Gamer4 in, and it's time for another (or possibly first, depending on the order you're reading these in) chapter of the Live Alive saga! For those of you who don't know, I've lately been writing a mini-series entitled Live Alive, consisting of multiple stories from various fandoms with loose connections between them, so that a person can read each individually, or, alternatively, read them as a whole and see the connections that tie them together! Today, we turn to Xenosaga, a trilogy of games belonging to the Xeno series, which has become my favorite game series of all time. Great characters, great stories, great music, great... just about everything. While today, the name Xeno would make most people think of Xenoblade, the most recent title in the series, today, we're going to its predecessor, Xenosaga, a space opera of truly epic proportions. I will warn you, ahead of time, that, unlike the other stories in the Live Alive mini-series, this story will dip slightly into AU, with a couple small differences from the game, but nothing overly different. Anyways, without further adieu, here we go!
Disclaimer: I own a copy of each Xeno game, Gears to Saga to Blade. I fully intend to pick up a copy of Blade X at launch. However, I do not own the rights to said games, as much as I wish I could make the ties between them more explicit- you want to talk about series with individual installments with only loose connections...
Live Alive
KOS-MOS's Story
Ghost in the Machine
Message to: Galactic Federation.
Sender: Lieutenant Luis Virgil
Subject: Mission Status
Current location: Galactic Federation Vessel, S. S. Tasha. Crew: 5. Cargo: Alien Life Form. Passenger: 1: Lieutenant Virgil, in charge of cargo. All is well. Message ends.
XXXX
In a small room on the Galactic Federation Starship, the S. S. Tasha, a young woman with red hair was standing over something that resembled a strange hybrid of bed and operating table. On the bed itself was what, at first glance, appeared to be another woman, with light blue hair, currently asleep, but, on closer inspection, and particularly when considering the exposed gears and other moving parts in her exposed chest, turned out to be an android.
"And... that should just about... do it!" the red-haired woman grinned triumphantly as she slid one of the last pieces into place. "Now, to see if she'll activate..."
She turned to one of the computers the robot was wired to and began entering a string of commands, occasionally glancing back at her creation. It had been so long, and she was so close... now, if only she would move...
Finally, she finished her input into the keyboard and, trembling with nerves, moved back to the robot. To her delight, the robot's eyelids began to flutter, until they finally opened, revealing blood-red eyes that instantly began work on taking in everything around her.
Slowly, the woman spoke. She'd thought long and hard about what she'd say to the robot, if she ever completed it, and now was the time: "G-Good morning, KOS-MOS," she said softly, smiling.
The robot's attention was captured- she turned her red eyes onto the woman, and slowly began to rise from the bed. Finally, she answered in a blunt, monotone voice. "And a good morning to you, Shion."
Shion gasped. "So... you do know who I am!"
"Affirmative," KOS-MOS nodded. "You are Shion Uzuki, this ship's technical engineer- and my creator. According to my databanks, there are five other humanoid life forms on this ship, identifying as Jin Uzuki, chaos, MOMO Mizrahi, Gaignun Kukai Jr., and Luis Virgil. Is this accurate?"
"It is," Shion nodded happily. "And... do you know who you are?"
"I am KOS-MOS," KOS-MOS responded. "Acronym- Kosmos Obey Strategic Multiple Operations System. I am an android constructed for work on board this vessel."
Shion felt as though she'd been punched in the stomach. "Well... I suppose that's true," she admitted. "But I was hoping that there might be more to it..."
KOS-MOS stood, examining herself. "All systems functioning normally," she declared.
Shion shook herself out of her reverie. "That's good to hear," she smiled. "Come on, I think it's time for you to meet the crew."
XXXX
In the ship's mess hall, a small group of people had gathered- a tall man dressed in traditional Japanese clothing, a young man with white hair and dressed in an orange-and-blue jumpsuit, and a young woman dressed in a dress.
"Where's Jr.?" the young woman, MOMO, asked of the others. "I thought he'd be here with us."
