Author's Note: This is a sidequest chapter, which is meant to expand upon the character(s) involved. This is the first sidequest, and it will be focusing on Zephyr and how he feels about everything that's happened in the past six months of his life. So, enjoy Zephyr's Personal Mission.

*** ***

8:00 AM, THE DAY BEFORE...

Zephyr walked the halls of Base Alpha, looking at everything that he found interesting. Several researchers watched him as he walked down the halls. He heard them whispering between each other.

"Wait, isn't that the beast?"

"Why's it here? Who let it in?"

"Stay away from it, it could go mad at any time."

"Someone should be keeping it in check."

"Why isn't anyone with it?"

Zephyr was hurt by their words, and how they were acting. It wasn't as if he was still a beast. He was normal now. His instincts were there, but suppressed and sedated. His beastial body was now human like. He talked normally. Even his ability to damage people on the "other side" was under control, so that it could only be used if authorized. Still though, everyone acted as if he was still that growling beast.

Zephyr headed toward the training center, intent on getting some practice in his new body. The training dummy he requested be put up was steel, so he could slash away without it getting torn to shreds. He still had the small quirk of not controlling his attacks and not gauging how much he put into an attack, so sometimes he wore himself out before he really did much of anything. His friends had suggested he practiced on training dummies so he could practice control.

Zephyr put on his claws and started to slash at the dummy's weakpoints, trying hard to keep himself under control and not completely destroy the thing. He had other plans in mind. However, after his twentieth cut, the dummy had been sliced in half. He was staring at the dummy, upset at his uncontrolled slicing.

He had a feeling that the researcher that was in charge of him was right. Perhaps his reason for being this way was because he was emotionally distressed. He had questioned multiple times how a virus could have emotions, and the researcher told him it was a program inside of him that was referred to as the program, a "heart" for him that could replicate emotions, and allow him to react upon them.

Being built for the purpose of protecting the populace of Magi from threats, Zephyr had a program that was meant to fuel emotions of worry and sadness, but happiness and anger as well. Gentle, but fierce. Zephyr was the last beast to be made, and the most advanced because of it.

Zephyr smiled as he made up his mind. He was going to find Lily, and thank her for everything that she had done for him. It was what he had set out to do.

*** ***

11:00 PM, THE NIGHT BEFORE...

A scream was heard from the central lobby of Magi, Puella Dons. A player's character had been defeated in battle, his avatar laying on the ground, blanked out.

His adversary stood above him, chuckling at his defeated foe. He was tall, a had red wings, with one large talon for a right hand.

"You were strong my little morsel, but nothing to talk about. Now, I won, so you'll keep to our deal, won't you?" said the bird-like brute,as he brought up a page and quickly stripped his opponent of everything he had.

"Y-You can't... do that..." said the defeated player, clutching his chest. That last blow. It had hurt.

"Oh, but I can. Enjoy your night little one. I leave you with only two items: your pants, and your stubby sword. Enjoy." said the bird-like character, flying off into the sky.

*** ***

2:00 PM, THE DAY OF...

Zephyr was reading the paper when he noticed a story that caught his attention.

Extra, extra! Big news! Unknown assailant robs players in the middle of the night! Described as a bird-like individual with red wings! To be considered highly dangerous and should not be approached!

Under that was a story that made Zephyr stop moving and shake slightly, his chest hurting.

Local researcher, Lily Atoms, has passed away over the weekend. Though many did not know her, she will be missed by all of her co-workers and friends alike.

"Lily, what does 'passed away' mean?" asked Zephyr to nobody in particular. He then heard a familiar voice.

"Kid, it means that she died recently." said Tailable, sitting next to Zephyr with a sigh.

"Dead? Lily is dead?" asked Zephyr, his voice shaking slightly.

"Yeah. Me and her didn't talk much, but I can't help but feel bad that she's passed on now. I mean, she must've been important to plenty of people. Never met a sweeter girl in my life." said Tailable, shaking his head sadly.

"Lily, my friend... is dead?" asked Zephyr, looking at Tailable, who looked back at him.

"Sorry buddy, but... she's gone. Nobody could do anythin' about it, ya' know?" asked Tailable, patting Zephyr on the back.

"What do I do now? I was going to go see her at Epsilon Base today, but now..." said Zephyr, shaking slightly. His chest hurt. It hurt a lot, but he ignored it.

*** ***

FIVE MONTHS AGO...

Lily's office was the place where some meetings were held for Zephyr's emotional state. It was important to maintain an emotional average with him, and to make sure that he's stable at all times. It was a comfy place, with a bed that Lily picked specifically for Zephyr. Their meetings always began with questions that Zephyr would ask of Lily, something that helped Zephyr remain in check for the majority of the day, and would help him learn more about humans, which was part of his programming.

