Tell me what you need, oh, you look so free.
The way you use your body, baby, come on and work it for me.
Don't let it get you down, you're the best thing I've seen.
We never found the answer but we knew one thing;
We all have a hunger.
. . .
He only gave her one passing look, but he was able to recognize the spark of defiance in her eyes.
Zero wasn't actually planned to overlook the new recruits today, but he had been bored and terrorizing the newbies did wonders for his mood. But then he saw her standing in the line of less enthused Reploids. To say that she looked out of place would have been a mass understatement. The rest of the Reploids were generic models, meant to be shoved down an assembly line and brought out to the masses in droves. But this Reploidic woman was individualized- unique. Her long brown hair reached well further than her back and had been meticulously braided back to prevent stray hairs from going into her face; her eyes were shaded a darker green, and oh how they looked like they wanted to prove someone wrong.
The more he looked at her, the more Zero decided that something was wrong with her… or him. Truly curious, Zero started to make his way up to the observation room for further questions.
"Mister Zero, thank goodness." the tester greeted upon seeing Zero arrive. "Come look over this paperwork for me, would you? It needs to be looked over by a higher ranked Hunter, approved, then sent to the commander for confirmation."
"I'm not here to approve your papers, I had a question." the red Reploid dismissed.
"S-sure. What did you want to know?"
"There is a Reploidic woman who was in line during the 1:30 PM recruit lineup." Zero idly said, thumbing through the rather impressive stack of recruit forms. "You know, the lineup that's right outside the window there. She's the one with the long brown hair and green eyes."
The tester looked at Zero for a moment (unsure of where he was going with this) and looked out the observation window, almost instantly spotting the Reploid Zero was speaking of.
"What about her?" questioned the tester as he looked back at Zero.
"I want to know her model number." Zero mused as he just now started to go over the paperwork anyway. "Do you have it offhand?"
"4N3 #001B." the tester replied without so much a second glance. That was when Zero looked up and gave the other Reploid a funny look.
"She's part of the Adam and Eve Reploids?" the class S Hunter then questioned. "Why is she here instead of with her twin?"
To this, the tester Reploid just shrugged. "She was part of the first Adam and Eves, she might not need to be within a 100 meter radius of them."
"Is it possible that her twin has been indisposed?"
"Nah, all Adam and Eves go nuts when their twins die- no exception."
Thinking about this, Zero then looked back at the female Reploid, still diligently waiting in line as the instructor filled her and some others in on the training regimen. She looked determined- the same kind you receive when you're trying to prove something (or someone) wrong. It gave Zero an idea.
"I want her separated from the others." Zero then instructed the tester. "Tell her that her training has been relocated to Room 610."
"But sir, training rooms 600 and above are reserved for S Class Hunters."
Zero turned to the tester and gave them a rather blank expression. It was enough to intimate the tester into submission.
"W-what time?" the tester then asked; their fingers nervously starting to hover over the keypad for instruction.
"Tomorrow at 10:00 hours should suffice." the red Reploid then decided, turning his gaze away from the tester and back to the girl.
"Y-yes sir. I'll tell the instructor immediately of Iris's new training arrangements."
"Iris, uh?" Zero then mused. "Hmm… What a cute name."
. . .
At this point, Iris was sure that she was either in a huge amount of trouble, or someone upstairs was taking her seriously. Or maybe there was a pervert involved, in which case she already knew how to escape that situation. Otherwise, she was at a complete loss on who had called her up to the higher levels.
Finding the room hadn't been much of a hassle; even better was that almost no one was up here at the moment. Iris was able to find the room and enter it without so much a question or glance her way. It wasn't a bad training room, all in all, but then again, these were the S Class rooms. This was where all the funding and taxes went, right? She honestly would have been near disappointed if they hadn't looked so pristine and high end.
"4N3 #001B: Iris." a voice from behind her made Iris's spin straighten in attention. "You aren't a mass produced Reploid, that much is obvious. But that brings the question of why you're here to begin with. Unique Reploids like their freedom- whereas MPRs think they have nothing to lose if one of their many faces die in battle… If I cared a bit more, I might find it a bit sad. Wouldn't you?"
Iris remained where she was and did not give the newcomer an answer. From the corner of her eye, she could just barely catch a glimpse of a red armor and long blonde hair. A name almost came to mind- but it was forgotten quickly after.
"At ease Iris." the newcomer then permitted. "I'm going to be looking over your training from now on. But you have to answer some questions first."
Iris let out a small breath of relief, despite not being comforted by the newcomer in the slightest, before turning to look at them. With a mild shock she saw S Class Hunter, Zero, standing there- the look on his face was expressionless and his arms were folded in front of his chest. All too quickly, her mental defenses kicked in again. Anything he had to say wasn't going to be supportive, and she might as well anticipate it now before they even got started.
"Like I said," Zero then started with a roll of his shoulder, "I have just a few questions for you before we start. Nothing hard to answer, I hope."
"Try me." Iris spat. The red Reploid raised an eyebrow at her before moving closer.
"Why were you trying out for field work?" Zero questioned her in a low, emotionless tone. "You weren't built for combat."
"And what makes you think that?!" Iris demanded.
Zero gave a rather slow blink. "It's right there in your model number. You were the Eve extracted from the Adam. You were not built for combat."
This was when Iris started to lose her patience.
"That doesn't mean I'm weak!" she shouted at him. "It doesn't mean that I can't prove to Colonel or you that I'm not some wallflower destined to worry about people on the sidelines!"
"If you're trying to prove how useful you are, there are better ways than enlisting in the army." was her short, simple and irritatingly amused answer. There was a pause before Zero then asked,
"Colonel? Colonel of the Repliforce?"
"Ye-ah." Iris agreed with a tone full of annoyance and sass. "Did you not read the recruitment form? It would have been in Section B: Spouses and Family."
Zero sneered at her for a moment before looking away. He mumbled something under his breath that sounded a whole lot like 'didn't read that far' before returning his attention to her.
"Colonel is not going to be pleased when he learns that his sister has enlisted to be on the offense with the Maverick Hunters." Zero then remarked to her. "By default, you're listed as aid for Repliforce; a strict guideline as part of your nature with Colonel. Transferring papers is going to get messy because of your need to 'prove' yourself to him. Not without Colonel's blessing, at least."
"There are… exceptions, of course." Zero started to muse, now pacing in front of her. "The Repliforce is a sister organization of the Maverick Hunters. Well in check, decent general. An honorable group, if any- I'm quite fond of them."
Iris raised an eyebrow. What did all this have to do with her again? It was only making him look like a douche.
As if answering her silent questioning, Zero stopped pacing and faced her. Iris just now realized how close he had gotten to her. Did he mean to do that?
"You'd have to acquire a Ride Armor if you think you're going to be combatant." he then said to her. "Even then, it still requires some training. Training simple enough that, I'm sure an Eve Reploid could pick up in less time than an Armor Soldier."
Iris flashed Zero an undesirable look- a compromise on whether she should be angry at him for his moment of sexism, or interest at the implication that he could train her to fight.
"I expect you here every morning at this time until I decide otherwise, Iris." Zero finally informed her. "Your first training session begins tomorrow. Don't be late."
"It's a date." she agreed with a firm nod. Zero frowned at her terminology but said nothing.