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Emotions Legend
[quote][b]Remus (Nov 12, 2001 12:43 a.m.):[/b] They switched shuttles midway through the journey; the shuttle crew of the first didn't know their destination, and the crew of the second didn't know their origin. As far as the crew of the first was concerned, they were students. The second knew them only by their aliases. When they arrived at the Central Command Post, they'd been in-character for two days. Their cabin onboard the shuttle allowed them enough privacy for the lazy dozing and lovemaking they'd been denied for so long, but once they arrived at the Central Command Post, they would have to be in-character at all times. On the shuttle, in their cabin, they could be reasonably sure of their solitude, and they had swept the room for bugs anyways. But once they arrived, it would become necessary to assume at all times that they were being watched. Their aliases, Nicholas Warren and Melissa Harrison -- if they had ever met before this shuttle ride at all -- would not have seen each other since their graduation from Command School. And it was extremely far-fetched that they had been lovers there, and not seen each other since, until they both happened to be selected as practical analysts for this project. No, they were going to have to play the characters, and that meant that once they arrived, they had to be strangers. It upset Gabe, the very thought of it. In their two years in the Special Ops AIT, they had suffered much, Sol and he. They'd had to give up their energy, their sleep, their security, their sanctuary, their chess. They'd borne everything Hale could inflict upon them, and they had overcome it all. But the one thing that Hale hadn't taken from them, the one thing that he could have taken but didn't, was their proximity. Through everything else he'd done to them, they had been together. Hale had pushed them in every way but one: he never, once, tried to separate them. They'd not slept a single night apart, not since Gabe had climbed down into Sol's bunk to comfort Sol while she was having a nightmare, that first morning in Command School. Every night since, they had slept in the same bed. They had not always been able to sleep at the same time, and they had not always had the time or energy to do any more than sleep, but they had always shared the same bed, always slept in each other's arms. And so the very thought of sleeping in a cold, unfamiliar bed, alone, upset Gabe. They had sacrificed so much for this program; so much, just to beat Hale. They would be going their own way after graduation, and whether or not they completed Hale's program meant, from an objective viewpoint, nothing. They already had all the training they were going to get; all that remained was the title. And they didn't even intend to use it, after graduation. They just wanted to disappear into that crowded blue orb they'd been absent from for so long, and stay out of history's way. The IF and the Wolves could fight their stupid, self-destructive war, but Gabe and Sol wanted none of it. No, this was about pride. This was about besting Hale at his own game. Gabe had questioned, many times, whether that pride was worth the price they paid each day, wearing their bodies down and allowing so little time to replenish them. Even now, he questioned it. But if they gave up now, then every sacrifice that had come before was wasted. It would all have been for nothing. And they had sacrificed too much to throw it all away now, even if the cause was stupid. Their course was chosen; to stray would only negate all their sufferings thus far, and leave Hale the victor. And that could not be allowed. So they would play this game Hale had set for them, and they would endure this final sacrifice. When they arrived at the Central Command Post, they would execute the plan they had formed back on the first shuttle, and interact only as Warren and Harrison would be expected to. At no time would they say or do anything to suggest that they were anyone but whom they claimed, whether they were alone or in company. They would be their aliases, until it was time to act, and then it would be too late for security or anyone else to stop them. They sat in their room, on the lower bunk, their fingers intertwined in Sol's lap. The shuttle had finished docking, and soon the customs crew would be through the ship. Their dossier had been destroyed before they had left the first shuttle, and each of the documents was carefully recorded inside Gabe's mind. When the customs crew searched this compartment, there would be nothing for them to find that would suggest they were not Warren and Harrison. The only object in the room that was not a part of their disguise, in fact, was hidden carefully upon Gabe's person, and because it contained no metals, no electronics, and no radioactive elements, their sensors wouldn't even detect it. Once the customs crew was finished, they were led off the shuttle and processed. They were welcomed, and assigned a guide to show them to their quarters. Their introduction to the "Razor" team, they were informed, was scheduled for two hours from now, allowing them time to unpack and eat if they so chose, and that a guide would come fetch them. They were led to the guest quarters section of the base, all four of them, and shown to their individual rooms. Gabe's came before Sol's so he met her eyes just briefly before stepping inside, and listened to them all the way down the corridor. Standing just inside the doorway of his little room, Gabe had not felt so very alone since he and Sol parted ways at the start of their Earthside leave. He busied himself with unpacking his alias's personal items, and concentrated on thinking as little as little as possible, or when that didn't work -- and it didn't -- thinking about the mission. They'd planned it all out already; Sol was going to get in touch with their contact, because she was better at covering her tracks on the computer, while Gabe went scouting. He had all the schematics, deck maps, wiring maps, and other such documents that had been in the dossier filed away neatly in his memory; now it was time to go see which of the points of interest he'd mentally flagged would be useful to them. So once he'd unpacked, Gabe set out from his room. He wanted to go see Sol; his mind started running through excuses for why Nicholas Warren might go see Melissa Harrison less than half an hour after last seeing her. The mission, Gabriel. Think of the sacrifices. Think of the long days and longer nights. Think of the room. Thing of the chess set. And do not ruin this. Gabe concentrated on this, and through force of effort, didn't even look in the direction Sol had gone after leaving his cell as he set off into the halls.[/quote]
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