"Lily, what is right and wrong? I hear about it whenever the tank is opened, but I
have no clue what it is." stated Zephyr, monotonous as always.

"Right and wrong are the things that you should and shouldn't do. Killing is wrong, but protecting yourself and others is right. Being able to justify something doesn't make it right, same as not being able to justify something doesn't make it wrong. Doing what is right for those around you is a good place to start." said Lily, smiling as always.

"So, what are wrong things to do then Lily? I know that killing is wrong unless you are protecting yourself from someone else, or protecting others. But please, tell me some more things that are wrong. I need to learn these things." said Zephyr, showing signs of interest for the first time.

"Well, stealing is wrong, swearing is wrong, and harming those who don't deserve it is wrong. Are those good enough examples Zephyr, or do you need more?" asked Lily, stating the top three things that came to her mind.

*** ***

Zephyr looked at the first report on the news and frowned. Stealing. Hurting people who don't deserve it. Two of the things that Lily said were wrong. This was it. This would be how he thanked her. He would right the wrongs that he saw in the world around him.

"I'm gonna stop this thief. He needs to be brought to justice." said Zephyr, looking at the paper.

"What? Why would you do that? I mean, you have other things to do, right?" asked Tailable, looking at Zephyr.

"Something isn't right solely because you can justify it. I can justify not helping, but that isn't right. Besides," said Zephyr, Tailable staring at him solumnly, "I feel like there's a reason for me to do this. Like this was meant to happen, one way or another." said Zephyr, looking at Tailable, who was smiling back.

As Zephyr got up and walked away, Tailable watched him leave.

"Man, that kid surprises me more and more every day." said Tailable, getting up and walking away. He had high hopes that the kid would become stronger than he already is. He knew it, deep down inside.

*** ***

7:00 PM, THE NIGHT OF...

The back alleys of Magi were a dangerous place to be. Merchants without licenses, thugs for hire, and hackers galore. Zephyr, wearing a long cloak, made his way through the shifty and shady crowd, headed for the area that the last theft was at. He kept his eyes down, moving as quickly as he could.

When he made it to the area of the last robbery, a voice boomed and cawwed loudly. It was shrill, but strong.

"You seem like the type to make a deal! How would you like to wager your gear in exchange for a rare item and 20,000 Revalts through a fight? I win, you keep your stuff and get some money and rare goods. I win, you lose your stuff. Do we have a deal?" asked the voice, high-pitched and obnoxious.

"Deal. But also, if I win, you have to quit making these deals with people." said Zephyr, smiling.

"Fine. Well then, let's-" said the voice, a thump being heard behind Zephyr as a claw rose up, "begin!" yelled the birdman, Zephyr's cloak being torn apart.

"Hehe, gotcha." said the birdman. He spoke too soon though as a fist collided with the side of his face. He spun through the air, crashing against a wall.

"Gotcha." said Zephyr, his body covered in cobalt-colored armor. He smiled at the birdman.

"I'm Zephyr. Tell me your name, so that I can give this my all." said Zephyr, his expression grim.

"I'm Thorn. Thorn the virus beast." said birdman, Zephyr going pale.

"Virus... beast?" asked Zephyr, looking at Thorn.

"So you've heard of us, huh? Then you know how terribly strong we are!" said Thorn, his feathers sticking out proudly.

"You're my brother then?" asked Zephyr. Thorn looked confused by this, and laughed.

"Brother? I am a beast and you are a loser!" said Thorn, cawing loudly.

Zephyr let out a beast like growl, showing his sharp beast fangs. Thorn looked at him in shock, but cawed again, laughing.

"So you are a beast! But you look so soft and fleshy! I'll have to tear that body apart so I can see what you look like!" yelled Thorn, smiling madly. Zephyr smiled as he showed his claws.

"Bring it then Bird-brain brother!" yelled Zephyr, pulling out his claws.

*** ***

"Tailable, where is Zephyr? He was supposed to do a test run of his new battle gear today." said a researcher, looking at the small, rat-like character.

"Why, didn't I tell ya? Zephyr went after that thief in the back alleys. I watched him go too." replied Tailable, smiling at the researcher who looked flabbergasted.

"You let him go into combat? With his new, untested, prototype VZ-GX battle gear in tow? Even though you were ordered to find him and bring him back?" asked the researcher, anger entering his tone.

"Yes, I did. You may not notice it, but Zephyr is learning, and fast. He might even have emotions now. To see somethin' like that come from a digitally-created being is more than amazin' to me. It's something extraordinary. To deny him the chance to feel these emotions of his would have been wrong." said Tailable, glaring at the researcher.

"Besides, I think that the kid has a better chance of taking down this thief than anyone else. Because, that thief is a virus beast." said Tailable, smirking.

*** ***

Zephyr smiled as his claws slashed at the feathers that were shot at him, cutting them to pieces. He wasn't sure, but this felt fun to him.

