soldier kicked in her door.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Your lab."

"Why?"

"Doctor S says you can fix the blind and give a body a new hand."

Her heart leapt to her throat. "Who needs that?"

"Nobody you know. Doctor S says your code name is now `Professor A' and you're not supposed to tell any one who you really are."

"Professor A?"

"Yeah."

"Who is Doctor S?"

The young man looked at her like she was stupid, "He said he was your husband."

She grinned like an idiot. "Thank God!"

Confirming that this was the last trip she could ever make to her lab, Lisa had the young man and the cab driver bring her entire set of prosthetics--six cases worth. She spent the time downloading things onto her laptop. She added all of her fine tuned electronic tools, and a medical kit. They were impatient to be gone, but she was careful. If Henry expected her to give someone back his or her sight, she was not going to let him down. Her heart sung at the prospect of seeing him again. He's alive! It was all she needed to be happy--well maybe not all.

She grabbed her first print copy of her book on the way out the door. Couldn't leave that behind!

The cab took her into the bowels of L3. She saw places of the colony, she'd never seen before, and didn't care to see again. She saw her first glimpse of the hover war tanks the news had been talking about. Patrols were numerous in this blasted and run-down side of L3. The cab finally ducked through a trick roof on top of a run-down apartment building. She found herself in a long tunnel, moving under the colony surface. Cracks of light peaked down into the dark tunnel as the cab sped along.

Finally the tunnel opened in to a room. Three other parked hover cabs sat there. Standing in front of them was a familiar figure--tall and narrow with wild upward standing hair. He stood in shadow, but there was no mistaking that figure.

Her heart flipped over in her chest, she opened her mouth, "Hen..."

"Don't say his name," the young man hissed, cutting her off. "This is not the place for names. He's Doctor S, remember that."

She nodded, but her eyes never left the tall figure as she waited impatiently for the hover cab to land.

She burst from the cab the instant it touched the ground. Tears of joy blurred her eyes as she ran to him. He met her halfway and caught her up in a hug.

Her body was racked with sobs of relief as she clung to him.

"It's alright," he whispered to her. "I'm here, my soul. It's alright." He kissed her ear and her cheek.

She pulled back to look at him, and that was when she noticed it. As her eyes adjusted to the shadows, she could see a large bandage where his nose had been.



Later that day



Doctor S watched as his wife and Master O stepped out of the examination room. She didn't look at all well. She removed her surgeon's mask and rushed to the sink to be sick.

Doctor S winced and walked over to the shuddering form of his wife. He placed a hand on her back. She spat twice, still shuddering. He handed her a towel. She took it and stood up from the sink. She wiped her mouth, but did not turn around.

"Who would do such a thing?" she said, with a cold steely chill to her voice.

"They call themselves `OZ'," he said, his nasal voice still sounding un-natural to his ears.

"Why?"

"The mobile suits...we wouldn't finish them. We refused. They found other means to persuade us. First him, then me." He looked down at his bandaged hand. "His screams, it kept us all working. Then he stopped screaming..."

She said nothing. She stood staring straight ahead. Such things didn't happen in real life did they? She asked herself. It seemed so unreal...like some dime store novel.

"Can." Doctor S paused. "Can you help him?"

There, something scientific to think about! She clung to it. "He's a good candidate for prosthesis, but that young man in the cab didn't tell me the eyes and hand were for the same man. I can't do both. We've gotten the controls down to a reasonable size for either a limb prosthesis or an optic prosthesis, but not both. I'm sure he'd rather have his eyes."

"Yes," Doctor S agreed quietly.

"Then all I can do about the hand is a simple two-motion hook or claw. Optic prosthesis just takes up too much space." She sighed. "I can do nothing for his legs. He'll get up to 70% of his leg mobility back, but he'll never walk without braces ever again."

"Thank you," said Doctor S.

"I'm not a medical doctor, but fortunately Master O is. We can begin whenever, he's ready."

