Something about today felt different. The Pantheons didn't seem to notice- still charging at him steadfast in the wastelands between Neo Arcadia and other civilizations. But even with the distraction of the mindless drones, Zero couldn't help but shake the feeling that something important was meant to occur today.
The Pantheons stopped him from thinking most of the time; his body took on movements that only came naturally and nothing more. It was a pattern that he felt was far too comfortable, and he had no time or energy to consider why. While he moved autonomously, however, his mind would drift to past matters that shouldn't have mattered. Ciel, the Resistance, Neo Arcadia, the Four (now Three) Guardians…
How long have I been doing this?
The thought was sudden, almost intrusive. Did it matter how long he had been fighting the Pantheons?
Not the Pantheons, your existence. His thoughts corrected. How long have you been alive?
That thought was even more ridiculous than the previous one. Why did it matter how long he had been alive? Besides, the answer wasn't as simple as it looked; would you consider the start of his existence as the hero everyone believed him to be or the one they received? No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember the 'original' Zero- that Zero was dead by now, as sure and definite as the sun still stubbornly shining in the sky. If one were to measure how long he had been in existence, then they should have started when he earned this body; the one Ciel found roughly four months ago and make him fight for the Resistance.
"But I don't know when that happened..." Zero mumbled to himself. It was this spoken thought that made him realize that his accuracy had been waning this entire time. He needed to place to rest, and quickly. Still mindlessly slashing any Pantheons that were dumb enough to be within his reach, Zero took notice of a burrow roughly 3 o'clock from his current position.
In a display of power he had kept of reserve until now, Zero plowed his way through the Pantheons and succeeded in reaching the burrow without any of them knowing where he went. Going as far into the burrow as he could, Zero finally stopped to rest. His sensors told him that the Pantheons had lost track of him for now; from past experience, he knew that they were going to take awhile to find him again. Not until they received orders from Neo Arcadia again, at least.
His body now able to rest, Zero's mind started to work overtime. What was so special about today again? He knew -he thought he knew- but the answer kept escaping him...
"It's my birthday." he marveled. He then gave himself a small smirk before adding, "What a crummy way of spending it."
Regardless, allowing his body to partially shut down for a bit to rest, he came back online to the sounds of the Pantheons entering the burrow.
"How nice of them to send a present." Zero mused as he started to get up. "Well, I suppose I can't look a gift horse in the mouth, now can I? Perhaps I should return the favor..."
And with that, Zero jumped right back into the fray.
. . .
There were many things Ciel had planned for her most recent project. The hair, the eyes, the smile, even his glasses were all because she had planned for them. And the day she wanted to activate him? Well, she had a date in mind (a very important, meaningful date), but she didn't want to rush through his creation like she had with Copy X just for the sake of meeting a certain date. Of course, the circumstances had been far more dire with Copy X. For this- for him? There wasn't much of a rush, just a thought that needed better explanation.
She didn't mean to make his existence seem similar to a guinea pig though- she did love him, honest. And it wasn't because he looked so much like Zero. By now, she had accepted that Zero wouldn't come back, even his Biometal was only a recreation of his will and not the real Zero in his entirety. A copy of a copy -one could say- with only the essentials. But even that definition didn't sound right. Even though most of her research nowadays was either on human-Reploid hybrids or the Biometals, she didn't really know much about either. That was why he was special. Sure, he could control a certain Biometal, but he wasn't going to be a Biometal himself. He wasn't even going to be a hybrid either- that choice was made the moment she realized he needed to exist. Besides the hybrid process took years; in one instance there were embryos that had been in gestation for over 40 years now…
"Hey sis?" Alouette's voice said through the intercom system, "Are you in there?"
Ciel had been so surprised by the sudden voice that she nearly made the wrong connection in his positronic brain. Giving herself a small chuckle, and him a small pat, Ciel put her tools away and went to answer her door.
