Chapter 29: Hard To Understand
Axl was beginning to see a trend, and a frightening one at that. He knew Zero and X were practically inseparable, best friends and lovers and all that, but that was more on the figuratively side. Now, it was actually literally, as they hardly were ever without that creepy cable connecting them by the back of the necks to each other.
Okay, it wasn’t the cable that was creepy. Reploids sharing that intimacy was nothing to be frowned on, since the two were dating and all that, and it wasn’t as mind-shattering as finding them naked somewhere… no, what was creepy was how Zero and X would stare at whoever is talking to them, share some sort of telepathic conversation with themselves, one would nod while the other just… kept… staring…
“Stop it!” Axl threw up his hands, dropping his tools. “Stop frickin’ staring at me!”
His parents glanced at each other, only their widened eyes moving, before both pairs settled on him. “What?” both asked, and Axl wasn’t sure if they just spoke at the same perfect nanosecond, or if they seriously both sounded like their voice boxes merged.
“You guys!” Axl gathered up his things. “You’re totally freaking me out. Why don’t you unplug for once? Argh!” he quickly exited the room, only Zero and X’s eyes following him.
Zero barely moved his head to glance at X, who mirrored him. / Reckon we should? /
// Now why would we do that? // Although X didn’t move, Zero felt a sensation much like X cuddling up to him, only much warmer, more pleasant. // At least he isn’t going on about Delia… //
Zero projected the feeling of embracing X close, and X physically sighed in bliss. / We still need to go report back, break ended two hours ago. Surprised Signas isn’t flipping out. /
// I don’t feel like moving… //
/ Neither do I. /
// Good. // X’s voice sounded like a sensual purr in Zero’s mind, caressing him, enticing. // Let’s just stay here and… enjoy the moment. //
The bolt of raw rapture that pierced through Zero made him physically groan and close his eyes, blocking out the outside stimulus and focusing only on his lover that invaded his being as fully as he invaded X’s. He felt X everywhere, and it wasn’t as if he was feeling X touch him… it was just completely incredible, indescribable, and he hungered for more it and pulled more of X as X pulled on more of him. Their souls, programs, whatever one wanted to call it, were tightly wrapped around each other and Zero finally knew what bliss was.
X read his thoughts, snickered, and before Zero could react to the plan formulating in X the blue Reploid completely invaded Zero, overwhelming him in such an incredible, intense high Zero cried out and his body shut down. He was completely at X’s mercy, now, and Zero exalted in it.
In his room, Axl shuddered at the sound Zero made. He had nothing against his parents doing whatever they needed to relax and undo the stress of their jobs, but nothing good could come from them being plugged into each other for so long. And if nothing else, Axl sure did not like having to hear them mentally get it on.
Think happy thoughts, Axl told himself as he tried to focus on his work. Yes, happy thoughts, like Delia and her pretty little--
Axl’s head hit his desk with a groan. Alia was going to strangle him because he couldn’t finish this stupid canon in time! The thought of Alia soon sobered him, however, remembering what he heard from his parents yesterday; hopefully Alia recovered from her crash and was doing better. She had suffered the crash because she went through the recorded files he brought back… of the head scientist, the guy named Gate.
The guy Gate who was in league with Red.
Axl packed up his supplies and, bypassing his comatose parents on their couch, went out the front door and ran to the nearest teleport station. Maybe, if Alia knew this Gate, she’d know why Gate would join alliance with Red… or even why Red to Gate. It was worth looking into.
It wasn’t as if X and Zero needed him right now, anyway.
~*~
Axl threw his hands up angrily. “I just want to ask her a question or two!”
Nothing was as immovable as a stubborn Signas, who was giving Axl a rather evil look. “No.” He looked up at the clock hanging on the wall and he actually scowled, which made Axl take a step back. Signas never scowled. “Where is Zero and X?”
“At home…” Axl responded slowly, apprehensively.
Signas stood from his chair to his impressive height, and Axl again took a step back. “It’s been three hours since their allotted break. What are they doing?”
The young Reploid did not like the ideal of tattling on his parents, despite the schism forming between them with their strange obsession with connection and the Delia crap. But he swallowed it down and dutifully replied, “They’re… relaxing. By sharing a connection.”
