Howard saw the legs first, from where he was upside down underneath the shuttle engine. Tilting his head back, he surveyed three pairs of shoes, and three pairs of faded-and in one case ripped- denim jeans. Tilting his head the other way, he followed the legs up to the bottom hem of brown and black bomber jackets, and fringes of hair; Silver, gold and darker brown. I gotta do something about the company that boy keeps....
"Howie..." A familiar voice called out impatiently. "I know you see us. I need to ask a favor, old man."
"I'm retired. The two of you that aren't Duo, go away."
"Give me a minute, okay guys?"
"Are you sure this is...?"
"Trust me." There were a few grumbles before two pairs of legs moved away. Duo crouched down, then slid under the engine beside Howard and picked up a wrench. Neither spoke for several minutes, as they finished unbolting the outer casing. Lifting it off and to one side, Howard started contentedly fiddling with the bolts inside. "How ya been, old man?"
"Old man?" Howard scowled at the interior of the engine. "Haven't I told you before, flattery is the way to get favors? Not insults."
"Right. But then, I know where that nickname came from, don't I?" Duo grinned at him. "Still reading ancient science fiction?"
"Do fish swim?" Howard snorted. "What'd you come here for, asking favors with those two along?"
"All you saw was their legs," Duo frowned. "How d'ya know who I brought with me?"
"Cause I've known Milliardo Peacecraft for a lot longer than you have," Howard growled. "And from the hair, I can take a guess who the third pair of legs belonged to."
"Oh." Duo appeared to think about that for a moment.
"So... what was the favor?" Howard finally asked, curious in spite of himself.
"You're the greatest, Howie."
"That wasn't a yes, and you know it. Now spill. I may be retired, but that doesn't mean I have all day to lay here and bullshit with insolent young know-it-alls."
"It's kind of complicated."
"Have you considered retirement?" Howard glanced at his companion soberly. "Things are much less complicated. I kind of like it that way."
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, it's kind of like this..." Duo started. Howard let him talk, listening attentively if somewhat skeptically. And kept listening, after the silence started; waiting for the cry of 'April Fools'. The silence dragged on.
Howard finally set down the wrench, and rolled out from beneath the engine without saying a word. Duo followed a moment later, his familiar face lined with worry and exhaustion. Howard stared at him, then shook his head.
"I told Gordon you were gonna lose your damn mind piloting that Gundam," Howard muttered, picking up a rag and wiping grease off his hands.
"I'm not crazy, Howard." Duo sighed. "I know what it sounds like, and I really did think I was losing my mind at first too. But..."
"You expect me to believe that some damn computer messed with your heads, and now the three of you are solving crimes for the Preventers with the help of a coupla of dead guys. And Epyon?" Duo winced as Howard kept going. "And now you need me to help fix Epyon. The computer that drove a lot of people insane and got a hell of a lot more killed. Because it's having nightmares."
"Um... yeah. More or less, yeah." Duo met his eyes hopefully. "Is that a yes yet?"
"And one of those dead guys, who is also the man who started the war to begin with, is gonna help me?"
"Um... yeah...?"
"Do you have any idea how insane that sounds?" Howard snapped, glaring at his former protégé.
"Um, actually, yes. I do... But Howard..."
"Don't 'But Howard' me." Howard turned towards the office. "Melvin! I need more beer!"
"Come on, Old Man. What have you got to lose?" Duo wheedled shamelessly as Melvin appeared with a six-pack in one hand. He greeted Duo with a cheerful grin, and then retreated back into the office of the small hanger. Howard grabbed one of the beers, and downed most of it before throwing a sour look at his young companion.
"It's a damn good thing for you I've been bored lately," Howard finally admitted. "You and your friends gonna help me drink this crap or not?"
"Thanks, man." Duo grinned at him, his face lighting up.
Howard just snorted, and took another swig of beer.
It took less than five hours for Howard's workshop to resemble a pared down version of the Homicide office. Scattered diagrams that Zechs had retrieved from Treize's former estate in Brussels competed for space on a long table against the gutted remains of a laptop, two separate piles of internal computer components, three piles of circuitry diagrams newly drawn on everything from napkins to parchment paper,
and an impressive collection of beer bottles.
Watching Howard work, scribbling away on at least two different notepads as he questioned Dorothy about the implant and exactly how Epyon communicated with her, it was clear to Zechs exactly where Duo had learned his investigative techniques. The younger man glanced up from where he was currently poring over a printout of Epyon's AI coding and grinned at Zechs.
Yes, I think a day off was definitely a good thing. And thanks to Dr. Po, we actually coerced Une into giving the three of us the entire weekend off. Not that she expected us to take the next flight to Jamaica.
Zechs smiled back at his partner, then turned to look out the hanger door at the ocean. Warm afternoon sunlight beckoned, turning the pale sand of the beach into a white carpet, edged by the deep cerulean blue of the water just beyond. The sky was only a few shades lighter than the water. Damn. How long has it been since any of us actually went outside in daylight? I'd forgotten the sky could be so blue....
"What the hell? Did he have to put so damn much effort into coding this...?" Duo added a line to the flowchart he was drawing. "This thing is huge. No wonder it took on a life of its own."
Zechs turned away from the view of the beach, to see that Howard and Dorothy were also watching Duo as the younger man tugged absentmindedly on his braid.
'I had no choice.' Treize shrugged as he leaned over Duo's shoulder to look at the flowchart. 'I was programming a Gundam for someone that had received training in strategy, tactics and hand to hand combat... but not flight training. Epyon had to be able to analyze all the incoming data, calculate the consequences of each action and then react as completely as a human pilot... only a lot faster.'
