Celestial Beings – Origins
Book One : Tieria Erde

A Mobile Suit Gundam 00 fanfiction by: Cielo, 2008

Author's Notes : This wraps up my first fanfic in six years. To my readers and reviewer(s), thank you very much for sticking with me through these 8 chapters. A lot of speculation has been done here, and I very much believe that Gundam 00 – Season Two will prove me wrong at many points.

Also, I am very much curious of how other fans take Tieria's past...

Disclaimer : Mobile Suit Gundam 00/Kidou Senshi Gundam 00 characters, names and related indicia © Sunrise, Bandai; fiction and its contents © Cielo Maaliw, 2008.

Celestial Beings – Originsis a personal take on the past of some of the members of Celestial Being, an attempt at an illustration on how our beloved Meisters and their support crew act the way they do, do the things they do, and feel they way the do.

Epilogue

Lagrange One, eighteen days later.

"So..." a petite woman with sky blue eyes and long, curly pink hair scrutinized the slender purple-haired young man she summoned in her office, "... you're Tieria Erde."

Tieria had arrived within five days, propelled by the unique power of stored G.N. Particles. His body, however, reacted very much like that of a normal human being – he was close to starvation and very much dehydrated upon arrival. The on-board medic immediately had him treated and was amazed at his fast recovery rate – while a normal human being was required to have intravenous treatment for several days, he was already able to eat, after being confined to the medical capsule for only two days. He was required to have a few more days of rest, before he was allowed to move about.

"Yes. A Gundam Meister of Celestial Being."

"I'm Sarah Grace, Stragetegic Analyst," she held out her hand which the young man received in greeting, "so there has been indeed some changes to the plan."

"Very minor, I assure you," Tieria's hair floated free behind him, as he neared his face to the woman's computer screen. In one look, he made out that one Gundam is already operational and is scheduled for a test flight. One still had to custom fit its G.N. Drive to accommodate eventual armor attachments, but the body is already complete and painted in shades of green. The third one still needed to get its paint done, as fine-tuning was being made for its aerodynamic qualities. The last one looked very delicate and practically skeletal, as its full body armor and artillery were still under construction. Blueprints for a more compact version of the first Gundam, and other improvements to the current lineup were on file.

"You're too close, Tieria."

"I'm not."

"Then you need glasses," Sarah twirled a straw in her hand, "and if you're to be a Meister, your helmet's visor should be customized as well." She gently pushed Tieria away form her computer screen, "then again, you're too early." She scanned her eyes at the visuals presented to her, "According to Veda's modifications, you'll have to be put under the care of Wang Guiren for the time being, as our Veda terminal here that you are supposed to interface with is not yet fully operational."

"Understood."

"I've had your pod disassembled and sent to Wang Guiren, and is currently being reassembled at his manor. That's the closest thing we've got to Veda for now."

Tieria blinked, "Can't I stay here in Lagrange One?"

Sarah shook her head, "According to the plan, you're not supposed be here yet. Besides, you have no Gundam to pilot. If I try to look from here..." Sarah winced realization dawning upon her, "Your training actually takes place seventy years from now..." she blinked, muttering, "Seventy?!, Not seven?... Maybe I need glasses..." She cleared her throat, turning her swivel chair in Tieria's direction, "I don't know what you're supposed to do in that lapse of time, to be honest – its not within my Veda access level," Sarah chuckled, "Seventy years from now... I'll be dead by then."

"I'm certain Veda's got everything laid out for me, as much as it has all planned out for you."

"True enough," Sarah turned back to her computer with a sigh, "I've arranged for the Wang's private shuttle to escort you to Earth. They should be here within seventeen hours at most."

"Got it." As Tieria took his leave, Sarah's voice had him pause in his tracks.

"It was nice meeting you, Tieria Erde."

She was not looking at him, too focused she was on her work – on what Veda has called upon her to do. But there was a raw honesty in her voice – she was not supposed to meet him, but the circumstances made her cross paths with him... and she was glad she did.

--

Veda is a supercomputer, putting all previous supercomputers to deepest shame. Veda is able to describe human struggle in numerical forms, lay out answers for the "Whats," "whys," "whens," "wheres," "whos," and "hows" in complex – but comprehensible to the knowledgeable – mathematical formulas.

But never, despite being created by Aeolia Schenberg and his generations upon generations of teams of genius minds, can it ever fathom the true essence of Humanity, and the Human Experience.

Veda made the human existence for him a spectator's sport. He never realized how much time had passed, only until he had pulled up the archived files of the Jupiter Orbital Laboratory, spotting its date stamp. With slight curiosity, he pulled up an audio feed, two years prior his birth: He could make out Jameson with two other people in the control room, while Véronique was stuck in the Womb, "Madame," a woman called Velasco piped up, "I think 001-Y can hear you. What would like to say to him?" He heard a chuckle – hearing her voice sent a knot up his throat, "Well... I'd like to ask him, 'Would you exchange what you are – something designed for a purpose so specific, with nary a ghost of a choice, for something as brief and vague as this human life?'"