“Again?”
Even Signas seemed to be surprised by the frequency, and Axl nodded, glad someone else shared his concern. “Yeah,” Axl fidgeted. “There’s nothing… wrong or that can go wrong with how often they do that… right?”
Signas sat down, now looking more like his usual calm, neutral self. “I would say no, if they were regular Reploids. The fact X is the original Reploid, and Zero we have no clue… well, I cannot say for sure what might happen.”
Axl fidgeted more. “Well, since all Reps are copies of X pretty much and no one’s really reported any issues…”
“We’re not copies; we’re based on his design, plus or minus some flaws or modifications.”
Axl swore in his mind. “So you’re saying something could theoretically happen?”
Signas quirked an eyebrow. “Theoretically, yes.”
The younger Reploid pressed his fists against his helmet, as if trying to grasp at his hair. “Then, theoretically, shouldn’t we get them to stop before something possibly happens?”
“If you can get them to unplug, Axl, without using force than by all means. However, the most I can do is demand they stop skipping work to do it. I can’t rightfully tell them they cannot… engage in such.” Signas began to shuffle his papers around his desk. “However, I’ll give them a call. Engineering has been calling for you, you better get down there.”
Axl swore again. He still didn’t finish that stupid canon! He quickly saluted his commanding officer before bolting out, his mind whirling. The moment the door closed, Signas glanced to the small adjoined room connected to his office and called out. Alia stepped out, a severe frown on her face and looking worse for wear; it made Signas frown himself and he stood.
Alia held a hand up. “I’m fine,” she stressed, then dropped her hand as she dropped into the chair across from Signas’ desk. “I can’t hide forever, I figured he’d come asking about Red and… Gate.”
Signas sat down as well with a sigh and interlaced his fingers together, peering over them at Alia. “We’re down two hunters and a Navigator. Thankfully, Sigma does not seem to have survived Final Weapon’s destruction.”
Alia shot him a glare. “I wouldn’t get comfortable. Gate has a piece of Sigma, a piece of the Virus, and I know he’s perfectly capable in either reconstructing it or making it worse. He could tear the Hunters down if he does that.”
“And why would a non-Maverick do that, Alia?”
At this the blond woman cringed. “What else, Signas? Revenge.”
The commander lowered his hands to rest on his desk and leaned back in the seat, the creak of his armored body and the chair making Alia look away and stare at the bare wall to the left. Briefly and absently, Alia figured she might have an unused painting or two at her apartment she could bring in and decorate that bare wall.
“Alia.”
Signas was edging toward the mental list Alia put Lifesaver on, but she looked at him and couldn’t keep the angry look on her face. Signas was a commander, and he had more than her feelings to consider; if she knew information, she was obligated to give it, especially as a top Navigator.
And so Alia told the pathetic story of her ex-fiancé and herself: they were both scientists within a government compound over twenty years ago, working toward a ‘better’ Reploid that was closer to X’s design than the current generation. Apparently at some point, either Cain or X himself donated critical data and they were appointed to analyze it. During that time, she and Gate grew close, and eventually fell in love. Within a year they were engaged, although they kept it a secret, especially as they were about to have a breakthrough with X’s data.
Gate designed about eight Reploids using the materials given to him and his theories. They came out incredibly—stronger than any other Reploid outside of the top combat models, but able to function without ever lifting a weapon like a casual Reploid. They were a near-perfect blend of pacifist and warrior—in fact, X may not remember, but even he had met the Reploids and expressed lots of praise to Gate and his team.
“But,” Alia lamented, “A lot of Gate’s colleagues… they grew jealous. Not just of Gate’s success, but the fact he even managed to decode X’s data enough to make it usable in other Reploids. They secretly, behind his back, plotted to sabotage him. I caught wind of it, but before I could report them they learned of our engagement…”
Signas nodded. “Twenty years ago, it was still illegal for Reploids to practice ‘holy human rites.’” How the world has changed in twenty years…
Alia nodded. “We could have denied it, but if the government found out we even considered it… well… I thought maybe even if he lost his fame, Gate could still do the job he loved after it ended and he got over it. But he never did.” She began to wring her hands together, terrible memories surfacing. “We disfigured his Reploids, completely altered them, corrupted their processors and data chips. I thought they’d stop there, but they hacked Gate’s terminal and completely destroyed his notes, his research, even his own personal back up files for himself! I was terrified, and Gate came back while we were still at it. I’ll… I’ll never forget how enraged he was, especially at me.
