Contact: Dr. J.

Recipient: Heero Yuy

Year: AC 198

Day: August 19

Mission: All five pilots are to leave immediately to destroy an abandoned military fort in New Hampshire that is now inhabited again. The base is believed to be in use by a small remaining band of OZ soldiers. There you will find the deadly biological weapon known as Prototype 331-XX. It is said to be the world’s ultimate weapon. You must either capture this weapon or destroy it. It will be in the back of the facility and will be heavily guarded. Please be extremely cautious as the weapon may be highly unstable. Bring any prisoners you find back to the safe house with you, then contact me. >End Message<

Duo casually leaned over Heero’s shoulder. //Looks like something big.//

"Duo get off of me."

"’Kay. So when are we going to tell the others about this?"

"Now."

"So, lets get this strait", said Quatre calmly. "A group of OZ soldiers has a new type of biological weapon capable of reeking mass destruction and all we have to do is get in; get the weapon; kill most of the soldiers and blow up the base?"

"Yep", remarked Heero.

"Well why didn’t you just say that in the first place?" exclaimed Quatre; throwing his hands up in the air and surprising the other pilots with his sarcasm.

"Calm down Quatre. This is just a normal mission. Nothing out of the ordinary." //Man he’s overreacting.//

"Listen to Trowa", Wufei said tersely. "Besides, there must be something else we have to do after the mission or else we wouldn’t have to answer back to Dr. J."

"Wufei’s right", said Trowa. "We should get going."

"Hey, Duo, you haven’t said anything this whole time. Is somethin’ wrong?"

"No, Quatre I was just thinking that well…that…naw, it’s a stupid idea anyways."

"What is?"

"Well, in the letter, Dr. J said it was a biological weapon. That means it has to deal with life right? Well since most people gave up on disease warfare hundreds of years ago, I just wondered if maybe the weapon could be alive. Stupid thought, isn’t it?"

"For once Maxwell you may have a point, but we should get going, shouldn’t we?" asked Wufei.

"Yeah let’s go."

Duo, Quatre, and Trowa crept stealthily along the dark hallway, feeling slight shudders every time Wufei and Heero caused another distraction.

"It should be just around the corner, if this map is right."

"I hope it is Trowa, or else we’re probably dead."

They turned the corner to find a large gundanium door with phrases written in different languages; all of them meaning ‘Danger: Hazardous Weaponry Stored Within.’

//Well, they sure do label things well.// "Looks like we found it", said Duo.

There were no guards in front of the or around the door so they moved a little closer to it. The only device that kept them from opening it was a small, electronic lock.

"Trowa", asked Quatre, "can you crack the code?"

"I think I can, but it may take a while, and if an alarm goes off we will all be in some deep shit."

*Two Hours Later*

"Got it!" said the unibanged pilot, showing more expression that normal.

"Good, the damned thing took long enough", remarked the braided boy as he walked in. There were two halls leading off in different directions so the boys split up. Quatre and Duo(surprise!) went to the right and Trowa went left. As Duo and Quatre walked down the hall they realized that they were passing what appeared to be soundproof prison cells. After a while they figured out that it must have been done so that the prisoners couldn’t talk to each other. All of the cells seemed to be empty, but as they neared the end of the hall they saw a light coming from one room’s window. The window was positioned about seven feet up the door so neither boy could see into the room.

"Quatre, get up on my shoulders and look through the window, okay?"

"Mmhmm", answered the Arabian as he nodded and slowly started to climb onto Duo’s crouching form. At first Quatre didn’t see anything; the room looked deserted, but eventually his eyes fell on the tall frame of a person in the corner. It was a girl; she looked as if she had fallen asleep on a stool and leaned back against the wall for support. Next to her were a small harp and a page of sheet music. //So, she must play to. If we can get her out of there she might play with Trowa and me. Maybe...//

"Quatre, is there anyone in there? You’re starting to get heavy."

"Yeah, there’s a sleeping girl in here."

"Really? Well then, get off my shoulders and help me break this lock to get her out."