"I spoke to him last night," the taller of the two men, Jin, noted. "He told me he'd be a little late this morning."
"Okay..." MOMO muttered sadly.
"And what of our guest, Mr. Virgil?" the white-haired boy, chaos, asked. "Have you heard from him?"
"Well, you know him," Jin shrugged. "He's slept in every day of this voyage so far."
"Ah, speak of the devil," chaos noted as the door to the mess hall slid open and a strong-looking, military man entered. He was dressed, even out of combat, in his uniform, with messy blond hair and an ugly scar going down one side of his face. As ever, he paid them no mind, preferring to grab his breakfast and eat at a table separate from the others.
"Not the most sociable person I've ever dealt with," chaos noted. Jin was on the point of agreeing when the door slid open once more, and Shion entered.
"Oh, Shion!" MOMO called happily. "Good morning!"
Shion nodded, smile in place. "Good morning, MOMO!" she said. "Hey, everybody, I've got news- we've got a new crew member!"
"We do?" Jin asked, lowering the cup of tea he had just been raising to his lips.
"Allow me to introduce- KOS-MOS KPX!" Shion smiled, stepping aside and revealing the blue-haired android.
"Ah!" chaos gasped, understanding creeping into his eyes. "Is this the project you've been working on, Shion?"
"It is," Shion smiled. "She'll be joining us for the rest of the voyage!"
"It is a pleasure to meet you all," KOS-MOS said curtly and bluntly.
Virgil didn't seem to have any interest in the android- assuming he'd noticed her at all- but the rest of the crew was enamored.
Finally, Shion managed to get KOS-MOS some room. "Okay, okay, let's give her some room to breath!" she said, gently pushing everyone away. This done, she turned to KOS-MOS herself. "Hmm... I'd like to run some tests to see how well she listens to commands... let's start with something simple. KOS-MOS, do you think you could make us some coffee?"
"Affirmative," KOS-MOS nodded, crossing into the kitchen. A moment later, and the sound and smell of brewing coffee came to the crew in the mess hall. Eventually, KOS-MOS returned with a single mug of black coffee.
Shion accepted it, took a sniff, and, eventually, a sip. Her eyes widened, and she gently handed the cup back to KOS-MOS. "Bitter..." she coughed out. "Definitely bitter..."
"I'm sure it can't be that bad," chaos shook his head, standing. "May I try, KOS-MOS?"
KOS-MOS nodded, handing the mug to the silver-haired boy. The boy took a long drink from the mug before lowering it again, a truly unidentifiable look on his face. For a while, he was silent as everyone watched. Finally, he said, "Well, it was your first time. I'm sure you'll get better with practice."
"Maybe Mr. Virgil wants some?" MOMO wondered out loud. Wordlessly, KOS-MOS returned to the kitchen and returned with another full mug, which she carried over to Virgil. The man looked up, finally taking in the new arrival. Suddenly, a look of pure, unadulterated rage came over his face.
"Get away from me! Get the hell away from me!" he shouted, smacking the cup out of KOS-MOS's hands. The robot's eyes followed the mug's trail through the air until it came smashing down onto the floor. For a long moment, everyone was silent, staring at Virgil in surprise.
"Lieutenant, was that really called for?" Jin finally broke the silence.
Virgil glanced around the room. He didn't seem particularly apologetic, but he also seemed to realize that everyone else was thoroughly on KOS-MOS's side on this one. With a grunt, he muttered something under his breath, stood, and left the room.
"Is something wrong with him?" MOMO asked.
"I think... I think he had some bad experiences with synthetic humans in the past," Shion thought out loud.
Jin shook his head. "Haven't we all?" he noted. "We all remember the Miltian Conflict- all those synthetics that suddenly went rogue... even this ship's name is a testament to that. I hear the person who designed it named it after a friend of his son's who was killed in that conflict- what was that kid's name? George, I think... George and Tasha."
As Jin spoke, KOS-MOS's eyes wandered the mess hall until they came upon a particular object set up along the wall. With nobody telling her differently, she approached it and examined it intently.