“He attacked us. Killed two of us before security got in there, and they shot him down. He was functional, and while they dragged him out, he yelled at me. At me, ‘How could you, Alia? Why, Alia? I’ll get you for this, Alia!’ and he was crying. I knew they would deem him Maverick and scrap him… and if I had more of a backbone I could have prevented all of it.”
Alia rubbed her eyes as a few tears began to well up. “We never admitted the crime and we were considered innocent victims. Gate’s Reploids were supposedly scrapped, but I couldn’t work in that compound anymore. So I quit, but I couldn’t continue being a researcher or scientist, so I took my information gathering and analytical skills and applied them to the Navigation field. I honestly thought Gate was dead… but if he’s alive, and he’s still studying data, especially Sigma’s, he’ll come after all of the scientists that sabotaged him, including me.”
Signas was already devising a plan, Alia could tell by his face. “Than we’ll have to—”
“No, you can’t hide me or protect me,” Alia shook her head at Signas’ look. “I’ve been thinking about it. I have to confront him; what’s why I’m really hounding Engineering for that canon.”
“Alia!” Signas protested. “You’re a Navigator, not a combat unit!”
“I can get a combat programming installed and work with it, but I have to confront him. Besides, speaking of combat units, where are X and Zero?”
That change of topic made Signas scowl. “I have to call them.”
Alia winced. That didn’t sound good.
~*~
Axl couldn’t believe it, but as he and Delia watched, out of sight of course, both were utterly shocked at what they witnessed.
X was training with his Unit, as usual, when a rookie asked him to demonstrate a shot. X was the best shooter in all of the Hunters, perhaps the world, and everyone knew the rookie just wanted to see X show off. Typically X would do a basic shot routine, get the rookie back in line, and resume training.
However, even as X blearily stared at the smoking hole in the wall, even he was a bit shocked that he missed such an easy target by five feet. His entire Unit, and all onlookers, gaped in disbelief—how could X, the Megaman X, miss such a simple target?
“Off day,” a lesser officer muttered. “T-try again, sir!”
And X tried again, with an even bigger blast, and yet he still missed. The bleariness he had was suddenly gone, replaced by a quick rage none witnessed in him before. X marched to the nearest weapon rack, pulled free a saber and charged at the target, jumping into the air and flipping with the saber activated.
He hit dead on.
Delia grasped Axl’s arm. “Wow,” she muttered in genuine surprise. “Since when did X get so good at melee?”
“It’s like backwards day,” another onlooker said, and the pair turned to him. “I was watching Commander Zero spar, and he got his ass whooped by a lesser officer. It wasn’t he let the guy win, he got beat down.”
“No way,” Axl breathed. No one bested Zero in melee!
“But he grabbed a pistol and sparred someone else, beat them relatively quick. Not like X does—er, did, before today—but it was pretty impressive. Maybe they switched combat chips.” The man laughed.
Delia and Axl glanced at each other, then back to X mercilessly and angrily still hacking at the practice dummy, his Unit slowly backing away from him. Suddenly Axl disengaged from Delia, who scowled for a second before looking at him with slightly annoyed magenta eyes.
Axl was oblivious to that look, though. “Gotta go see Lifesaver, Delia… sorry we can’t have lunch. Maybe next time.”
Before she could pout or utter a charming word, Axl dashed out of the simulation room, leaving her alone with the other onlookers. Fuming, Delia glared at the finally calm X’s back before turning on her own heel and exiting. Everything seemed to be screwing up recently, and she certainly didn’t like how some were impeding on her plans!
A snort made Delia stop and whirl around, eyes narrow. “Oh, you again,” she growled.
A glint of gold temporarily dazzled her, although the voice made Delia cringe. “Yup, me.”
