Rebirth
by Magnus Prime

Chapter One: A Rogue Variable

"Um, Alia?"

"Yes?"

"Don't look now, but I think you're being watched."

The senior Navigator looked up from the maverick reports on her PADD, brushing a blonde lock from her eyes. "What do you mean?"

Sitting across from her and next to Layer, Palette discreetly pointed toward another table in the café. "The guy at that table."

Alia looked over to see a dark-haired gentleman working on a sub sandwich, then looked back. "What about him? He's eating lunch," she said, returning her attention to her PADD.

The junior Navigator pouted, but went back to her own reports.

"How is X doing?" Layer asked, pushing part of her purple lengths over her ear as she studied her own PADD.

"After the Jakob's Ladder incident? As well as X does," Alia replied, looking to her other junior Navigator. "Why?"

Even though Layer's bangs effectively covered her eyes, Alia could see her glance from side to side before answering. "Zero's taken it pretty hard; without Sigma around, it seems like he's lost his purpose."

"He'll be fine," Alia said, reaching out to lay a hand on her friend's arm as she held up her PADD with the other. "I've just received word of some new Mavericks; that should keep him happy for a while."

"I hope so," Layer replied.

"There! He's looking again!" Palette whispered intensely.

The other Navigators sighed before looking to her. "Okay…" Alia said in a conciliatory tone, "maybe he's never seen us here before. We don't exactly come here very often."

Palette smiled impishly at her senior. "I think he's checking you out."

"Just because you look like a child doesn't mean you have to act like one, Palette," Alia snapped, momentarily losing her normally even composure.

"I don't mean to alarm you, Alia, but I think she's right." Layer said in a low tone as she leaned over the table. "I've been keeping an eye on him as well, and I've seen similar behavior in other men-"

'"Towards you," Palette teased.

"-and I believe that she may be onto something."

Something about Layer's tone caught Alia's concern. "Okay, well…should we leave?"

Palette gave another impish smile. "What's the matter, Alia? Nervous?"

"Ugh…Palette, let's go pay for the drinks," Layer said, grabbing the smaller Navigator by the arm as she stood up, hopefully saving Alia from further teasing.

"Hey, what about Alia's?' Palette whined.

"You can pay for them to make up for the trouble you've been giving her," Layer replied as she half-walked, half-dragged the protesting Navigator toward the front counter.

Alia filtered out Palette's complaints with a shake of her head as she returned her attention to her PADD.

"Excuse me," came a masculine voice from her right.

"Layer's up at the front counter," Alia replied without looking up. Usually when men, either Reploid or human, talked to any of the three, it was really to talk to the shapely reploid.

"Um…okay, thank you, but I wasn't asking about her."

Alia looked up to see the man from earlier standing behind one of the chairs on the other side of the table, restaurant tray in hand. He appeared to be a little taller than Layer, with dark brown eyes and hair that went well with the black of his business suit. "I'm sorry…I didn't realize…" She felt her face heat up before quickly composing herself. "How can I help you?"

He gestured to the seat across from her. "May I bother you for a minute?"

Alia blinked. "It's no bother." She gestured to the same chair he had. "Have a seat."

He obliged, sitting and placing his tray on the table in front of him. Alia noticed that he didn't pick up his sandwich; All he did was lean back and look at her, as though studying her.

Finally he spoke: "Forgive me if this is too forward, but…hm."

Alia set her PADD down, her figurative internal alarms going off. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all," he said, steepling his fingers. "I'm just having trouble finding the right words… My apologies, I should have been better prepared…"

"Well, I don't mean to be rude, but my friends and I will be leaving soon-"

"Of course." He suddenly leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table and fixing her with a look of determination "Look, as I said, this is going to seem very forward, but I couldn't help but notice you, and would like to get to know you."

Alia was taken aback by his statement. "You want to get to know me? Why? We've just met!"

He blinked with a puzzled expression. "Well, of course; if I already knew you, we would have to have already met, right?"