Trowa walked silently down the hall he had been in for almost twenty minutes. //That’s strange. There haven’t been any doors this whole way. Maybe I should turn around.// He decided to keep going. After about another fifteen minutes or so the hall turned a sharp corner and abruptly ended at a small wooden door. Trowa tested it and, finding that there was no alarm and that it wasn’t locked, walked into the room behind it. The number of weapons stored in the little room surprised even him. //Well, I can’t very well take to time to find that prototype in all of this. Might as well just blow it all up.// He pulled out the charges he had been keeping in his pocket as well as a small communicator and a detonation device. After placing the charges around the room in places where they were sure to do some damage he pulled out the communicator. "Wufei, this is Trowa, can you hear me?"

"Yes Trowa."

"A large explosion is about to go off near the back of the facility. When it does aim all of your fire power there."

"Right."

//Here goes nothin’.// Trowa pushed the button, threw the detonator through the doorway, and ran, just as the flames engulfed the room.

"What was that?!" asked Quare as a huge explosion shook the building.

"Trowa must have found the weapon and destroyed it. Ahahh! I cracked the code Quatre. We can get her out now."

When the boys opened the door they found that the girl had awakened and was sitting on the stool, staring at them. Her face showed no expression and as the boys drew a bit closer to her she said nothing.

"Hello, my name is Duo and we’re here to rescue you", he said, extending his hand and trying to break the unearthly silence.

The girl placed her hand firmly in his, and shook it. "I’m called Anashi Otan."

"Well, Anashi, it’s nice to meet you. This is Quatre and we’re going to rescue you now, okay."

"Get on with it then", she said coldly.

//Man, she acts like Heero. Creepy.// "Walk this way", motioned the braided American as he ran from the room. She followed them down the hall in silence, so quietly, in fact, that at times they thought she might not be there at all. When they reached the end of the hall Trowa was there waiting, not wanting to waist time with introductions they didn’t even stop.

"Trowa?"

"Yes?"

"Wasn’t this place supposed to be ‘heavily guarded’?"

"Yes, Quatre it was. I wonder where the soldiers are." Trowa didn’t have long to wonder. As they rounded the next corner they saw the guards they had expected. Thirty-two to be exact.

"SHIT!"

"This way." Anashi ran down a hall to their right as the boys tried to follow. She led them down the hall as the guards chased them, guns firing. After turning several corners and losing the guards in the process they came to a small door that led outside and into the dense forest that surrounded the compound. Trowa waved everyone towards the jeep he had parked in the trees, and when everyone was in, they sped off towards the safe house.

"Guys this is Anashi Otan", said Duo motioning to the girl standing next to him. The pilots nodded and, for the first time, got a good look at her. She was actually fairly pretty. Her eyes were a deep cerulean blue with paler streaks in them. She had brown hair darker than Heero’s, that hung down freely about half an inch below her ears and a slight tan on her skin. She stood around five feet eight inches high and was dressed much the same as Duo(only without the collar). Her face showed no expression whatsoever. The other three pilots were also introduced, but then the room became suddenly silent.

*Breep. Breep. Breep.* The deathlike silence was broken by Heero’s laptop.

"Hello."

"Hello Heero", Dr. J.’s face popped up onto the screen. "I assume the mission was a success. Did you destroy the weapon?"

Heero nodded.

"And did you bring back any prisoners?"

"Yes, sir. There was only one, but we brought her back."

"Oh...Come here girl."

Anashi slowly stepped up behind Heero.

"I thought you send that you destroyed the weapon, Heero."

"We did."

"Then why is Prototype 331-XX standing right behind you."

"Dr. J. this is Anashi. I think you may be mistaken", piped Quatre.

"Anashi, is it. Oh yes, they called you Anashi Otan. Well Anashi", he said with a sneer, "They don’t believe me, so you tell them. You tell them what you really are."

"There is no way that she is ‘the ultimate weapon’", snapped Wufei.

"Oh, but you are wrong", she said, smirking and pulling up her right sleeve to reveal the symbols ‘P-331-XX’ branded onto her arm, "You are terribly, terribly wrong."