With the bright white surroundings totally blinding his vision, Setsuna was forced to shield his eyes. 'How... how is this possible? Exia's GN Drive has nowhere near the amount of particles to send me to where the quanta gather!' When the light around him started to dim, he slowly opened lowered the arm blocking his eyes and was shocked that instead of being seated in Exia's cockpit, he found himself in a laboratory, apparently sealed behind a glass container while a group of scientists were on the other side, scurrying about and getting readings. 'A trap?!'
One of the lab technicians paused in his work and called out to their immediate supervisor. "General Bartley?"
This caught the attention of a bald, large man with a thin moustache and a similar ocular accessory like Aeolia Schenberg. "Ah, I see our friend is awake," commented the one addressed as General Bartley.
Setsuna's first action was to reach for his personal firearm but just as he drew it, someone else behind him spoke up. "Where am I?" asked a soft male voice. This caused the Meister to turn around and see a young man with messy grey hair and weary blue eyes. He was dressed in a white straightjacket, plain white pants and shoes.
"You're in the Rosenberg Institute, my boy. Welcome to the Code-R project." Bartley took a moment to remove his eye piece and wipe it with a piece of cloth before replacing it. "I must say that we were quite startled when we found your sleeping body in one of the ruins near that old Eleven city... what was it called again?"
"Kyoto, sir."
The older man merely snorted. "Bah! Stupid Eleven names. In any case, my men found something interesting in your genes while conducting some medical tests. Some of your blood cells..." He pulled up an image of a beautiful girl with long green hair and golden eyes on the large monitor behind him. "... have a similar molecular structure to hers. I don't suppose she's a familiar face to you, is she?"
This caused the young man to get up and walk towards the edge of his containment cell so he could get a better look. "Wait! What-" Setsuna never had a chance to finish as the other man passed right through him as if he weren't even there. The only thing he could do in his shocked state was wonder what exactly was happening here. 'That man just passed through me as if I were a spirit. And I still have my gun on me when under normal circumstances, it would have been confiscated.'
He started walking to the glass barrier himself and tried to pass through but for some reason, he still remained in the cage with the other young man. "What is this...?"
"It's one of my memories. You can't interfere with them and you can't view past what I can view," answered the same male voice he heard earlier but less subdued and withdrawn. Setsuna immediately turned to the source of the voice to find another man who looked exactly the same as the one he saw earlier with him in the cell. Except he was dressed in black formal wear and had a faint blue aura around him.
"Then... you brought me here?" He wasn't certain whether this person was hostile or not but kept his sidearm ready in case.
"Yes... and no. I do not have the power to summon someone to my Memory Museum intentionally. However... perhaps the feelings of regret in my heart pulled you in here."
While Setsuna tried to determine the meaning behind those words, the version of the young man dressed in white looked at the image for a moment before shaking his head. "Sorry. Doesn't ring a bell."
"I see," replied Bartley in a neutral tone before switching off the image. "Well, if you do remember something about her, please let us know right away. In the meantime, we would like to thank you in advance for helping us with our research. I'm sure that our patron would be interested to know more about the irregular genes you Code-R specimens contain. William, please look after things here while we prepare for the first series of experiments. We shall return in half an hour."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Specimen?" The white clad man wouldn't receive any answer from the departing bald Britannian or his men. Soon, he was alone with the remaining lone technician as his only company and the laboratory entrance closed. After a few minutes of silence, the young man spoke. "William, was it?"
The technician grumbled to himself before turning to face the cell's occupant. "What is-" A look of surprise crossed his face and he gasped in horror. From what Setsuna could tell by looking at the giant reflection from the large blank monito, a glowing bird-shaped symbol had appeared on the forehead of the Code-R specimen.
"Help me escape from this facility." The room was instantly bathed in a red glow before it died down. The tension seemed to drain away from William as he put down what he was doing and entered in a sequence to disable the electronic lock and open the door for the occupant to exit. He also surrendered his security pass and headed to the closet to take out a spare technician uniform complete with protective headwear and goggles that could easily conceal a person's hair and eyes.
"This should suffice to get you out of the building facility. You have thirty minutes before General Bartley returns."
'What in the...?' Setsuna was startled to see a faint bit of red along the man's regular blue eyes. He immediately turned to the one who was speaking with him earlier. "What was that?!"
"That is Geass. The Power of the Kings as C.C. put it. The power to rule over others. A power that almost nobody can defy."
"A power that can distort the world?"
The image of the white-haired man nodded. "Depending on the individual who wields it and how their desires influence which Geass power is granted to them."
There was a brief silence before Setsuna spoke again. "In that case, please tell me what you know about Geass. If that is the source of the distortion in this world, then I will cut it away with Gundam."
A ghost of a smirk appeared the other man's lips. "You... are driven by the importance of self-change and the need to fight for a better and brighter future. In that case, maybe you can convince the other me to stop fading in the background like a Lost Colour and start living again. Either as Rai Sumeragi, Rai of Britannia or just plain old Rai."
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(Posted Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:41)
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