"Hey Alouette." Ciel calmly greeted her Reploidic sister. "What's going on?"
Alouette seemed a bit surprised that Ciel had answered the door so quickly, but she quickly rebuffed it.
"I made you something in the kitchen." she told her.
Hearing this, Ciel gave a curious tilt of her head. "For what?" she then inquired. Alouette looked at her as if she had gone crazy.
"Just meet me in the kitchen." Alouette told her sister before taking off. Ciel raised a curious eyebrow before making sure everything was secure in the lab. Once everything checked out, she went to the kitchen.
There on one of the center lunch tables was a single sheet cake with the words 'Happy Birthday' clumsily written in icing. Awkwardly placed around the cake (and trying to avoid the words) were 40 little candles, all lit and ready to be blown out.
Ciel wasn't going to lie, she had forgotten that today was her birthday.
"Thanks for reminding me that I'm old, Alouette." Ciel teased.
"Sis..." she groaned, completely exasperated. "I worked all day on this cake. At least try it?"
"And let a good cake go to waste? Of course I will!"
Alouette let out a sigh of relief, put on a smile, and together the two unconventional sisters enjoyed Ciel's birthday cake.
. . .
He would never admit it around Juno, but Girouette was not a firm believer of celebrating birthdays for Reploids. For one thing, they never aged physically. That alone seemed to undermine the pure reason why humans had birthdays. But it didn't entirely mean that Reploids didn't grow in other ways, as it would be impossible for any sentient being not to. It still seemed odd, to him anyway, for Reploids to celebrate birthdays.
Juno, however, would take birthdays very seriously. At least when it came to him, Vent, and Sho- she would never forget their birthdays. If there was a certain friend she around elsewhere in Giro Express, she made sure that she would give them just a little something for their special day. Her gifts to Giro had become more… flirty since she came back. Not much of a surprise though, considering that they were now together. She could make him happy with just a single kiss, and she knew how to take full advantage of it on his birthday.
Today was going to start like any other- coffee in hand and a clipboard of outgoing and incoming packages for his transport company to deliver. Once every thirty minutes or so he would go around the company to make sure everyone was working as they should. Vent was helping a group with moving the packages from the loading dock to the sorting room, Sho was supervising some newer recruits with the handling of packages, and Juno was preparing her truck for a long day's trip around the inner city.
No one else would have noticed but him, but Juno's skirt was three inches shorter than usual. Of course it was. He might not have even noticed either if it wasn't for the way she insisted to swing her hips. Didn't she know that doing that was only going to make her back hurt? Besides, she was lifting packages of every size into the truck, all that purposeful swaying in attempt to get (and keep) his attention was only going to cause an accidental injury. Giro gave a small chuckle; what a beautiful, confusing, and confident little se-
"Hey Boss, we have a new order coming in."
Giro snapped out of his thoughts and turned to his employee (Margo, a human). And so the work day continued. The hours only seemed to move by as everyone worked their best. At the end of the day, most of the employees lingered behind in the upstairs common room for some cake and overly greasy pizza. What surprised Girouette the most was that several of his employees had decided to give him a gift, to which he gratefully thanked them all for.
Eventually -around the time the party was winding down- Vent came forward with a present of his own.
"Happy birthday Boss." the kid sheepishly said as he presented his gift at arm's length.
"You didn't have to give me a present Vent." Giro smiled, taking the gift anyway. The boy's face turned the faintest shade of pink before running in the opposite direction. Giro smiled and opened up the gift. The Reploid almost let out a small sound of surprise as he held up a picture of him, Vent, Juno, and Sho at Vent's own birthday the year prior, decorated in a handmade frame that must have taken the child a good afternoon to create.
Giro looked up and happened to catch Juno's gaze. The two smiled at each other before Giro looked back down at Vent's gift. Sure, he didn't personally believe that Reploids shouldn't celebrate birthdays, but it was nice to know that he was surrounded by loved ones.