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Axl was beginning to see a trend, and a frightening one at that. He knew Zero and X were practically inseparable, best friends and lovers and all that, but that was more on the figuratively side. Now, it was actually literally, as they hardly were ever without that creepy cable connecting them by the back of the necks to each other.
Okay, it wasn’t the cable that was creepy. Reploids sharing that intimacy was nothing to be frowned on, since the two were dating and all that, and it wasn’t as mind-shattering as finding them naked somewhere… no, what was creepy was how Zero and X would stare at whoever is talking to them, share some sort of telepathic conversation with themselves, one would nod while the other just… kept… staring…
“Stop it!” Axl threw up his hands, dropping his tools. “Stop frickin’ staring at me!”
His parents glanced at each other, only their widened eyes moving, before both pairs settled on him. “What?” both asked, and Axl wasn’t sure if they just spoke at the same perfect nanosecond, or if they seriously both sounded like their voice boxes merged.
“You guys!” Axl gathered up his things. “You’re totally freaking me out. Why don’t you unplug for once? Argh!” he quickly exited the room, only Zero and X’s eyes following him.
Zero barely moved his head to glance at X, who mirrored him. / Reckon we should? /
// Now why would we do that? // Although X didn’t move, Zero felt a sensation much like X cuddling up to him, only much warmer, more pleasant. // At least he isn’t going on about Delia… //
Zero projected the feeling of embracing X close, and X physically sighed in bliss. / We still need to go report back, break ended two hours ago. Surprised Signas isn’t flipping out. /
// I don’t feel like moving… //
/ Neither do I. /
// Good. // X’s voice sounded like a sensual purr in Zero’s mind, caressing him, enticing. // Let’s just stay here and… enjoy the moment. //
The bolt of raw rapture that pierced through Zero made him physically groan and close his eyes, blocking out the outside stimulus and focusing only on his lover that invaded his being as fully as he invaded X’s. He felt X everywhere, and it wasn’t as if he was feeling X touch him… it was just completely incredible, indescribable, and he hungered for more it and pulled more of X as X pulled on more of him. Their souls, programs, whatever one wanted to call it, were tightly wrapped around each other and Zero finally knew what bliss was.
X read his thoughts, snickered, and before Zero could react to the plan formulating in X the blue Reploid completely invaded Zero, overwhelming him in such an incredible, intense high Zero cried out and his body shut down. He was completely at X’s mercy, now, and Zero exalted in it.
In his room, Axl shuddered at the sound Zero made. He had nothing against his parents doing whatever they needed to relax and undo the stress of their jobs, but nothing good could come from them being plugged into each other for so long. And if nothing else, Axl sure did not like having to hear them mentally get it on.
Think happy thoughts, Axl told himself as he tried to focus on his work. Yes, happy thoughts, like Delia and her pretty little--
Axl’s head hit his desk with a groan. Alia was going to strangle him because he couldn’t finish this stupid canon in time! The thought of Alia soon sobered him, however, remembering what he heard from his parents yesterday; hopefully Alia recovered from her crash and was doing better. She had suffered the crash because she went through the recorded files he brought back… of the head scientist, the guy named Gate.
The guy Gate who was in league with Red.
Axl packed up his supplies and, bypassing his comatose parents on their couch, went out the front door and ran to the nearest teleport station. Maybe, if Alia knew this Gate, she’d know why Gate would join alliance with Red… or even why Red to Gate. It was worth looking into.
It wasn’t as if X and Zero needed him right now, anyway.
~*~
Axl threw his hands up angrily. “I just want to ask her a question or two!”
Nothing was as immovable as a stubborn Signas, who was giving Axl a rather evil look. “No.” He looked up at the clock hanging on the wall and he actually scowled, which made Axl take a step back. Signas never scowled. “Where is Zero and X?”
“At home…” Axl responded slowly, apprehensively.
Signas stood from his chair to his impressive height, and Axl again took a step back. “It’s been three hours since their allotted break. What are they doing?”
The young Reploid did not like the ideal of tattling on his parents, despite the schism forming between them with their strange obsession with connection and the Delia crap. But he swallowed it down and dutifully replied, “They’re… relaxing. By sharing a connection.”