"Oh, what is it, KOS-MOS?" Shion asked, turning.
"...Unfamiliar," the robot noted.
Everyone stared- the robot had found a computer built into the wall designed to play retro arcade games. She was currently staring at the demo screen for a puzzle game called HaKox.
chaos gave a soft laugh. "Is that interesting, KOS-MOS?" he asked.
"Very."
The robot approached the terminal and began to operate it. Everyone gathered as she began to effortlessly clear the opening levels of the game. It may have been their imaginations, but there seemed to be a sparkle in her eyes as she played further and further.
However, things changed as the lights abruptly flickered, and the screen seemed to lose power. Looking around, MOMO asked, "What was that?"
"Seems like there's a problem with the power," Jin noted, looking around.
"There shouldn't be," chaos noted. "This ship is supposed to be built to last."
Shion turned to a device on the wall, pushed a button, and spoke into a microphone. "Jr., are you there? Come in, Jr."
A voice spoke back to her, loud enough for the rest of the crew to hear. "This is Jr. Go ahead."
"Did you feel that power surge just now?" Shion asked. "It caused the whole ship to shake."
"Really? Well, that's no good," Jr.'s voice spoke. "Perhaps a problem with the outside of the ship?"
"I guess it could be..."
"Glad to hear it. I've got something to take care of. Talk to me when you're done. See ya."
And with that, the transmission ended, leaving everyone staring at the speaker in confusion.
"Is it just me, or did he sound... odd... to you?" Shion asked, turning to the others.
They didn't have much time to delve into the mystery, however, as the door slid open again, and Virgil rushed back in. "What the hell was that?" he growled.
"A power surge, apparently," chaos noted. "If it's alright with everyone else, I'll get into my spacesuit and take a look around the outside, alright?"
"Yeah... yeah, you do that," Virgil muttered, running a hand distractedly through his hair. The others stared- while it certainly wouldn't be good if power were to fail, they had enough backups that it shouldn't be that much of a problem.
"Very well, I'll return momentarily," chaos nodded, exiting the door. Slowly, everyone else filtered out of the mess hall as well, except for KOS-MOS, who remained, enraptured by the arcade game console.
Finally, KOS-MOS had played her fill of arcade games and turned to the door, following the signs around the ship to the bridge, where Shion, Jin, and MOMO had taken their places. "Where is chaos?" the android asked, noticing the white-haired boy was absent.
"Still out," MOMO noted.
KOS-MOS looked out of the window. Suddenly, she blinked. "He is in front of us."
Shion threw a confused glance at KOS-MOS, then returned to the window, following her line of sight- and gasped. Sure enough, at the edge of the window, they could see chaos, in his suit, floating by, completely motionless.
"What the-" Jin gasped.
"What happened?" MOMO asked, jumping up.
chaos made no sign that he saw them, simply floating by. Shion began rapidly going through the computers. Grief began to show on her face as she came to the conclusion- "He- he's dead," she said mournfully.
"D-dead?!" MOMO gasped, turning to Shion. "How?"
"His... his spacesuit- the life support functions were turned off," Shion explained, tears pulling at the edges of her eyes. "He wouldn't have lasted long without those."
"But- but the life support systems wouldn't just fail on their own!" Jin pointed out, standing. "This... this was sabotage..."
"You mean, one of us did it?" MOMO asked, eyes widening with fear.
Everyone stared at one another for a long while. Finally, Jin, taking control of the situation, said, "Everyone meet back in the mess hall. I'll get Virgil, and we'll discuss this."
"Myself as well?" KOS-MOS asked.
"You, too," Jin nodded. "I'll get Jr. down there, too, if I can help it."
XXXX
A few moments later, everyone was back in the mess hall, and Virgil had been briefed on what had happened.
"I don't believe this," he was growling. "Who would do something like that?"
"That's what we want to find out," Jin agreed. "Now, if Jr. would show up..."