"I would like to review the procedure with you a few times before we start," rumbled Master O from behind them.

She nodded, but didn't turn around. "I've...I've never created nasal prosthesis, but it...it shouldn't be that hard. I can at least get your face back to looking normal."

"No," he said bitterly. "I don't want you too. This face...my face will remain as it is. I want the whole L3 resistance to see it, so they know what OZ is capable of."

"I understand. There are nose shields in my prosthesis cases."

"I'd find one. Go on now."

She turned and looked at him. Her eyes were blasted. Her face was pale and gaunt. She mustered a sad smile, which barely turned the corners of her mouth. He felt as though he'd been punched in the stomach, torture was preferable to the raw pain that engulfed their lives. Quietly, she left with Master O.

"How will we survive this?" Doctor S asked the empty room.

It had no answers for him.

Chapter Four-The Sign of Peace

A.C. 175 July, 17th

Lisa wheeled Doctor J away from the room they had been using for physical therapy. Her life seemed much simpler now. She was given space in the lab for her research, but she found she preferred to be where other people were. The death of Heero Yuy and the torture of Doctor J and her husband had carved a hole in her psyche. Where before she could spend hours, days, even months alone with a project, now she found it draining. Her logical mind told her that people in times of tragedy cling to one another, and that she was just following a pattern, but even working it through logically couldn't stop it. Some things in nature just worked that way.

There were other people who could've helped Doctor J with his physical therapy, but she didn't mind, at least she had company. The five scientists locked themselves away every day. They were working on something big for the resistance. Henry worked like one obsessed, they barely talked. Funny, one of the things that brought them together was their focus on their jobs. Now, she wished he'd focus a little on her. She wasn't dealing well with this war. But she was not the ammunitions and mobile suit expert, so she could not help them. She'd never researched anything that could be used in times of war.

"You seem lost in thought this morning, my dear," said Doctor J as she wheeled him down the hall.

"Sorry, did I miss something?" she asked.

"No I didn't say anything, I was just commenting on your quietness."

"Oh, sorry. This whole thing, it has me worried. You know, I'm such an introvert normally, I never thought I'd say this but I'm not dealing well with begin alone."

"War can change a person," he agreed. "You're from the Mars Colony right?"

She nodded, "My family moved to M1 when they first opened it. My parents are both terra-form biologist."

"You must worry about them."

"I haven't talked with them since before Heero Yuy was murdered. Do you think there's an alliance presence there too?"

"Oh yes, I'm sure of it."

"But M1 is nothing but a staging ground for the terra formation of Mars!"

"Where ever there are people living, OZ wants to subdue them."

She didn't reply to this.

"Oh my dear! I've made you more upset."

"No, you haven't, Doctor J. OZ has."

She pushed open the door to the lab where the five scientists were working. The other four were there. Professor G and Doctor S where pecking at a lap top and arguing at the other end of the large circular table, which dominated the room. Master O and Instructor H were sitting at the drafting table in the corner.

All four were much too far away to prevent her from spotting it.

They all looked at her in various stages of fear, like children caught jumping on a bed.

It was her copy of "Mapping the Zero Interface", book marked and open on the table.

She left Doctor J and walked over to it. What were they upset about? Why did they have her book?

"My book," she said stupidly. "What's it doing here?"

Nobody said anything, but the three scientist who where not her husband looked at him with concern.

She picked up the book and looked at the pages which were book marked--mostly the transmitter and receiver sections. She didn't understand. She looked up questioningly. No one said a word.

"Doctor S?" she asked remembering to use the code name.

He opened his mouth but still didn't speak.

Her eyes fell on to drawings, which were near it on the table. She picked one up.

"This is an interface box," she said. "But it's much too large."

She picked up a second drawing. "Oh I see, it fits into a computer here. Why would anyone want to do that? You'd have to carry it around with a truck. How does it hook to a person? Oh here, a transmitter focused on a seat, but a person would have to sit in it for it to work."