Thorn smirked and dashed forward at Zephyr, who countered with a well timed duck, smirking as he uppercutted Thorn in the gut and sent him flying up.

Thorn caught himself in midair and turned upright, cawing loudly and proudly at his successful turn-around. He launched more feathers down, which were sliced to bits quickly.

Zephyr smirked as he felt a bolt of electricity in his hands.

"Finally. Took long enough for the things to charge." said Zephyr, looking at Thorn, who started charging downward.

*** ***

"So, you're telling me that Zephyr's battle gear has some sort of absorbtion quality imbedded in it, that allows him to double his strength?" asked Tailable, smiling at the prospect.

"Indeed. His claws can be electrified for a stunning blow, meant to immobilize the enemy in question. It's only a theory, but it should be able to stop even a virus beast." said the researcher, frowning.

*** ***

Zephyr grabbed Thorn by the face as he came down, smiling at his idea.

"What are you doing?! Don't delete me! Don't!" yelled Thorn, before a large electrical shock rendered him immobilized. Zephyr threw him down on the ground and smiled.

"Game, set, match. I won, you lost." said Zephyr, picking up Thorn and carrying him away, intent on getting him back to base Alpha as soon as possible.

*** ***

Thorn was sleeping in a tank, Zephyr standing outside of it, looking at his brother. He still had his memories of his time in a tank. It was a horrible thing to imagine, and an even worse thing to live through.

"So kid, you having second thoughts about all of this?" asked Tailable, walking up nonchalantly.

"Yeah. I think it is wrong to imprison my brother inside a tank, which I tried to escape to desperately myself." said Zephyr.

"Don't worry Zephyr. Thorn will be part of the team soon as well. You see, Thorn was made out of the personality of someone who died. He has the core data called , contained within his program. It allows him to feel fear and react to it, same as you." said Tailable, walking away. That man always had an air of mystery about him.

"Tailable... who are you? What are you?" asked Zephyr, talking to himself.

*** ***

Tailable sat in a dark room, waiting. He heard the door open behind him.

"You're late. What kept you?" asked Tailable, frowning.

"Sorry. I was held up with re-writing the security data at Epsilon. So, what's the news." asked the strange male newcomer.

"Thorn, the Thief, has been captured. It won't be too long now." said Tailable.

"You want me to start searching for it then?" asked the newcomer.

"Yes. Find the program, and install it. We're gonna need it if we're gonna catch her before it's too late." said Tailable, sounding grim.

"Yes sir. After what happened last time, I'll do whatever it takes." said the newcomer, sounding worried.

"Good. Now get out. I have a lot of work to do before we're done." said Tailable, frowning.

"Yes sir. Goodnight." said the newcomer, leaving quickly.

"It won't be long now." said Tailable, staring at his chart.

The chart detailed a list of titles and dates; Thief and Guardian were both crossed off.

*** ***

"I covered wars you know." said a black haired character with a black suit on. He was talking to a small, cloud-like character.

"Yeah, well, I played that stupid game about the bird who can't stay in the air." said the cloud-like.

Suddenly, they heard a gun cock, someone walking over to them.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the cloud-like.

"Nobody important. Just another player." said the strange man, pointing the gun at them with a smile.

"What are you d-" started the cloud-like, but two gunshots were heard and they were gone.

"Just, another player." said the man, walking away slowly, his act commited with impunity. He had no fear of the administrators or moderators. He was his own law.

*** ***

Author's Note: So, as I said at the beginning, this was mostly focused on Zephyr and his conflict with his reason for existing. He needed to find a reason to exist, and he did. Also, he started to question how Tailable knows so much about him and Thorn, but he also asked a more important question: who is Tailable? What will happen soon? Who is Tailable trying to catch? Who knows? I do.
Now, we also got a sneak peek at the next antagonist of the story, and one who will have a long story arc focused on the battle against him.
To make things better for you, I have an announcement! Whoever reviews this and gives me a character idea and backstory that isn't overpowered, will become a main character. The four runner-ups will get minor roles, with a chance to be a major role later. Anyone else will make a cameo in the next few chapters. I will make a shout-out to all of the winners who weren't cameos at the end of Mission 02 and Sidequest 02 respectively.
Finally, to everyone who is following the story, if you like my work, check out Chris Niosi on youtube, twitter, and /TOMEseries. Also, check out his website, , for amazing animations. He seriously inspired me, and is one of the very few people who have gained my respect over the years, counting Pewdiepie for his donating in the past, The Game Theorists for expanding my knowledge, and SomeOrdinaryGamers for doing what they love. I hope you check these people out, especially seeing as they're all on youtube, and are really entertaining.
Please, follow the story, follow me, and review!

Thorn: Review so I can get out of this tank already!