Chapter Five: Trust
After talking to himself for a good few hours, Zero still hadn't heard from X. While the blond tried to rationalize with himself as to why X was still away, worry crept up his spine and prodded at his mind. It was like a routine – if X or Zero got upset, the first thing they did was go to each other. Surely having to spend a second with Delia would upset X.
Unless they got back together.
Zero shoved that generated idea so far down the recycle bin it almost fragmented. X would never get back with that cheat, not if Zero had any say in the matter! Which he didn't, but he'd be damned if that stopped him.
Before Zero stomped out the door, something flashed in his peripheral vision. When he looked to the sides and saw nothing, Zero switched modes, and the door he was heading for turned gray. A tiling pentagonal background stitched over his sight, and his interface faded into view. There, his e-mail inbox was flashing.
Physically, Zero frowned, but opened the inbox and noticed it was an instant message from Cain. If it was a mission, X would unfortunately have to wait. Zero opened the window and read the first message.
// Zero, you online? //
/ Always, doc. What's going on? / he sent back.
The triple dots at the bottom of the window indicated Cain was typing, and Zero in the meantime put himself into multi-task mode. His interface faded back to physical sight, minus a now slightly faded instant messenger window, and he left his room.
Finally Cain responded, // X is in my office wailing about something. I got him in the pod running tests and scans, but he's so stressed I'm having issues. Come here and calm him down. //
/ On my way. / Zero exited the menu so it no longer impaired his vision, and, doing an about-face, headed for the doctor's office.
Luckily, as a high-ranked hunter, Zero's dorms were close to the teleport pads, the mission room, and Cain's office. It was only three minutes after the end of the conversation when Zero entered the lab.
Cain's office was part apartment and part lab. The first thing one saw when entering was a giant glass window that looked into the lab. Adjunct to the lab was the actual office, in where the old man sat in front of huge screens of the mother computer. Not bothering with going to the office, Zero instead went into the lab itself and found X lying in the Reploid pod nearest the window looking into the office.
Cain's voice came over the intercom, "X, I got Zero here. Why not talk to him and settle down while I finish initializing the rest of the scans?"
Zero pulled up a chair to X's pod as the blue-clad Reploid opened his eyes and looked. His friend tapped the glass lid of the pod with a smile, and X felt a little calmer already.
"Hey, buddy," Zero's voice was muffled from the glass, but X heard him well enough. "What's wrong? You kick Delia's ass so hard they thought you went Mav?"
X figured the moment Zero mentioned going Maverick, he'd panic again. Instead, looking into Zero's blue eyes and seeing how worried his friend was under the teasing kept him calm. Zero was here, and Zero made things better sooner or later.
"Believe it or not, I was quite civil," X replied.
Zero donned a look of mock-surprise. "You? Civil with Delia? Scan him quick, Doc, I think X did go Maverick!"
"Shut up," was X's automatic reply. Zero chuckled, but that laugh stopped when X went on. "She told me my data was corruptive and aggressive."
"How'd she get your data?"
Zero didn't need any other answer when X blushed and turned his head. "Ohhhh, I see. Wow, X, and here I thought you never would indulge in that sort of act."
"Why not?" X turned back to him.
Before Zero replied, Cain once again came across, "All right, you two, X had calmed down and his firewalls are down enough. Please put yourself in hibernation, X, and we'll start scanning."
"All right, Doctor." X looked again at Zero, who smiled at him.
"I'll be at the simulation room; come find me when you're done." Zero patted the glass, and X smiled at him before closing his eyes.
At Cain's wave of his hand, Zero got up and left the lab, hands in his jean pockets. He took his time walking back to his dorm to change, letting himself wonder over X's words. So his data acts aggressively? That's probably why no one had managed to directly copy X perfectly, and why the Reploids of today are different from him. It made sense, and Zero couldn't exactly think of just why X would freak out and demand scans if his data aggressively attacked Delia's; it's not like it was…
Oh. Wait.
Zero paused in the act of opening his dorm room, and felt like slamming his head against that door. Of course! Aggressive data was a symptom of Maverick Virus infection, and of course X would panic.