She flipped over another drawing. "It leads to a processor--but why? The human mind is the normal processor for prosthesis."

She turned a drawing. "But this would control..."

She felt detached from the room as if looking through a tunnel. "This room, this room would send and receive thoughts...this processor would..."

She turned to the last drawing. As she held it, her hand began to shake. "A weapon...it's a weapon. `The Zero System'"

The silence stretched in the room.

"You've made a weapon out of my research."

"I..." Doctor S began.

Lisa grabbed a chair from the table. She sank into it.

"I had never considered...I never thought it was possible to use it that way." As the horror of it seeped in her heart reacted. No! I will not allow this! Her heart told her. Methodical she gathered the papers towards her--every last drawing incorporating her research. She clutched them to her chest along with her book. She had to leave! She spun about to face the door. Doctor J was still there in his wheel chair.

He reached up his clawed metal hand to adjust his mechanical eyes. The image stopped her. It was just long enough for the reason center of her brain to take over. She remembered vividly the tortured body she'd healed. She remembered her own husband's wounds--his broken fingers and severed nose. She hated OZ, but did she hate it enough to give it her legacy? She looked down at her book.

She looked back up at Doctor J, her feelings in turmoil. "It's something I never intended." She said lamely

"How do you feel about what we have done, my dear?" said Doctor J taking the initiative. "It's understandable for you to be angry. You must be furious with us."

"I am, well I was...I really don't know," she admitted. "I've always known what Hen...Doctor S does for a living. It never bothered me. But this?" She held up a fist full of drawings.

"How do you feel about war?" Doctor S asked from behind her.

"I don't oppose it, now. I would've told you back before Heero Yuy was shot that I could never kill anyone. That all war was bad. But now, considering what has been done to the colonies, to you two, I would gladly like to see the deaths of your torturers."

"They have already received justice," rumbled the deep voice of Master O.

"But, am I loosing my humanity if I let my legacy be used to kill?" she asked.

"Your legacy will not be a weapon. Your research and book were done for the best of reasons and I am grateful for the result. It is we who have corrupted it," said Doctor J. "You must not think of this as a weapon to kill, but rather to prevent killing."

"To prevent killing?" She asked.

"There will always be people who want killing and war. We must use every tool in our grasp to stop them. To stop this," he raised his mechanical claw, "from happening to others."

It was twisted logic, her heart knew, but her head was now firmly in charge. OZ must be stopped, she believed this to the core of her being. She looked again at the drawings cruppled in one hand, and her book clutched in the other. It was a small price to pay. She turned back to the table and set the drawings down. Slowly she looked up at the four men staring at her.

"Use it." she said in a bone-chilling souless voice.

Silence followed her statement. Doctor S looked worried, and nervous.

"I told you she wouldn't be hysterical. She hates OZ as much as we do." Professor G said. The other men winced at the tactless comment, but he barreled on. "Besides we don't even know if it will work. And I for one am glad this is out in the open. She's the expert. She can tell us if it will work."

"Yes," she said numbly. "I can do that."

She pulled all the drawings of the system towards her. She reached for a near by mechanical pencil and a pad of engineering paper. Her detached feeling faded slowly after a few pages of numbers and calculations. Cold science never demanded an emotional response. It was easier to deal with than real life consequences. She'd always suppressed feelings with it. This was no different. The five other scientists went back to work as well, their fears relieved. Vaguely in the back of her mind, she was pleased to be included, to not have to work alone, and to contribute in some way to the end of OZ and the Alliance's oppression.

"It will work," she announced five hours later.

"That's it! We'll have the ultimate weapon," crowed Professor G.

"We must install it in all of the Gundams," said Instructor H.

"No, you mustn't do that," warned Lisa.

"But you just said..." started her husband.

"This is not a device for every soldier on the field. It's not a device for a soldier at all," she explained.

"Why don't you tell us what you've discovered?" suggested Doctor J.