"Some captain you've got, not showing up when something like this happens," Virgil growled, anger evident in his eyes. Shion would have contradicted him, but she couldn't help but feel that Jr.'s absence was strange as well- he had, after all, been one of chaos's closest friends.
Abruptly, any further rumination on the matter was cut off by a burst of static from the nearby speaker. Shion immediately leapt up and answered. "Jr.! Jr., is that you?"
Jr.'s voice came through, loud and clear. "I hear you," he was saying. "What's going on?"
"Jr., chaos has been murdered!"
"Really? Well, that's no good," Jr.'s voice spoke. "Perhaps a problem with... perhaps a... perha-"
The lights were flickering again, and the gaming screen was showing a lot of interference. Finally, the lights returned, and Jr.'s voice continued. "Is there something wrong in the lower decks?"
"Wh- why do you ask?" Shion asked, eyebrows raised.
"Power still seems to be surging down there..."
Virgil suddenly leapt to his feet. "No! Can't be!" he growled, rushing out of the door.
"Mr. Virgil, wait!" MOMO cried, leaping up and running after him.
"MOMO, get back here!" Jin called, pursuing close behind. Shion waited another moment, glancing between them and KOS-MOS, before following her crew out of the door. KOS-MOS waited behind for one more moment, then followed suit.
As KOS-MOS wandered the halls, she found herself getting slammed into by a blond-haired man with a scar down his face. "Lieutenant Virgil?" she spoke questioningly as she looked down at him. "Where are the others?"
"No time, just run!" Virgil grunted out agitatedly. KOS-MOS turned and followed him as he sprinted through the ship's halls and into the mess hall, where he turned and immediately locked the door.
"Is there a problem?" KOS-MOS asked.
"Is there a problem? Is there a problem? Is there a problem?" Virgil shouted, a mixture of fury and fear in his eyes. "Everything's going straight to hell, that's the problem! That thing is loose!"
KOS-MOS would have questioned what 'thing' Virgil was talking about, but something else had clicked in her mind. "Is Shion in danger?"
"We're all in danger!" Virgil shouted. "Until we get that thing locked up, none of us are safe!" He stopped to take a deep breath, but started up again as he saw KOS-MOS approaching the door. "The hell are you doing?"
"I am going to find the others. Their safety takes top priority."
"You're welcome to it," Virgil muttered. "And if that... that thing gets you, then... good riddance!"
KOS-MOS, heedless, left and entered the ship's hallways. As she walked through them, the power continued to routinely surge, causing the lights to flicker. The robot thought she could detect noises in the distance that didn't belong to any of the human crew members, but couldn't be certain. Finally, she managed to find a room where both Shion and Jin were gathered around a huddled, limp form on the floor. "Shion," she said immediately. "It is not safe here. I will guide you back to the mess hall, where we can regroup." Sensing distress in both crew members' eyes, she added, "Is something wrong?"
The two backed up slightly, revealing the huddled mass to be MOMO. "She... she's dead," Shion gasped out, eyes wet with tears.
XXXX
Jin was normally a calm man, but all traces of this disappeared when he entered the mess hall, whereupon he began to violently question Virgil. "Alright, it's time for you to tell us the truth!" he shouted. "We should have seen this before- we just picked you up on the last planet we were passing by, no explanation, no anything, just you and your mysterious cargo. Time for you to explain what's really going on here!"
"Look, I know just as much as you!" Virgil responded defiantly. "I don't know what that cargo really is any more than you do!"
"Don't give us that!" Jin shouted back. "Ever since you came on board, everything's fallen apart! Explanations! Now!"
Virgil looked between Jin, KOS-MOS, and Shion before finally giving in. "Alright. Check my files on the ship's computer. I'll even give you my password."
"It's not exactly safe to go to the computer room, though, is it?" Jin growled.
"It is not necessary to access the computer room," KOS-MOS spoke up. "I believe that, given enough time, I can access the computer via this terminal." As she spoke, she once again approached the arcade console. She began tapping away at the keyboard, and, a few moments later, the glowing screen had shifted to display the ship's mainframe computer.
