Last revised: 09/14/99 Last modified: Mechanics of Control: Wicked Game (snippet 1) *** WARNING: alternative-reality, yaoi, semi-darkfic *** (potential lemon in future parts) I'm writing these things as the mood and inspirations hits me, so they're probably not going to be in any sort of chronological order. Hopefully, you can just read it and enjoy! Besides, you guys are probably only interested in the juicy, hentai bits.... ^_^; Okay, I've decided that "Mechanics of Control" is the title for the overall alternative-reality storyline, with sub-stories for each pilot. ^_^ The sub-stories are titled as follows: "Wicked Game" - Heero and Duo "Masquerade" - Trowa "Heart of Stone" - Quatre "Dragon's Fire" - Wufei Earlier parts of "Mechanics of Control" can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/~madamhydra/GW.html ====================================================================== MECHANICS OF CONTROL: WICKED GAME A Gundam Wing ALTERNATE-REALITY fic by Madamhydra ====================================================================== snippet 1 ====================================================================== Short Disclaimer: (Full Disclaimers at the end) Gundam Wing copyrighted by their respective creators and all distributors of their work. Used without permission. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What a wicked game to play To make me feel this way What a wicked thing to do To let me dream of you -- "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------------------------------------- [ AC 195, morning of day X ] While Quatre Raberba Winner might have looked like the very picture of serenity as he drank his tea, inwardly he was seething in barely controlled fury. He glanced around the room at his two companions. Both Heero and Trowa were away -- Trowa was gathering more information on several of Professor G's former associates while Heero had gone to talk with Sally Po. That left him alone with Wufei and Duo. Two friends with two distinct problems.... First, there was Wufei. A cat on a hot metal roof was nothing compared to the Chinese pilot's recent restlessness. He paced, he fidgeted, and his moods seemed to swing uncontrollable between resignation, anxiety, and anger. Normally, Quatre would have discretely tried to coax Wufei into talking about his problem, but the Chinese pilot's problem paled in comparison with the OTHER problem they now faced. As for Duo, he was acting... well, just like Duo. As the braided pilot cheerfully hummed to himself as he tinkered with one of Shinigami's jamming components, it seemed as if the terrible, gut-wrenching revelations of the previous night had been nothing but a bad dream. But Quatre knew better. It had all started when he and Trowa had returned the night before from a mission. They had walked in the door, only to be confronted by Heero's stark statement, "There's a problem with Duo." After that, things rapidly went downhill as Heero explained why he thought something was definitely wrong with Duo. The story had seemed unbelievable enough and if it had been anyone except Heero, Quatre would have considered the whole affair a sick joke. It hadn't helped that Duo acted as he was just trying to humor Heero's paranoid fantasies. The Wing pilot had silently allowed Duo to chatter away, then he abruptly gave the Deathscythe pilot a sharp, stern order to tell the truth. Quatre couldn't tell what had been worse -- learning that Duo had been tortured and brainwashed, or watching Duo desperate attempts to obey Heero's flat-out command to tell them the truth despite the obvious agony it caused him. It was as if Duo was *incapable* of refusing Heero's direct order, no matter how much pain it caused him and despite Quatre's attempts to make Duo give up trying to fight the obvious mental block. After watching Duo's struggle for a minute or two, Heero had abruptly ordered Duo to shut up and go to sleep, a command that the Deathscythe pilot had obeyed with frightening promptness. However, it didn't matter that Duo had failed to reveal actual details of his ordeal. His own behavior had provided more than enough proof. And with his lover safely asleep in his arms, Heero had proceeded to tell Trowa and Quatre as much as he could about Duo's predicament. Quatre glared into the bottom of his mug. It was beyond horrible that Duo -- perhaps the most free-spirited of them all -- would have to suffer like this... to be compelled by torture and some monster's programming to act and even worse, *feel* the way he now did. It gave the phrase 'to be a slave to one's emotions' an entirely new degree of meaning. -------------------------------------------- [ AC 192 ] Professor G calmly observed his subject through the one-way window. The long-haired teenager swayed slightly on his feet as he stood in the middle of a sterile, barren room. The youth's wide, unfocused violet eyes glanced jerkily around the area, but the scientist knew that the drugs had left the boy nearly blind, especially amid all the stark white that covered the walls, floor, and ceiling. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME!? WHO'S OUT THERE!? DAMN IT, TALK TO ME!!!" the boy screamed. However, the scientist also knew that Duo Maxwell could rant and rave all he pleased, but the teenager would never hear a single word he uttered. As Duo kept rubbing his hands against his thighs in a futile search for any sort of tactile feedback, Professor G activated his recorder. "Response to initial stages of sensory deprivation is promising. I intend to progress to stage 2, possibly even stage 3, within the next 24 hours. The sensory deprivation will accentuate the sense of isolation, which will make the subject more susceptible to modification and programming, especially when combined with the application of extreme physical stimulation." The scientist paused to gather his thoughts, flipped through a few papers, then continued, "The sensory deprivation will also prevent the subject from focusing on any one person or persons as an enemy and therefore deprive him of any target for his hostility and his resistance." Professor G consulted another stack of printouts. "After a suitable degree of receptiveness is achieved in the subject, I will begin installation of essential control mechanisms using basic pain/pleasure conditioning. At this early stage, it is critical to determine if the subject can be restored to an appearance of complete normalcy after a modification session and how long such a recovery will take. It would be highly desirable if the subject can maintain a normal appearance and behavior pattern, because that means that programming can constantly maintained and upgraded without the need to explain away extended absence or disappearances." The scientist then added, "Advanced conditioning stages will include the preparation for inducing the subject's emotional and sexual addiction to the designated controller. It is my hypothesis that this will allow the subject to retain a large portion, if not virtually all, of his intellectual capability, critical judgment, and initiative, while ensuring that the subject's actions and intentions will be entirely governed by the controller's wishes and commands...." Although the boy in the next room was incapable of overhearing or seeing the scientist as the man calmly and precisely outlined his 'research' project, Duo could still sense the approach of his impeding damnation. ---------------------- [ AC 192, a few weeks later ] Emptiness.... Nothingness.... The all-consuming void.... A silent, never-ending scream of torment forever unheard.... As Duo lay curled up in a fetal ball in his cell, he disjointedly wondered how long it had been since he had seen another human being... talked to someone... touched another living person...? How long...? It was so strange. He could hear nothing, not even his own voice... taste nothing... smell nothing... he could see, but only in the haziest of blurs... he even felt nothing.... unless THEY chose otherwise. Duo had no idea who THEY were. He couldn't even tell if THEY were alive or some sort of machine. But when they wanted him to feel... to hear... to see... after his constant sensory deprivation, the slightest physical sensation becoming overpowering and irresistible. But if THEY didn't want him to feel, he didn't. No matter how much he tried... no matter how hard he pinched, pounded, or clawed at his own flesh, he could feel... nothing. Nothing except for an insatiable craving that was an unholy mixture of rampant lust and agonizing loneliness... a searing, bottomless hunger that constantly gnawed at him. All he knew was that he was starving... for someone's presence... for someone's touch.... He whimpered silently. That was all he could do. It was the first lesson he had learned -- to know that he was totally and utterly helpless to do anything to satisfy that terrible need inside him. He could rub his penis until it was raw and bleeding... cram his hand halfway up his ass... it didn't matter -- his body was numb to any outside stimulation. THEY made sure of that. The second lesson he had learned was that he would only be able to feel the things THEY wanted him to feel and only when THEY wanted him to feel those things. That made this hellish imprisonment all the more horrible. He dreaded the endless sessions with THEM because he had no idea what THEY would do to him... what THEY would make him do... what THEY would make him think.... But he also needed those sessions as well, because they were the only times he could feel *anything* besides the never-ending hunger... the only times when he wasn't alone. Enduring a session was his only frail hope of getting any sort of relief from the uncontrollable need that kept growing inside him. He shuddered. If THEY were feeling generous, THEY could make the cravings go away... but the relief would always been temporary. After THEY left, he would be alone again, and the craving and the hunger would inevitably return, worse than ever. So he cowered on the floor, torn between his shameful fear and his equally shameful hope that his mysterious tormentors would return. -------------------------------------------- [ AC 195, the night before day X ] As Heero, Trowa, and Quatre quietly spoke in the background, Duo dozed in the Wing pilot's embrace, his mind drowning in a hazy, brainless sort of contentment. One part of him was just glad the pain was gone. But another part of Duo Maxwell -- the part that had been slumbering deep inside his subconscious for nearly a year -- felt more than mere relief. Although the pain had been terrible, he had obeyed Heero's order and that was all that mattered. And this was his reward, to sleep in Heero's arms... to be touching Heero and hear his voice... he could listen to that voice for hours.... And although his desire and need for Heero was lurking in the back of his mind as always, for the moment Duo was safe... safe from the loneliness and the hunger.... ....safe in his master's arms. -------------------------------------------- madamhydra@aol.com /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:E http://www.geocities.com/~madamhydra/ -------------------------------------------- ===================================================================== The Full Disclaimer All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit. Original portion of the fiction included here is considered to be the sole property and copyrighted to the author. =====================================================================