The blond entered his room and started to strip out of his human clothes, unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans with one hand and the other reaching into his closet for his black jumpsuit. While incredibly flexible, the jumpsuits under Reploid armor were finely ground crystalline alloy—think of them like chainmail under the heavy plate of the thicket of Reploid armor parts.
He zipped himself up in the jumpsuit and tied his hair back in its usual ponytail before placing his helmet on. Once he pulled the ponytail through the hole in the back, Zero touched the crystal on his forehead and his plated heavy armor materialized on him, and the wires from his helmet gently nudged through his hair to connect into the microscopic ports in his skull. The jewel brightened for a moment and Zero closed his eyes as he connected to his armor, and in a second, it was over and he was ready to go.
Checking his saber's charge level, Zero made his way to the training simulation room on the third floor. The simulation room was about the size of a medium-sized house, with a watching room attached and protected by plasma-proof glass. When Zero entered the simulation room, the computer automatically scanned him.
"Welcome Hunter Zero," the computer greeted. It brought up three screens, seemingly out of thin air, before him. "Please choose your simulation."
Zero tapped the screen to his left. The screens disappeared, then a single one replaced them, asking for difficulty and if he wished to be timed. Zero set it to hard, and yes, and the entire room brightened.
Across from him materialized the Colonel of Repliforce, his own good friend. Zero drew his saber as the simulation did.
"Begin," the simulated Colonel said, and he dashed forward.
Zero parried the high arc of the simulation, pushing back and swinging his saber horizontally at the simulation's midsection, forcing it to step back. Because of the difficulty setting, the computer would allow Zero to suffer damage, but should he suffer anything above medium damage, the simulation would end.
To get the best score by the end of the timed duel, Zero not only had to beat the simulation, but suffer no damage. It was his favorite simulation, and not only because he secretly liked kicking Colonel's uptight ass, even if wasn't real.
Keeping the simulation on the defensive, Zero stepped forward with another slash, and then ended the combo with an overhead arc, which was barely deflected.
Perhaps thirty minutes into the duel, X stepped into the watcher's box and took a seat on the bench. He knew better than to call out to Zero or enter the simulation himself when the blond was dueling—the last rookie who did ended up with his hand sliced off and bathroom duty. Watching Zero was a favored pastime of X's, who always admired Zero's saber skills. The man couldn't charge a buster to save his life, but hand him a saber and he was a killing machine of a swordsmen. A fight between them, a serious one, would be interesting; at range, X held every advantage imaginable, but if Zero got close, X would have to somehow fend him off and gain ground. X couldn't help but imagine it, because even the rookies ask the same age-old question: Who exactly would win?
"End of simulation," the computer jarred X out of his imaginary fight, and Zero sheathed the saber into the charge pack on his back. "99% completion."
"What?" Zero called. "99%? What was the last percent?"
"Failure to strike down the simulated Colonel."
"He couldn't lift his sword! He was defeated!"
"Due to the difficulty setting, destruction of the simulation is required."
Zero let out a small 'oh' before the projected battle stage faded away, and he saw X waving from the watcher's box. Whatever upset Zero felt from the loss, it instantly vanished at the sight of his friend, and he joined X in the watcher's box after logging off his session.
"Hey, buddy." Zero fell down on the bench, brushing off of his armor with his hands. "How'd the scans go?"
"Negative, all of them."
"Well that's a good thing, ain't it?"
X shrugged, worry still etched in his face. "Scans have failed on others too."
Zero sighed, rubbing the crystal on his head. When his fingers brushed over a compartment in his helmet, he had an idea.
"Hey, X," Zero caught the blue-armored Reploid's attention as he opened the compartment. "Let me see the data."
"What?" X nearly squeaked incredulously, eyes widening as Zero pulled the rolled-up wire from the compartment. "You're kidding!"
Zero blinked, the plug in his hand. "No, I'm not; why are you blushing?"
"Like you don't know!" X facepalmed himself.