Tieria knows the answer of course. Véronique and Veda made sure he did.

In his moments of active consciousness, Tieria Erde tried to understand the question, and choose. In his seven decades of recluse, in the arms of his all-knowledgeable mother, he asked why he smiles, laughs; why he wonders... why he feels and thinks the way he does. He also tried to understand the fine line drawn by Veda between Human and what he is.

But that was not his purpose. That was not what he was made to know, to understand.

Tieria watched the world go by, subconsciously trying to find justification for his answer, or something to contradict it. Amidst a spectrum in shades of gray, Veda showed him this: people live and die. Some find purpose, some grasp their way to make a name for themselves, some get derailed from whatever reason they have bestowed upon themselves, and never find a purpose to live for. After half a century the world remained unchanged. It was an endless cycle of ease and unrest. Humans are never happy with what they possess, and constantly desiring for what they do not possess; may it be money, identity, fame, love, power, spirituality and everything else in between.

They are born, and they die.

...But they live. Poetry is written, and songs are sung, ephemeral witnesses to these struggles and victories. Veda cannot explain it and Tieria cannot understand.

Amidst the requisite data fed into him, despite knowing his moves were laid out in front of him, Tieria pondered on a dead person's question. And he would ponder on it some more, for many years to come.

--

2297 A.D., Wang Residence, location classified.

"Liu Mei-sama! Please don't run around so much!" A middle-aged woman ran after a giggling 7 year-old girl, jet black hair tied back in yellow ribbons. She zipped around the large couch overlooking a large glass window, overlooking the house's pool, and further on, the ocean. "You'll be disturbing our guest!"

Liu Mei tripped over her own sandals, but got up right after, quickly dusting her white sundress. She trotted over the quiet figure lying down on a chaise longue, eyes closed, soaking up the sun. She had been told that "he" will be working with her very soon. But to her, for now, he was a vision of perfection in his loose light brown shirt and loose white pants. His cropped violet hair fanned under his head, a pair of glasses in his grasp. If she did not notice him breathing, she could have sworn he was made out of marble -- or wax, due to his lack of physical flaws.

"Guiren-yeye used to sit there..." she whispered. Not wanting to disturb the slumbering figure, she tiptoed away, baby sitter in pursuit. Her seven-year-old attention span did not allow her to consciously remember that sleeping form.

Once alone, the young man opened his burgundy eyes, picked up the nearby remote control and flipped the television on, where a female newscaster announced the day's news:

"... A suicide bombing incident in Ireland happened earlier today at a commercial district in Dublin. Our correspondent, Aida Yayoi, reports. Come in, Aida-san."

A field correspondent with short black hair and striking red lipstick is flanked by a destroyed building, with rescue teams mixed by casualties buzzing behind her, "The explosion occurred inside the twenty-story Darling Plaza, home to exclusive shops and office blocs. The brunt of the attack is such, that the commercial center is torn down to its foundations. According to current eye-witnesses, an initial blast was felt coming from the basement, then eventually traveled along the height of the building. It is suspected that the terrorist organization, KPSA, is behind this attack. So far, there are eighty casualties, twenty of which are dead. The numbers may increase as rescue teams dig through piles of rubble at the site..."

The TV was switched back off, the young man's face nonplussed.

"Just a little more, Veda..." he whispered to himself, "this world will definitely change."

-- Celestal Beings Origins Book One: Tieria Erde, END --

Notes:

Translation: "-yeye" is a Chinese term of endearment for "grandpa".

Time permitting, I intend to write something on Feldt Grace's parents. For the record, this Sarah Grace is Grace's grandmother, on her father's side. ;)

Wang Guiren is Wang Liu Mei's grandfather (I'd like to assume that the Wang family has had long-term connections with Aeolia Schenberg, which would explain Liu Mei's quips on "sticking to his plan.")

I'm close to being certain that Tieria will find his answers or sense of being come season two, which would explain my open-ended narrative, and my insistence of his being a recluse, just to make my fic work. Besides, he still had questions at the end of season one, so I don't want to deviate from too much from that. I believe that Tieria fans have figured that Tieria does not age. I'd even like to think him immortal – something dancing within the line between "object" (or weapon) and "human". And yes, he's a hundred years old (a hundred and five by season two – why else would Sunrise keep his age a mystery?), but due to his... "situation," he acts either like a prepubescent, emo, whiny, "How could this happen to meeee?" kid; or a jaded old geezer who just went through his second childhood. P

Cameo! Aida Yayoi, a supporting character in Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk. She's such an under appreciated character, and love her. I'm not experienced in writing news bits, so please forgive me for any style mishaps.

Cameo! The Darling Plaza – if the name is any indication, I'm a fan of the show, Dirty Sexy Money. P

I also plan to write about Lockon Stratos. We do have 10 years to ponder on his "hatred" of terrorism.

And that's a wrap! (o) Feedback in any form is very much appreciated. See you next fanfic (which, hopefully, wouldn't be too long in coming.)