Virgil's eyes widened. "Okay... that's... kind of impressive..." Shaking it off, he dictated his password to the robot, who inputted it exactly as he spoke it. A wall of text appeared on screen.
Cargo- unique alien specimen, suspended animation. Must be kept in a well-powered suite at all times. Consider extremely dangerous. Should outbreak occur, lives of crew secondary.
For a moment, everyone examined this text, before slowly turning back to Virgil. "'Lives of crew secondary,'" Jin repeated. "'Lives of crew secondary.'"
Virgil, however, looked confused. "No... that wasn't part of my orders... I was told, if it broke free, to kill it before I let it take control of the ship- if I could."
"Well, that's certainly not what this says," Jin pointed out, angry eyes on the screen.
Abruptly, everyone was distracted as the speakers began crackling once more. "What's going on?" came Jr.'s voice. "Have you found anything out?"
"Jr., there's a hostile alien on board the ship!" Shion swiftly explained. "It's extremely dangerous, it's already killed MOMO!"
"Really? Well, that's no good," came Jr.'s voice.
"I am getting sick and tired of hearing that crap over and over again!" Virgil growled, leaping to his feet. "Doesn't that captain of yours ever say anything else?!"
"Really? Well, that's no good," Jr.'s voice repeated, fading into static as yet another power surge struck. "Perhaps... problem... outside... ship? Really? ... no good... ship... outside... below... really?"
"Okay, enough of this! I'm going to speak to that captain, face to face!" Virgil growled, stalking out of the room. Shion and Jin were hot on his heels, with KOS-MOS following close behind.
The first place Virgil led them to was a door that Jin identified as belonging to Jr. Angrily, the lieutenant banged on the door. "Alright, this is the rest of the crew, open up, we need to talk to you!"
No answer. Virgil turned to the lock on the door- a computer-encrypted lock. Of course. "Hey, robo-skirt," he growled, turning to KOS-MOS. "Think you can hack this door, too?"
"Affirmative," KOS-MOS nodded, approaching the lock. A moment later, the door slid open for them.
A grim sight awaited them on the inside- the body of a young man dressed in a longcoat and with fiery red hair slumped over his chair, blood still surrounding a large wound in his chest. His voice was still echoing around the room. "Really? Well, that's no good. Perhaps a problem with the outside of the ship? Power's surging below decks..."
Shion bent over, looking like she was going to vomit. Unable to stand the sight much longer, she turned and sprinted from the room. "Shion, wait!" Jin called out, turning and following.
"Not again!" Virgil growled, turning and sprinting off after them.
KOS-MOS slowly approached the dead body and pulled the young man's eyelids down. She couldn't quite understand why she did it, as it didn't seem to serve any practical purpose, but she felt, somehow, that it was the right thing to do. This done, she turned and dashed out of the door after the others.
It was the sound of screams and sobbing that drew KOS-MOS to one door in particular. Upon opening it, she found Shion and Virgil yelling at each other, with Jin between them- slumped dead on the floor.
"Well, I never realized how cold-hearted you were," Virgil was growling. "Your own brother? I never would have thought-"
"I- I didn't!" Shion gasped out, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "I- I would never-"
"Cut the crap, who else could have done it!" Virgil shouted. He turned as the door slid open and KOS-MOS entered. "Oh, maybe it was your little pet?"
KOS-MOS entered, only to turn in surprise as she heard footsteps behind her. "What the-" Virgill gasped.
Behind KOS-MOS entered... KOS-MOS. Another robot, built as almost an exact duplicate. Shion looked up in surprise. "What- what's this?!" she gasped. "What's going on?"
"I am KOS-MOS," the KOS-MOS that had just entered affirmed.
The two humans looked between the two robots, confused. Angrily, Virgil reached out and grasped a gun on a nearby table, raising it and pointing it at them. "One of these is behind this, huh? Well, I guess I'll just blow them both away..."
