A/N: Hey folks! This story has been a long time coming, Zero/Iris is secretly one of my very favorite pairings!
Just a heads up, this will be updated on a "whenever" basis with a lot of mini-chapters instead of big, long ones. Check back often, you never know.
Also, while the content isn't really above a K+ in terms of offensive content, keep in mind that some of the stuff will get a little heavy, especially compared to the games themselves. I'd consider them on level with a particularly emotional episode of Doctor Who or Scrubs or something. I'm not writing anything that couldn't be shown on TV, if that helps any.

Enjoy!

part 001

logon

soundtrack: "slow down" - lights

001 :: 001

"Are you afraid?" she asked.

He reached for her hand, "Not when I'm with you."

SYSTEMS ENGAGE. ALL FUNCTIONS NORMAL. POWER ONLINE.

With a hydraulic hiss, the containment pod slowly creaked open under centuries of age and dust.

Another reploid from over one hundred years ago, and so soon after discovering the first. Dr. Ciel couldn't believe it, although the robot beside her, as always, was unfazed.

Slowly, the reploid's vision came back online, and while it was difficult to see through the haze, she guessed that this was a workshop of some kind. Gears and plates lay caked with dust and grime, forgotten oil spills staining every surface. Where this place was, however, she had no clue.

Of the people standing before her, one was human, a short girl with soft ashe-blonde hair and kind, blue eyes.

The other was a reploid, a dangerous-looking combat model in jagged crimson and silver armor. A shock of golden hair lashed out beneath a pointed helmet that shaded a pair of dark eyes.

While her data banks reported that she had never met this reploid, something seemed… familiar about him. He reminded her of the smell of gun oil, the buzz of a sabre's first activation, a song about the sky. Was this a fragment of memory in her otherwise blank hard drive? Impossible. Must be a glitch.

Her auditory sensors soon began to lurch online, words like "ancient" and "reploid" and "discovery" reaching her.

"Iris," she barely managed to croak from a century-old voice box, "My name is Iris."

The conversation suddenly fell to silence.

"You can hear us? You're alright?" the girl asked.

Iris could only nod.

The reploid in red stepped forward and politely offered a hand to help her down, which she took gratefully.

"My- my memory is almost completely wiped," Iris stammered, "I remember my name, and I have a strange set of programs loaded, but aside from that, I have nothing else."

"Just like you, Zero," the human girl remarked with awe.

Zero. That was the reploid's name. Zero. A slash from a blade, a dash and a dive. Zero.

The girl continued, "I am Dr. Ciel, this is Zero. He awoke just like you from one of these pods not even a week ago. We are a part of an organization that helps reploids like you. Will you come with us? We can help you too."

Bleary and feeling the room about to spin, Iris nodded and let the pair of them lead her home.