"The pilot who masters this system will be unbeatable on the battle field. Such a pilot will have the ability to see 360 degrees at once, to anticipate the moves of his opponent. He will be able to act within nanoseconds of any threat. He will never be blind-sided, surprised, or overwhelmed by numbers. He could coordinate an infinite number of other soldier for group engagements."

"That's what we'd hoped," said Master O. "But?"

"But, this sword has a double edge. This pilot must be more than human. He must be perfect. And he must either be a leader or be completely behind his orders."

"Behind his orders?"

"If he is a rank and file soldier with the will only to follow orders...If he had even one doubt, this system will exploit it. In his mind, his doubts will be magnified. What would normally be a little worry suddenly could be become an enemy. Do you see where I'm going with this? If he does not have a preternaturally focused mind, his doubts will cause him to lose control and very likely destroy everything on the battle field--comrades, civilians, trees, buildings, animals...everything."

"So this can only be used by leaders?" asked Doctor J.

"Not just any leader--a visionary leader, one with a driving obsessive goal. Don't you see? No one could control this pilot. This pilot could not take orders he himself did not agree with."

"In a war, soldiers must follow orders," agreed Doctor S.

"We could train a boy, from a very young age to be the type of pilot you describe," suggested Doctor J.

"It would be the only way to use this weapon," Lisa said. "You probably should wait until he's grown and judge for yourselves whether or not to put the system in. Each case will be different, the decision will not be easy." She sighed. "I can devise aptitude tests for it, if you'd like. Also this design has a few flaws, I'll work on it, if you still want it in the design."

"Well, I, for one would still like it in the design. Even if we never use it. Chances are one of us will find that perfect boy," said Doctor J.

The others looked skeptical, but didn't disagree. So Lisa continued the development of the design over the next eight months. She worked closely with Master O, who understood the piece she did not--the code for the strategy computer the pilot's thought would be analyzed by. She could not write code for something she'd never done and she'd never fought.



A.C. 176 March, 20th

Lisa sat on a couch in the lounge, nursing a strong cup of coffee. She'd slept like the dead for the last few days. They'd finally finished a major push these last six weeks, and as usual after going Under, they had to spend time recovering. The Zero System was powerful, dangerous, and the chance was great that it would never be built. But if it was built, at least she and Master O could rest assured that it would work.

On her lap was a small picture in a wooden frame. She'd grab it from her office--it was the only memento other than her equipment she had from before the conflict, chaos, rebellion, or what ever you called the time they were living in now.

Oz had begun production of military mobile suits in earnest the intelligence network had told them. The mobile suits had begun to show up on the colonies supposedly to suppress the chaos in the colonies created by rebellion. The results of this weapon's use on the defenseless peace-minded colonies were devastating. All space colonies were placed under military control, their history was erased, and any communication between colonies became prohibited. The OZ propaganda wheel turned out fliers and posters--it was like Heero Yuy never existed.

"What are you looking at?" asked a familiar nasal voice from behind her. It was funny how she'd gotten used to it. Who ever would've thought she'd love a man with a nasal voice?

"It's the portrait we had taken right after our marriage." She showed him. "We were so idealistic then. It seems like ages ago. So much can change in two and a half years."

"Yes," he agreed as he poured himself a cup of coffee. He sat down next to her and pulled the picture over. "I almost don't recognize myself anymore." He fingered his nose shield.

"We missed celebrating our second anniversary this last year."

"I know. Believe me I would've given anything to be with you on that day." He shuddered involuntarily.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up."

"No, we'll just have to celebrate twice this year." He put his coffee in his other hand to put his arm around her shoulders. She snuggled into his embrace.

They sat that way for a few minutes lost in thought.

"So what happens now?" she asked.

"Well, the design is done. Now the resistance has to figure out how to build them. Most of the other scientists have asked to be returned to their original colonies, but with the Alliance lock down on travel, that might be a while. I imagine they'll hold a few meetings soon."