Before, when Reploids had no such human updates to physically engage in intimate actions, they considered the sharing, downloading and uploading of data between two Reploids as an 'ultimate intimacy.' X shook his head side-to-side quickly, trying to dispel his blush, because sharing that intimacy with Zero, his best friend…
"Oh, yeah," Zero said, realizing. "So? C'mon, X, it'll calm you down to figure out what's up."
"But… but… Zero…"
Zero rolled his eyes and tapped the end of the plug against X's helmet. "X, listen. It's just us in here, and it only takes a few minutes. No one will see. And besides, I'm your best friend. Sure, it's a very… well, intimate thing, but who else do you trust to help you with this problem?"
X took a breath; Zero had a point, and of course he was right. Besides, he is X's best friend, and X barely bat an eye at drunken cuddling. He obviously trusted Zero with his life and then some… so what was a little data sharing? It didn't have to happen between two lover Reploids, it could be two best and close friends…
Besides, you said yourself once you wanted to see what was going on in Zero's head…
"You're right, as always." X lifted his hand to his own head, opening a side compartment, "but on one condition."
"I don't tell any—"
"I don't want to hear a single 'Insert USB' joke," X glared. "Understand? Not a single one."
Zero cracked a smile. "So can I do it now before I make that promise?"
"One."
Suddenly, the smile on Zero's face was gone, replaced by a sultry smirk that was maddeningly seductive and suggestively leering, and his cerulean eyes become smoldering with such intent X could not help but blush.
In a husky tone, complete with leaning in close, Zero murmured, "So shall I… insert myself into you?"
X tried to say something, but nothing came out, especially when his eyes met Zero's. The seductive look was gone in moments, replaced by a hearty laugh.
"Oh, man, X, the look on your face… holy shit…" Zero could barely breathe.
X flushed and glared at him angrily. "Oh, shut up and do it."
Zero snickered some more before finally plugging into X's receptive port. After a connection was established, both settled into comfortable sitting positions and closed their eyes.
You said you wanted to see what was going on in Zero's head… this little stunt only made you more curious…
<--- PREVIOUS CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER --->
After talking to himself for a good few hours, Zero still hadn't heard from X. While the blond tried to rationalize with himself as to why X was still away, worry crept up his spine and prodded at his mind. It was like a routine – if X or Zero got upset, the first thing they did was go to each other. Surely having to spend a second with Delia would upset X.
Unless they got back together.
Zero shoved that generated idea so far down the recycle bin it almost fragmented. X would never get back with that cheat, not if Zero had any say in the matter! Which he didn't, but he'd be damned if that stopped him.
Before Zero stomped out the door, something flashed in his peripheral vision. When he looked to the sides and saw nothing, Zero switched modes, and the door he was heading for turned gray. A tiling pentagonal background stitched over his sight, and his interface faded into view. There, his e-mail inbox was flashing.
Physically, Zero frowned, but opened the inbox and noticed it was an instant message from Cain. If it was a mission, X would unfortunately have to wait. Zero opened the window and read the first message.
// Zero, you online? //
/ Always, doc. What's going on? / he sent back.
The triple dots at the bottom of the window indicated Cain was typing, and Zero in the meantime put himself into multi-task mode. His interface faded back to physical sight, minus a now slightly faded instant messenger window, and he left his room.
Finally Cain responded, // X is in my office wailing about something. I got him in the pod running tests and scans, but he's so stressed I'm having issues. Come here and calm him down. //
/ On my way. / Zero exited the menu so it no longer impaired his vision, and, doing an about-face, headed for the doctor's office.
Luckily, as a high-ranked hunter, Zero's dorms were close to the teleport pads, the mission room, and Cain's office. It was only three minutes after the end of the conversation when Zero entered the lab.
Cain's office was part apartment and part lab. The first thing one saw when entering was a giant glass window that looked into the lab. Adjunct to the lab was the actual office, in where the old man sat in front of huge screens of the mother computer. Not bothering with going to the office, Zero instead went into the lab itself and found X lying in the Reploid pod nearest the window looking into the office.