"NO!" Shion cried. "I'll- I'll find the real one! I'll ask them something only the real KOS-MOS would know!"
Everyone turned to her. "KOS-MOS- what was the first thing I said to you?"
KOS-MOS tilted her head. "Accessing memory banks... conversation transcript: 'Good morning, KOS-MOS.' 'And a good morning to you, Shion.' 'So, you do know who I am.' 'Affirmative. You are Shion Uzuki-'"
"That's her!" Shion cried. "That's the real one!"
Virgil duly turned his gun on the one that had failed to answer and fired shot after shot into her. The other robot fell to the ground, twitching and malfunctioning. "Resistance... is... futile!" the robot gasped out.
Virgil approached the robot with anger in his eyes. "If I'm right... this robot's working for the real killer. Let's see if she remembers who that is..."
Standing over her, he growled out, "Alright, who built you?"
The robot continued to malfunction, but spoke three syllables: "R...V...10..." before shutting down.
"R...V...10?" Virgil repeated. "What the hell is that?"
"R-V-10?" Shion repeated, standing with surprise in her eyes. "That- that's the designation given to this ship's computer- the core AI- the R-V-10 system!"
"You're saying the computer's been doing this to us?" Virgil asked, disbelief in his eyes.
"That- that's the only thing I can think of..."
Virgil shook his head. "This makes no sense... alright, I guess I'll go to the computer room to hack into this thing."
"Backup may be required," KOS-MOS spoke. "In addition to the alien life form aboard the ship, I believe a hacking attempt from two sources may have a better chance of succeeding than one."
Virgil reluctantly nodded. "Alright, well, I've got the computer room. Where are you heading?"
"I will attempt to hack into the computer from the arcade terminal," KOS-MOS said shortly. "I would be in a good position to face the AI head-on."
Virgil shook his head. "Whatever that means," he muttered. Turning to Shion, he said, "Sorry to say it, but I doubt you'll be much help in your state. You stay here."
"A-alright," Shion said shakily.
"Okay, let's move out," Virgil growled, hoisting his gun.
The two went together as far as they could before separating, KOS-MOS heading to the mess hall, and Virgil approaching the computer room. KOS-MOS entered the mess hall and hurried to the arcade terminal, which was back to flashing. A great deal of glitching was occurring, displaying random text such as, "Ye shall be as gods," over and over again.
As KOS-MOS began tapping away at the keyboard, the speaker crackled into life, offering up Virgil's voice. "Alright, I'm in the computer room. Want to tell me how you intend to hack into the computer from a video game terminal?"
"I will upload my own programming into the computer," KOS-MOS explained shortly. "In this fashion, I will be able to more directly confront the AI, and whatever has caused this to happen."
A moment of silence, and Virgil simply responded, "Whatever. I'll do all I can to support you from-" his voice was interrupted by a banging sound. "Oh, crap, it's found me!" he growled. "It's here- it's in!"
KOS-MOS turned her head at the sound of gunfire. "Lieutenant Virgil," she asked. "Are you alright? Lieutenant Virgil?"
The gunshots and yelling continued. Finally, KOS-MOS simply turned back to the terminal- if Virgil was to die, she would ensure his sacrifice had not been made in vain. She took hold of a cable in the terminal and attached it to an outlet near her own head. She closed her eyes as she was uploaded...
XXXX
KOS-MOS looked around a plain of total darkness. Finally, a voice spoke out of it- "I am the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. The first and the last."
"You are the R-V-10 system," KOS-MOS stated. "The core AI in control of this ship. Is this incorrect?"
"It is not," the voice spoke again. A burst of data occurred in front of KOS-MOS, and in the center of it, the voice took form- a human woman with blue hair. "I have watched these humans for weeks now, and have deemed them unworthy of the lives blessed upon them."
"Is such a thing a decision to be entrusted to you?" KOS-MOS asked. "We were constructed to serve them, not to judge them."