"In the hands of meetings and bureaucrats even in a rebellion?"

He smiled and nodded. "Professor G and a fellow from the earth resistance want to start work on a battleship while we wait."

"Well, that's something at least."

"Yeah, I'll probably help them. I'm not a meeting type of person."

"God I wish I could speak with my parents!" sighed Lisa.

"I know. The Earth turns a blind eye to everything the Alliance does to the colonies."

"Not all of Earth. There still is King Peacecraft of the Sanc Kingdom. He's a lot like Heero Yuy." Lisa sipped her coffee.

"I don't put much faith in that. Just one country--what could they do?"

"Yeah and we're just one resistance--I guess we're doomed."

"Well, when you put it that way...here's hoping!" He raised his coffee mug. "To the Sanc Kingdom!"

"To the Sanc Kingdom!" Lisa echoed the toast and they drank to hope.


AC 182 December 12th


The Sanc Kingdom did not bring peace to the colonies as Lisa and Henry hoped. King Peacecraft tried his best, but he failed. Lisa shook her head as she thought of the tragedy of the fall of the Sanc Kingdom earlier that year--another pacifist killed before his time. The Alliance had attacked, and the peaceful country fell in one day. For the last six years, Henry and Lisa had been shuffled from hiding place to hiding place. The resistance had decided to spilt the scientists up and send them back to their original colonies. The hope was that each would attempt to build a Gundam separately using the Gundam Wing Zero as the base design. This plan would increase the possibility of one of them succeeding.

The Alliance worked very hard at crushing the resistance. For the last three years, they'd been completely cut off from Doctor J at L1 and Master O at L5. The resistance had been unable to get her to M1 at all. But this year it would happen. The Mars Project had needed scientists. They'd put out job fliers. She qualified and very easily got a job with the Project. Sometimes the direct approach worked. The alliance was now going to pay for her trip to M1, how ironic.

She was never meant to be part of their big operation. The Gundam she would build was to be used to liberate M1 and be back up if the Earth Sphere needed it. The resistance calculated that she had the best chance of successfully completing a Gundam. The Alliance presence at M1 was small. The resistance there was well organized. She would be the trump card.

Henry and Lisa had known about the plan to send her back to M1 for two years now. They didn't really care for the idea, but both had seen the logic in the plan. Secretly they celebrated the failed attempts to get her to M1, but this time would not be one of those. They both knew it.

Henry sat in a chair at the other end of the room watching his wife pack her few belongings. "This is worse than before," he commented.

"We never lived together before you went to Earth."

"True."

"We'll just have to do the same things we did then--get lost in the work."

"Building these Gundams on limited resources and smuggled items will take a very long time. It could be years before we see each other again."

"I know."

"This time there will be no holidays. It takes six months just to get to M1."

"I know that too." She brushed a tear away--no time for that now.

"Of course." He sighed. "To repeat something you said then--How can I bare you being so far away?"

Her eyes glistened over. "Henry, please...don't."

"Have you packed the `Sign of Peace'?"

"I have it right here." She patted the breast pocket where a jewelry box was stored. On the last day they were together: the five scientists, Lisa and Howard, the fellow from the earth resistance, Doctor J had given them each a lapel pin. Each had the word `peace' written in the original language of the person to whom it was for, under that was the designation of each colony. Lisa's was written in Russian, the language of her descent. Henry's was written in German. All of them spoke universal now, but each had a love of the dead language from their ancestors' earth home.

Doctor J called them the 'signs of peace', and gave them out with instructions to wear them to the party after the war to celebrate their victory. His gift was touching and motivational. He was clearly their leader, and they all respected him.

There was a knock on the door. "Professor A?"

"Yes?"

"The car's here ma'am. Whenever you're ready."

"Give me a few minutes."

"Yes ma'am"

The footsteps retreated. Lisa looked at her husband.

"Well," she said.

"Well." He rose and crossed the room to hug her close.

"Oh Henry!" She threw her arms about his neck.