“Again?”
Even Signas seemed to be surprised by the frequency, and Axl nodded, glad someone else shared his concern. “Yeah,” Axl fidgeted. “There’s nothing… wrong or that can go wrong with how often they do that… right?”
Signas sat down, now looking more like his usual calm, neutral self. “I would say no, if they were regular Reploids. The fact X is the original Reploid, and Zero we have no clue… well, I cannot say for sure what might happen.”
Axl fidgeted more. “Well, since all Reps are copies of X pretty much and no one’s really reported any issues…”
“We’re not copies; we’re based on his design, plus or minus some flaws or modifications.”
Axl swore in his mind. “So you’re saying something could theoretically happen?”
Signas quirked an eyebrow. “Theoretically, yes.”
The younger Reploid pressed his fists against his helmet, as if trying to grasp at his hair. “Then, theoretically, shouldn’t we get them to stop before something possibly happens?”
“If you can get them to unplug, Axl, without using force than by all means. However, the most I can do is demand they stop skipping work to do it. I can’t rightfully tell them they cannot… engage in such.” Signas began to shuffle his papers around his desk. “However, I’ll give them a call. Engineering has been calling for you, you better get down there.”
Axl swore again. He still didn’t finish that stupid canon! He quickly saluted his commanding officer before bolting out, his mind whirling. The moment the door closed, Signas glanced to the small adjoined room connected to his office and called out. Alia stepped out, a severe frown on her face and looking worse for wear; it made Signas frown himself and he stood.
Alia held a hand up. “I’m fine,” she stressed, then dropped her hand as she dropped into the chair across from Signas’ desk. “I can’t hide forever, I figured he’d come asking about Red and… Gate.”
Signas sat down as well with a sigh and interlaced his fingers together, peering over them at Alia. “We’re down two hunters and a Navigator. Thankfully, Sigma does not seem to have survived Final Weapon’s destruction.”
Alia shot him a glare. “I wouldn’t get comfortable. Gate has a piece of Sigma, a piece of the Virus, and I know he’s perfectly capable in either reconstructing it or making it worse. He could tear the Hunters down if he does that.”
“And why would a non-Maverick do that, Alia?”
At this the blond woman cringed. “What else, Signas? Revenge.”
The commander lowered his hands to rest on his desk and leaned back in the seat, the creak of his armored body and the chair making Alia look away and stare at the bare wall to the left. Briefly and absently, Alia figured she might have an unused painting or two at her apartment she could bring in and decorate that bare wall.
“Alia.”
Signas was edging toward the mental list Alia put Lifesaver on, but she looked at him and couldn’t keep the angry look on her face. Signas was a commander, and he had more than her feelings to consider; if she knew information, she was obligated to give it, especially as a top Navigator.
And so Alia told the pathetic story of her ex-fiancé and herself: they were both scientists within a government compound over twenty years ago, working toward a ‘better’ Reploid that was closer to X’s design than the current generation. Apparently at some point, either Cain or X himself donated critical data and they were appointed to analyze it. During that time, she and Gate grew close, and eventually fell in love. Within a year they were engaged, although they kept it a secret, especially as they were about to have a breakthrough with X’s data.
Gate designed about eight Reploids using the materials given to him and his theories. They came out incredibly—stronger than any other Reploid outside of the top combat models, but able to function without ever lifting a weapon like a casual Reploid. They were a near-perfect blend of pacifist and warrior—in fact, X may not remember, but even he had met the Reploids and expressed lots of praise to Gate and his team.
“But,” Alia lamented, “A lot of Gate’s colleagues… they grew jealous. Not just of Gate’s success, but the fact he even managed to decode X’s data enough to make it usable in other Reploids. They secretly, behind his back, plotted to sabotage him. I caught wind of it, but before I could report them they learned of our engagement…”
Signas nodded. “Twenty years ago, it was still illegal for Reploids to practice ‘holy human rites.’” How the world has changed in twenty years…
Alia nodded. “We could have denied it, but if the government found out we even considered it… well… I thought maybe even if he lost his fame, Gate could still do the job he loved after it ended and he got over it. But he never did.” She began to wring her hands together, terrible memories surfacing. “We disfigured his Reploids, completely altered them, corrupted their processors and data chips. I thought they’d stop there, but they hacked Gate’s terminal and completely destroyed his notes, his research, even his own personal back up files for himself! I was terrified, and Gate came back while we were still at it. I’ll… I’ll never forget how enraged he was, especially at me.
