Megaman X: Hollow
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Usual disclaimers apply. Also, this has no real connection to Denique Fatum or Redemption. With that said, enjoy…
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I take a minute to scan the room as I slowly enter it. A bustle of activity races around me, as if I'm a pebble in the middle of a stream. I've been here several times before, but never with the same purpose I now have. Savoring the moment, I suddenly spot the one I'm looking for. She's sitting in front of a consol, her back towards me, but I know that she's the one. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time; a moment where I could talk to her, face to face. I admit, the timing could be a little better, what with all the other people in the room, but every other time I've tried to talk to her she's always been preoccupied with more pressing matters. She does have an extremely important duty, however, so I shouldn't be surprised that she's constantly swamped in work.
Still, she should almost be done with the first half of her shift. She must have been especially over tasked with work today; normally she's not even here when I come up. That tells me that today is probably my lucky day. I find myself congratulating me for being able to finally muster up enough courage to ask her out today. I must be doing something right for the universe to give me a stroke of good fortune like this. I begin to make my way towards her.
I'm still a good fifteen or so feet from her when she turns in her chair to talk to one of the other girls she's busy training. The first thing I notice is that she's changed her look a little bit; let her hair down, gotten an upgraded wardrobe, little things but they just add to my feelings of infatuation. She looks happy, pleased with her situation even with all the responsibilities and duties that are piled on her. The way she handles the work with a grace bordering on that of a goddess makes my breath catch a bit in my throat, as technically impossible that sounds.
I continue to draw closer as she finishes her conversation with her trainee and begins to stand up. I know that this is my golden opportunity; I don't know when I'll get another chance like this again, it has to be now. I come within speaking distance. "Uhm, excuse me?"
She stops and turns toward me. I freeze up a bit as our eyes make contact. I stare for a minute into her deep blue eyes before hearing her respond, "yes? Can I help you…uh…" She looked like she was fumbling for something that seemed just out of reach.
I should have figured; she didn't remember my name. Can't really blame her though, it has been a while since we first spoke. "Oh, it's Mike. I…ah, I work in the R and D department. We worked on a project together a while back."
Realization appeared on her face. "Oh! Oh, right, Mike! I'm sorry, uhm…what ah, what can I do for you?"
She was still trying to put my face to her memory of me, but at least I knew that the memory was still there. That was a good sign. "Well…uhm, I just ah, I just…" I began shifting a bit, my hand was getting a bit jittery so I started to scratch the back of my head, feigning an itch. It was now or never, I had to tell her everything and pray for the best. Who knew? I was lucky enough to manage to get her to talk to me, I might just be able to get what I so desperately sought if I just was honest. Averting my eyes slightly, I continued talking. "I just wanted to tell you, since we worked on that project, I've been meaning to ask…uhm, would you like to ah, get something to eat…together, that is? Uh, with me? Whenever you're ah…*ahem* available, of course?" I had said it. The weight was gone and I felt better then I had in weeks.
"Oh…ah, well…" I looked back at her and saw conflict written on her face as she ran over what I had said in her head. She looked back at me, her blue eyes almost staring right through me. "Are you…asking me out?"
I let loose a little nervous laugh. My mind was blanking out the possibility that seemed looming over me, preferring to continue being the optimist. "Uh…yeah. Yeah, I guess I am. Will you…will you go out with me?"
One of her hands went to her mouth as I heard her take a quick breath of air into her lungs. Her eyes quickly darted left to right and back again before centering on me again. "Ah…well, actually…I'm kinda…seeing someone."
I'm not quite sure how to describe the feeling that passed through me at this point. I didn't feel any weight like I had before I had talked to her. Truthfully, I didn't really feel anything. It was as if a feeling of paralysis had made my entire body freeze up. Hollow, is probably the best way to describe it. "Oh…I…I see."
She drew a bit closer, her face taking an apologetic form as she began to speak again. "I'm sorry, maybe we could hang out sometime and grab a coffee?" She smiled a little at that last part, obviously trying to let me down easy.
All of a sudden, another voice rang out. "Alia!"
Her attention was drawn from me as she suddenly became very happy to see the newcomer. "X! Over here."
My eyes widened as I saw the newcomer walk over to us. There, walking directly towards me, clad in full combat armor, was Mega Man X, the legendary hunter and Earth's biggest hero. I just sort of drifted over a few steps as he walked right past me and promptly embraced her as he spoke again. "Hey you. Come on, we're going to be late, I had Zero go and hold our reservation but if we don't get there soon, he'll probably wander off to a bar or something."
Alia laughed, it sounded like music to me, and replied, "he would. Well, I'm ready to go if you are."
They both walked off, X had his arm around her while she tilted her head to lay on his shoulder. They were perfect. How could I even begin to compare to him?
I'm not sure how long I stood there after they walked out the door. It couldn't have been that long though, because, before I had even realized I was going anywhere, I was back in front of my computer. My body was on auto-pilot. I couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't feel anything. The only thing that was there was the feeling of hollowness.
One of my coworkers walked past my cubicle. "Hey dude! You coming to lunch?"
I stared straight ahead for a few seconds. When I responded to him, I didn't even turn my head. "No, I'm not really hungry. I'll just stay here and work."
And that's exactly what I've done. Every day for god knows how long, I just go through my routine. I haven't seen her since, but I can't fill the hollowness that's still there.
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Author's note: Wow, depressing. I had this idea at like, 11:30 last night and managed to bang out most of it before having to sleep. Normally I despise these sort of things, but I was depressed and I figured this would be the most constructive thing I could do with my time. Anyways, I'm always fond of reviews.