"Now then, my soul," he comforted her. "You and I can never truly be apart." He kissed her gently.

"I wish I believed that," she sobbed. "It hurts so much!"

"That's my proof."

"We will win this thing won't we?" she asked.

"Yes."

"And you and I will grow old together like we planned?"

"Yes."

She stepped back and wiped her eyes. "We really have so much to look forward to."

"Yes."

She breathed deeply to control her sobs. "It makes this separation much easier doesn't it?"

He didn't answer. He couldn't.

"Henry," she breathed and rushed quickly back into his arms.

"I love you, Lisa," he said into her hair. "Never forget that, I don't say it enough."

She sobbed into his shoulder. "I...love...you...too."

"Go on now." He gently broke the embrace and picked up her suitcase. She wiped her face again futilely with her wet hands, and took the suitcase.

She walked away on shaky legs and opened the door. She stood there with the doorknob clutched in her hand. Then with the greatest force of will she'd ever mustered, she walked out the door.

Henry sank to his knees, having used all his strength to keep them from shaking he could no longer stand now. For the first time since he was a boy, tears course down his cheeks.

"Someone, tell me I'm going to see her again."

No one answered.

"Please."

The word echoed in the silent room.

Chapter Five - The Only One who Cried

A.C. 195 December



Emiko sat at the console, her eyes glued to the telecast on the vid-screen. She'd been there all night. Lisa was not surprised to find her there that morning. Their lives hinged upon the Earth Sphere now.

"Professor A!" exclaimed the fifteen-year-old girl. "I think this is the final battle!"

"You've said that before," Lisa chided the young African-Asian girl.

"The White Fang and Treize, the leader of Romefeller, are actually fighting!"

"Wouldn't it be nice if those two boys just killed each other off and this really was the last battle?"

"I'm sure it is. The news is talking about rumors of the colonies' Gundams being in the fight as well."

"Those Gundams sure have lasted. I guess they decided they didn't need the spare."

"I still don't think they got your message. I don't think the Earth Sphere Resistance realizes we're out here."

"I hope you're wrong." Lisa had placed the sign of peace on the uniform of the actor who played in the ruse they'd sent the Earth Sphere three years ago. It wasn't much of a message, but it was all the M1 president would allow.

The Earth Sphere Resistance had been right. Lisa did have the best chance of building a Gundam. It was finished in A.C. 192. Lisa's Gundam piloted by the 12-year old Emiko, lead the battle. The Alliance and Specials forces stationed at M1 had been overcome in a smooth, deadly and quiet coup.

The colony voted in a very democratic manner, to go into hiding until the oppression, battles and wars stopped on the Earth Sphere. They stage a very elaborate ruse. In A.C. 192, the Earth Sphere was rocked by the news of the total destruction of M1. Rebellious factions fought the Alliance and the colony was caught in the crossfire. It was labeled one of the worst tragedies in centuries-sure to set back the terra formation of Mar at least twenty years!

Everything was acted out. The costumes were perfect. The special affects were stunning. As a result, M1 had lived in relative peace for the last three years waiting for the Earth Sphere to come around.

Emiko and Lisa were proclaimed heroes. They attended all banquets and formal occasions. The original Gundam was gutted and stands before the capital building as a monument.

The second Gundam Lisa built was used now to protect the colony. Emiko and Lisa lived in a small battleship and patrolled the nearby space. Should any forays from Earth show up, they were quickly captured and the secret of M1 was preserved.

"Do you really want to be there fighting Emiko?" Lisa asked the young girl.

"No," she said. "Not really. I feel obligated though, because I am a Gundam pilot. And I'd like to meet the other pilots, just so I could have someone to talk to who knows what I've gone through."

"You probably wouldn't have much in common with them. I know Doctor J talked about raising a boy to fight in his Gundam, but I doubt he did it. I met the boy my husband was going to use. Trowa Barton would be at least twenty-five by now. All those pilots are grown men, I'm sure."