“He attacked us. Killed two of us before security got in there, and they shot him down. He was functional, and while they dragged him out, he yelled at me. At me, ‘How could you, Alia? Why, Alia? I’ll get you for this, Alia!’ and he was crying. I knew they would deem him Maverick and scrap him… and if I had more of a backbone I could have prevented all of it.”
Alia rubbed her eyes as a few tears began to well up. “We never admitted the crime and we were considered innocent victims. Gate’s Reploids were supposedly scrapped, but I couldn’t work in that compound anymore. So I quit, but I couldn’t continue being a researcher or scientist, so I took my information gathering and analytical skills and applied them to the Navigation field. I honestly thought Gate was dead… but if he’s alive, and he’s still studying data, especially Sigma’s, he’ll come after all of the scientists that sabotaged him, including me.”
Signas was already devising a plan, Alia could tell by his face. “Than we’ll have to—”
“No, you can’t hide me or protect me,” Alia shook her head at Signas’ look. “I’ve been thinking about it. I have to confront him; what’s why I’m really hounding Engineering for that canon.”
“Alia!” Signas protested. “You’re a Navigator, not a combat unit!”
“I can get a combat programming installed and work with it, but I have to confront him. Besides, speaking of combat units, where are X and Zero?”
That change of topic made Signas scowl. “I have to call them.”
Alia winced. That didn’t sound good.
~*~
Axl couldn’t believe it, but as he and Delia watched, out of sight of course, both were utterly shocked at what they witnessed.
X was training with his Unit, as usual, when a rookie asked him to demonstrate a shot. X was the best shooter in all of the Hunters, perhaps the world, and everyone knew the rookie just wanted to see X show off. Typically X would do a basic shot routine, get the rookie back in line, and resume training.
However, even as X blearily stared at the smoking hole in the wall, even he was a bit shocked that he missed such an easy target by five feet. His entire Unit, and all onlookers, gaped in disbelief—how could X, the Megaman X, miss such a simple target?
“Off day,” a lesser officer muttered. “T-try again, sir!”
And X tried again, with an even bigger blast, and yet he still missed. The bleariness he had was suddenly gone, replaced by a quick rage none witnessed in him before. X marched to the nearest weapon rack, pulled free a saber and charged at the target, jumping into the air and flipping with the saber activated.
He hit dead on.
Delia grasped Axl’s arm. “Wow,” she muttered in genuine surprise. “Since when did X get so good at melee?”
“It’s like backwards day,” another onlooker said, and the pair turned to him. “I was watching Commander Zero spar, and he got his ass whooped by a lesser officer. It wasn’t he let the guy win, he got beat down.”
“No way,” Axl breathed. No one bested Zero in melee!
“But he grabbed a pistol and sparred someone else, beat them relatively quick. Not like X does—er, did, before today—but it was pretty impressive. Maybe they switched combat chips.” The man laughed.
Delia and Axl glanced at each other, then back to X mercilessly and angrily still hacking at the practice dummy, his Unit slowly backing away from him. Suddenly Axl disengaged from Delia, who scowled for a second before looking at him with slightly annoyed magenta eyes.
Axl was oblivious to that look, though. “Gotta go see Lifesaver, Delia… sorry we can’t have lunch. Maybe next time.”
Before she could pout or utter a charming word, Axl dashed out of the simulation room, leaving her alone with the other onlookers. Fuming, Delia glared at the finally calm X’s back before turning on her own heel and exiting. Everything seemed to be screwing up recently, and she certainly didn’t like how some were impeding on her plans!
A snort made Delia stop and whirl around, eyes narrow. “Oh, you again,” she growled.
A glint of gold temporarily dazzled her, although the voice made Delia cringe. “Yup, me.”
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