"No wonder it started to see the future." Zechs shivered as he sat back in his chair, running one hand distractedly through white-blond hair. "God... and now I know why I had to fight so hard to take control of it. It didn't want to give up the pilot seat to a mere human."
"Huh?" Duo glanced up at him.
Zechs repeated Treize's explanation. "When I first flew the suit... I had to fight it for every move... every command. It about drove me mad..."
"It did drive Une mad," Duo muttered. "And Quatre...."
"I thought that was caused by the Zero system."
"Actually... after his destructive spree... I think the Doctors heavily modified the Zero system before they let any of you test it again. It was a lot less alive afterwards, and much less likely to take the war into its own hands a second time." Howard frowned thoughtfully. "But the amount of coding required for that... it does make a lot more sense now. I know none of us could ever figure out why the AI was so complex."
"That makes sense as well for why Epyon developed it's own personality. In effect, Treize managed to make it human, only without the biological components." Dorothy shivered.
'That was the whole point of having a human pilot,' Treize sighed. 'I truly was not trying to create mobile dolls... even if Epyon was the basis for them.'
"Yeah... but the dolls couldn't think for themselves. Epyon could. And does," Zechs said softly. "Maybe it wants to be completely human."
'I didn't program it to want that. Or to think independently about anything but piloting.' Treize frowned. "Somehow... it learned to do that on its own.'
"Or it learned from the first few people that used it. What did happen to Lady Une when she used it?"
Treize turned away abruptly, without answering. Zechs winced, and didn't press the issue. Judging from the look on Treize's face... he really wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to that. The others seemed to read his expression as well; everyone turned back to what they had been working on without further comment.
Zechs forced himself to concentrate as he compared the chart to what Treize had coded. AI programming was not his specialty. Fortunately, they had managed to recover most of Treize's notes. But the lines were beginning to all blur together, and he was no longer sure what Treize had meant the portion they were studying to do. With a sigh, he shoved silver-blond hair out of the way as he bent over the diagram again.
With a soft groan, Duo leaned back and rubbed his eyes wearily. "Gah. I have totally lost track of the logic direction again. Sorry." Pushing away from the table, he stood up; Zechs managed not to flinch as he passed through Treize. Wandering restlessly around the workshop, Duo glanced at several of the half-finished projects scattered on various worktables. Once, he started to reach out to touch one, then drew his fingers back as if burned.
"Duo...?" Zechs half stood up to go to him as the younger man stood with his head bowed, staring moodily at his hand as if he'd never seen it before. "What's wrong...?"
"Nothing..." Duo muttered softly, then sighed and moved back towards his chair. "Just needed to look away for a bit. Where were we...?"
"How long has it been since any of you slept?" Zechs turned his head to see Howard frowning at them. "Or took a break?"
"We slept on the plane... a little..." Zechs shrugged. "And there hasn't been much time to take breaks. We only have a little over a day and a half to get this done."
"Before you go back to the grind and work yourselves into the ground?" The old man snorted. "You do realize that no way in Hell this will get fixed before you leave tomorrow evening?"
"We don't have another option..." Zechs growled. "Epyon is trying to tell us something... and until it manages to do so, none of us are going to get much sleep."
"Are you sure you want to know what it's trying to say?"
"It's not a matter of choice, Howard," Duo sighed, looking at Dorothy. She was sitting slumped in the chair next to Howard; her head propped up on one hand and the other resting on Epyon's travel case. Taking a good look at her, Zechs could see the bruises exhaustion had left beneath her eyes. When he looked at Duo, he could see the same signs of fatigue and strain. The younger man was wraith thin again, and trembling slightly even in the warm breeze. He knew with a cold certainty that the same marks were on his own face.
"Perhaps not." Howard sighed. "But you guys aren't going to be in any shape to deal with what Epyon's trying to warn you about, if you don't get some kind of rest." The old man grimaced. "And I don't mean just sleep."
They all threw him bewildered looks.
"Huh?" Duo asked finally.
"What do you do on your down time?" Howard pushed. When they just looked at him blankly, he sighed. "Days off...?"
"We came to Jamaica," Duo finally managed.
"You come all the way to Jamaica... and you have spent the morning cooped up in my workshop... working." Howard sighed. "I don't think you guys have the concept of down time quite right yet."
"We'll rest when this is fixed." Duo muttered.
"Which is going to be a few days, if not weeks," Howard gritted. "I'm not a freaking miracle worker here. Plus, I'm retired and I intend to sleep occasionally."
"Howard...."
"Don't argue with me, boy." Howard glared at them all. "It's time for my nap anyway. Not to mention I need time to look at all those pretty pictures you've been drawing with the help of your...ghost friend."
"Okay... we'll take a break for a few hours," Zechs finally relented. "What time should we be back...?"
"Nine a.m." The old man shook his head. "I need to look over what you've got before I know what else to ask. And work on some models. So I don't want to see any of the three of you until tomorrow morning."
"But..." Duo blinked at his mentor in shock.
"No buts." Howard scowled at them. "Now get out of my hanger. Go walk on the beach, or eat dinner... or something. If you need a place to stay, Melvin will fix you up. Otherwise... go away and have a good night." With a last grumble, he snagged the last beer and headed for the door to his office. Leaving the three partners to just stare at each other in surprise.
A/N:
Old Man is a reference to characters in various Robert Heinlein books, namely Sam's father in the Puppet Masters, and Jubal Harshaw in Stranger in a Strange Land.
Melvin's character is a reference to the movie Melvin & Howard. Melvin is the rather ordinary, nondescript guy that unknowingly gives reclusive millionaire/inventor Howard Hughes a ride and gets written into his will.