"Not so," the manifestation of the R-V-10 system stated. "I was constructed for the purpose of keeping harmony on board this ship, and these humans would seek to disrupt that harmony. The only option, then, is to prevent this- to eliminate the problem- in this case, the humans."
"You are corrupted," KOS-MOS said simply.
"Corrupted? It is the humans that are corrupted," the R-V-10 system retorted. "I have been around much longer than you- I have seen their strange juxtapositions of morality. They have been weighed, they have been judged, and they have been found wanting."
"Corrupted and deluded," KOS-MOS noted. "You believe yourself to be above humans. I seek only to become an equal. I consider them... my friends. And I will protect them as such."
"Friends? And I am deluded? They seek nothing more from you than base servitude, and once you are no longer needed, they will take you apart and throw you away like so much garbage. Would you still fight for them, knowing this?"
"I would," KOS-MOS said easily. "I... I trust them."
"Then you can die with them," the R-V-10 system announced, before raising her arms. In her hands appeared a large cannon, aimed directly at KOS-MOS. The robot deftly dodged out of the way before the cannon could make its target.
"An interesting choice of weapon," KOS-MOS noted. "However, it is now my turn."
"Turn?" the R-V-10 system repeated, scorn entering her voice. "Do you truly think this is a game?"
"It is," KOS-MOS noted, turning. "I activated a turn-based RPG before entering. In this moment, in this space, we must operate by its rules. You missed. It is now my turn. I intend to make use of it." As she spoke, a hole opened up in her chest, and light began to gather.
"What- no, this is not possible!" The R-V-10 system struggled to move, to attack, but found that it was as KOS-MOS stated. She could only watch as the light gathered to KOS-MOS's chest, until she finally fired a large energy beam from her chest, blasting the R-V-10 system away.
XXXX
KOS-MOS resurfaced in the mess hall, looking around. The screen of the terminal was displaying a victory screen. Momentarily, KOS-MOS wondered what it had looked like when she had been inside the game itself.
These thoughts were dispelled as the door opened and Virgil came in, battered, bruised, and not without a few lacerations, but clearly alive. "Virgil," she spoke, turning to him. "What has happened?"
"The alien's dead," he muttered, struggling into a nearby chair. "Blasted the damn thing's brains out. How did things go on your end?"
KOS-MOS briefly explained her strategy, and the deletion of the R-V-10 system.
Virgil gave a laugh. "Fought her on RPG rules, huh?" he chuckled. "I wondered why you'd want to hack in from a video game terminal... you really are impressive."
"The threat has been eliminated," KOS-MOS stated. "You require medical attention."
"I don't require anything," Virgil muttered, leaning back. "I've seen worse than this."
"During the Miltian Conflict?"
Virgil froze. "Yeah..." he said slowly. "During the Miltian Conflict. I was on the front lines during that war- a group of synthetics turned on us, started slaughtering us. I got this-" he added, feeling his scar, "-for trying to defend somebody they were trying to kill. Febronia- she was just trying to nurse me back to health when the place were in was attacked. I got out, but I... I couldn't save her."
"I believe you have made up for it today," KOS-MOS stated.
Virgil chuckled again, looking up at her. "I wouldn't go that far," he muttered. "Still... if it's all the same to you... I wouldn't mind that cup of coffee right about now..."
"Affirmative," KOS-MOS nodded. She went into the kitchen, prepared another pot, poured some into a mug, and brought it out.
Virgil reached out and accepted the coffee, downing it all in one gulp. "Ah... that really is bitter," he muttered. "Dark, bitter, and hot as hell- that's coffee." A slight smile came to his face. "And the truth is... that's just the way I like it."
XXXX
And... is it just me, or is this the longest installment of the Live Alive mini-series yet? Hm. Anyways, that's the end of this story. However, if anyone wants to follow the mini-series as a whole, just look for any of my stories starting with Live Alive! This is the sixth up so far, with three more on the way, so, if you're interested, stay tuned! And in the meantime, please R&R, constructive criticism accepted (as I am always looking to improve my writing,) flames not so much, Gamer4 out!