Cain's voice came over the intercom, "X, I got Zero here. Why not talk to him and settle down while I finish initializing the rest of the scans?"
Zero pulled up a chair to X's pod as the blue-clad Reploid opened his eyes and looked. His friend tapped the glass lid of the pod with a smile, and X felt a little calmer already.
"Hey, buddy," Zero's voice was muffled from the glass, but X heard him well enough. "What's wrong? You kick Delia's ass so hard they thought you went Mav?"
X figured the moment Zero mentioned going Maverick, he'd panic again. Instead, looking into Zero's blue eyes and seeing how worried his friend was under the teasing kept him calm. Zero was here, and Zero made things better sooner or later.
"Believe it or not, I was quite civil," X replied.
Zero donned a look of mock-surprise. "You? Civil with Delia? Scan him quick, Doc, I think X did go Maverick!"
"Shut up," was X's automatic reply. Zero chuckled, but that laugh stopped when X went on. "She told me my data was corruptive and aggressive."
"How'd she get your data?"
Zero didn't need any other answer when X blushed and turned his head. "Ohhhh, I see. Wow, X, and here I thought you never would indulge in that sort of act."
"Why not?" X turned back to him.
Before Zero replied, Cain once again came across, "All right, you two, X had calmed down and his firewalls are down enough. Please put yourself in hibernation, X, and we'll start scanning."
"All right, Doctor." X looked again at Zero, who smiled at him.
"I'll be at the simulation room; come find me when you're done." Zero patted the glass, and X smiled at him before closing his eyes.
At Cain's wave of his hand, Zero got up and left the lab, hands in his jean pockets. He took his time walking back to his dorm to change, letting himself wonder over X's words. So his data acts aggressively? That's probably why no one had managed to directly copy X perfectly, and why the Reploids of today are different from him. It made sense, and Zero couldn't exactly think of just why X would freak out and demand scans if his data aggressively attacked Delia's; it's not like it was…
Oh. Wait.
Zero paused in the act of opening his dorm room, and felt like slamming his head against that door. Of course! Aggressive data was a symptom of Maverick Virus infection, and of course X would panic.
The blond entered his room and started to strip out of his human clothes, unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans with one hand and the other reaching into his closet for his black jumpsuit. While incredibly flexible, the jumpsuits under Reploid armor were finely ground crystalline alloy—think of them like chainmail under the heavy plate of the thicket of Reploid armor parts.
He zipped himself up in the jumpsuit and tied his hair back in its usual ponytail before placing his helmet on. Once he pulled the ponytail through the hole in the back, Zero touched the crystal on his forehead and his plated heavy armor materialized on him, and the wires from his helmet gently nudged through his hair to connect into the microscopic ports in his skull. The jewel brightened for a moment and Zero closed his eyes as he connected to his armor, and in a second, it was over and he was ready to go.
Checking his saber's charge level, Zero made his way to the training simulation room on the third floor. The simulation room was about the size of a medium-sized house, with a watching room attached and protected by plasma-proof glass. When Zero entered the simulation room, the computer automatically scanned him.
"Welcome Hunter Zero," the computer greeted. It brought up three screens, seemingly out of thin air, before him. "Please choose your simulation."
Zero tapped the screen to his left. The screens disappeared, then a single one replaced them, asking for difficulty and if he wished to be timed. Zero set it to hard, and yes, and the entire room brightened.
Across from him materialized the Colonel of Repliforce, his own good friend. Zero drew his saber as the simulation did.
"Begin," the simulated Colonel said, and he dashed forward.
Zero parried the high arc of the simulation, pushing back and swinging his saber horizontally at the simulation's midsection, forcing it to step back. Because of the difficulty setting, the computer would allow Zero to suffer damage, but should he suffer anything above medium damage, the simulation would end.
To get the best score by the end of the timed duel, Zero not only had to beat the simulation, but suffer no damage. It was his favorite simulation, and not only because he secretly liked kicking Colonel's uptight ass, even if wasn't real.
Keeping the simulation on the defensive, Zero stepped forward with another slash, and then ended the combo with an overhead arc, which was barely deflected.