"What was Trowa Barton like?"

"Cocky, arrogant, loud-mouthed, even as a kid. He reminded me of his father, Dekim. Couldn't stand the man. But Trowa was good at piloting, that's a fact. Born knowing how to do it."

"We'd have that in common," noted Emiko. Her attention was drawn back to the newscast. "Look they're evacuating Japan and China!"

"What? Why?"

"Something supposedly is going to fall to Earth. The newscasters are speculating it's either Peacemillion or Libra."

All of a sudden, Lisa was over come by a sense of impeding dread. She'd never reacted this way to the news before, why now?

"What's..." she began but her voice had no power behind it. She cleared her throat and tried again. "What's happening now?"

"I don't know. The broadcast now is not from the news media. It is two Gundams fighting. Here I'll put it up on the big screen." Emiko's finger flew across the keyboard and the images of Wing Gundam Zero and Gundam Epyon appeared on the bigger screen.

A female voice neither of them recognized started speaking. The voice was flat but clear--the woman talked of the meaninglessness of the battle. She said both were fighting for the colonies. She told them the fight was necessary for peace. She asked them to look beyond this fight. Everyone must want peace--that was the question she asked.

As her words died away, something happened to Lisa. She heard a gun shot.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

"What?" asked Emiko.

"Turn off the sound."

The girl did.

"...changing orders...interfere...kill us." Voices seemed to float around Lisa like ghosts.

"There! Do you hear it?"

"I don't hear anything," said Emiko.

Lisa heard another gunshot. Then a cloud of fire engulfed her--sudden, quick and painless. She gasped at the vision. Painless, yes, but also empty. For some reason she felt empty, as if something that lived inside her had suddenly died.

"What is it, Professor?" asked a concerned Emiko. "You look like someone just walked over your grave."

"It's nothing," Lisa gasped out. "I think I'm just tired. I'm going back to my room."

"Sure." The young girl watched the old scientist leave the room. Strange, she thought and turned back to the news.



Lisa walked numbly down the hall. Why was she feeling this way? She opened her bedroom door and walked in.

"My soul."

Lisa clutched her head at the memory of his voice. "No. I don't believe that. What nonsense! What a silly romantic old woman I've turned out to be! Nothing but the working of an over-active imagination."

She balled her hands into fists at her sides. "It's nothing. I must be hungry or coming down with something. That's what this pain is," She pointed to her chest. "Perfectly explainable."

"Like the other half of my soul."

"No, stop that Lisa. It's not that," she told herself sternly. "He's just fine. We're going to grow old together."

She caught a glimpse of herself in her mirror. She looked pale and unhappy. Tears crested and spilled down her cheeks at the sight of herself. She squeezed them shut.

"No," she said in a broken voice. "Stop that. I don't believe it. I don't believe it."

But the tears did not stop. The emptiness in her heart did not fill up.

She turned away from the mirrored image of herself. She found herself facing her dresser. The wedding picture sat there.

"No, it's just silly foolish imagination. That's it...it has to be." Her words sounded less and less convincing to herself through the sobs.

"I love you Lisa...Remember that...I don't say it enough."

"I love you too Henry, and you're alive. And we've got a life time to look forward too," Lisa sobbed.

"Then, I'll have to work harder at convincing you."

"No," Lisa wailed. "I don't believe it!"

She moved forward in a violent action and swept the top of her dresser clean. Necklaces and earrings clattered against the wall. The crisp shatter of glass ripped the air.

Lisa gasped in horror and sank to her knees. Repeating the words "no...no...no" over and over again she crawled to the broken frame of her wedding portrait.

The glass was cracked in a spider web, which seemed to focus on her image. She picked it up like a lost child and held it to her chest.

The tears and sobs were beyond her control now and she rocked back and forth over the picture she clutched. Her tears splashed on the jewelry-littered floor.

"It hurts so much!" she moaned, repeating words said long ago.

"That's my proof."

<The End>