It was Alia's turn to blink. "You're right; that was kind of dumb of me to say, now that I think about it. Sorry."

"Please, don't worry about it," he said with a smile and a wave of his hand. "So…would you be willing to exchange contact info, at least? I don't mean to be pushy or anything."

Alia sat up in her seat and crossed her arms. "Okay, fair enough. But, you know, I work for the Maverick Hunters, which means I'm-"

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to cause trouble or steal any secrets or anything like that," he said, waving a hand again. "I'm just asking for the opportunity to get to know a very beautiful young woman. Will you allow me that chance?"

Alia's hands fell into her lap as her eyes softened. Beautiful young woman? No one had ever called her 'beautiful' before. "I…don't know what to say…"

"How about 'Yes'?" he suggested with a twinkle in his eye.

She couldn't stop herself from smiling for some reason. "Okay, yes."


"He did? And you said 'yes'?" Palette was on the verge of turning into a giggle storm as the three of them walked back to Maverick Hunter Headquarters. "That's great, Alia!"

"Why did you accept?" asked Layer.

"I don't know, he just seemed so…genuine." Alia shrugged. "I thought that I should give him the chance, especially since he asked for it so directly."

"That's courage for you," noted Palette. "I wish Axl had shown that much early on."

"He was afraid of screwing up," Layer commented. "Remember, we've been designed to behave like our human counterparts, and human men value excellence highly."

"I could see that," Alia admitted.

"Could you tell what kind of reploid he was?" Layer asked.

"He looked like a business model," Alia replied, "but the way he carried himself told me that he has some combat capabilities. He didn't have any of the usual markings, so he might be a next-gen."

"At least you're not too far behind him, technology-wise," Layer observed. "You were upgraded shortly before Palette and I joined the Maverick Hunters, right?"

"About a couple of months," Alia confirmed, unconsciously running her fingers through her waist-length hair, one of the results of her time in the shop.

"You look really good," Palette said with a hint of jealousy. "No wonder he was checking you out." She sighed heavily. "It's too bad that I don't quality for an update for another two years."

"Still want the head modification?" Layer asked carefully.

The small Navigator reached up to trace a line along one of the panels that served as mounts for her secondary goggles. "Yeah. I'm glad that Axl doesn't mind them, but I think they make me look…dorky."

Alia couldn't help but chuckle, partly in sympathy and partly at the archaic term. "Hang in there, Palette; your time will come, and you'll be as beautiful as you could ever want."

"I hope so," she replied, casting a brief glance at Layer.

Other than the occasional comment about the clear, sunny weather, the navigators walked quietly toward the tall, modern-looking building that was Maverick Hunter HQ.

"When are you two meeting?" asked Layer as they waited to cross the street that ran in front of their workplace.

"A week from Saturday," replied the pink-clad Navigator. "We're meeting at the park on Center."

"The one with the jogging track?"asked Layer. "That's a nice place. Maybe we could make it a double-date with Zero and me."

"If you ever get the courage to talk to Zero without stammering," said Palette, teasing Layer for the umpteenth time that day.

The taller navigator simply ignored her.

"That's a good idea," thought Alia out loud. "You don't think that he'd be overwhelmed with all the new faces, do you?"

"You do have an 'imposing figure,'" added Palette, smirking at Layer.

"At least my creator gave me a figure," Layer shot back, finally silencing the teasing…for the time being, at least.

"You know, that's true," observed Alia. "I don't mean to be rude, but he might be uncomfortable around you, because…you know…."

"I think I understand," replied Layer. "Maybe another time, after he's had a chance to get to know us."

"One more thing," said Alia, stopping the trio just outside the sliding double doors to Maverick Hunter HQ. "Don't tell the commander. I don't want him to start hyper-analyzing and get paranoid."

"No problem, sis," chimed Palette. "We won't tell anyone."

"It's our secret," Layer agreed. "What is his name, though? Maybe I can get some information for you?"

"Oh! His name is Max."