Perhaps thirty minutes into the duel, X stepped into the watcher's box and took a seat on the bench. He knew better than to call out to Zero or enter the simulation himself when the blond was dueling—the last rookie who did ended up with his hand sliced off and bathroom duty. Watching Zero was a favored pastime of X's, who always admired Zero's saber skills. The man couldn't charge a buster to save his life, but hand him a saber and he was a killing machine of a swordsmen. A fight between them, a serious one, would be interesting; at range, X held every advantage imaginable, but if Zero got close, X would have to somehow fend him off and gain ground. X couldn't help but imagine it, because even the rookies ask the same age-old question: Who exactly would win?
"End of simulation," the computer jarred X out of his imaginary fight, and Zero sheathed the saber into the charge pack on his back. "99% completion."
"What?" Zero called. "99%? What was the last percent?"
"Failure to strike down the simulated Colonel."
"He couldn't lift his sword! He was defeated!"
"Due to the difficulty setting, destruction of the simulation is required."
Zero let out a small 'oh' before the projected battle stage faded away, and he saw X waving from the watcher's box. Whatever upset Zero felt from the loss, it instantly vanished at the sight of his friend, and he joined X in the watcher's box after logging off his session.
"Hey, buddy." Zero fell down on the bench, brushing off of his armor with his hands. "How'd the scans go?"
"Negative, all of them."
"Well that's a good thing, ain't it?"
X shrugged, worry still etched in his face. "Scans have failed on others too."
Zero sighed, rubbing the crystal on his head. When his fingers brushed over a compartment in his helmet, he had an idea.
"Hey, X," Zero caught the blue-armored Reploid's attention as he opened the compartment. "Let me see the data."
"What?" X nearly squeaked incredulously, eyes widening as Zero pulled the rolled-up wire from the compartment. "You're kidding!"
Zero blinked, the plug in his hand. "No, I'm not; why are you blushing?"
"Like you don't know!" X facepalmed himself.
Before, when Reploids had no such human updates to physically engage in intimate actions, they considered the sharing, downloading and uploading of data between two Reploids as an 'ultimate intimacy.' X shook his head side-to-side quickly, trying to dispel his blush, because sharing that intimacy with Zero, his best friend…
"Oh, yeah," Zero said, realizing. "So? C'mon, X, it'll calm you down to figure out what's up."
"But… but… Zero…"
Zero rolled his eyes and tapped the end of the plug against X's helmet. "X, listen. It's just us in here, and it only takes a few minutes. No one will see. And besides, I'm your best friend. Sure, it's a very… well, intimate thing, but who else do you trust to help you with this problem?"
X took a breath; Zero had a point, and of course he was right. Besides, he is X's best friend, and X barely bat an eye at drunken cuddling. He obviously trusted Zero with his life and then some… so what was a little data sharing? It didn't have to happen between two lover Reploids, it could be two best and close friends…
Besides, you said yourself once you wanted to see what was going on in Zero's head…
"You're right, as always." X lifted his hand to his own head, opening a side compartment, "but on one condition."
"I don't tell any—"
"I don't want to hear a single 'Insert USB' joke," X glared. "Understand? Not a single one."
Zero cracked a smile. "So can I do it now before I make that promise?"
"One."
Suddenly, the smile on Zero's face was gone, replaced by a sultry smirk that was maddeningly seductive and suggestively leering, and his cerulean eyes become smoldering with such intent X could not help but blush.
In a husky tone, complete with leaning in close, Zero murmured, "So shall I… insert myself into you?"
X tried to say something, but nothing came out, especially when his eyes met Zero's. The seductive look was gone in moments, replaced by a hearty laugh.
"Oh, man, X, the look on your face… holy shit…" Zero could barely breathe.
X flushed and glared at him angrily. "Oh, shut up and do it."
Zero snickered some more before finally plugging into X's receptive port. After a connection was established, both settled into comfortable sitting positions and closed their eyes.
You said you wanted to see what was going on in Zero's head… this little stunt only made you more curious…
<--- PREVIOUS CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER --->