Sorry for these chapters to be taking so long! My creativity is being murdered by schoolwork.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CYBORG 009 IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM!! All character belong to and are copyrighted to their respectful creators. I DO HOWEVER OWN THE 00XI6 CHARACTERS!

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The Dream

She grumbled to herself. "No, that's too big, too!" She hung back up the shirt after holding it to my body. I rolled my eyes as she held up a pastel pink colored shirt next.

007 sat on my bed across the room watching us awkwardly. "003, are you sure this is necessary?"

She threw something at him, I didn't see what for I couldn't turn around. They argued for a couple seconds before Françoise held a blue skirt to my waist. "Still doesn't look right!" She complained, hanging the skirt back up in the closet.

I rolled my eyes again. I was wearing a skin tight white camisole, and white panties, starting to feel very awkward with a man in the room. I sighed, looking to the floor, my chocolate brown hair falling in my face. Earlier today, before she started running back and forth looking for clothing for me, Françoise painted my finger nails and toe nails white.

Françoise groaned loudly, throwing a green sundress to the floor. "That is it!" She shouted causing 007 and me to jump. "I'm taking you shopping!" She picked up the uniform I arrived in and shoved it into my arms, then shoved me into the walk-in closet. I assumed I was to get dressed.

"003, take it easy, you're worrying too much." I heard 007 comment not long after I put on my clothing and starting tugging on my boots.

Her voice was hard to hear. "I'm allowed to worry." She said. "Amé escaped from Black Ghost with hardly any trouble; her wearing that uniform just screams that we'll be attacked."

Their voices turned to murmurs, and I couldn't hear anymore.

---

"Are you three going out?" Dr. Gilmore asked just as Françoise opened the door for us.

"Yes we are!" 007 answered. "003 is determined to find Amé something to wear so she doesn't stand out."

Dr. Gilmore took this answer, and let us leave. I was about to close the door when I heard 007 greet 009. Being nice, I held it open for him. 007 explained that we were going shopping, and 009 seemed almost saddened by this.

As he passed Françoise, I heard him tell her something. "Try to get her something white or black, or anything with red stars."

She looked to me, then smiled, agreeing to what he suggested, which made me worry.

---

I smiled to a muttered joke 007 told me. Françoise had been determined to get me into anything she could that was black, white, or had red stars. It has been a long four hours, and I was starting to feel really glad that 007 had tagged along with us.

By the end of it all, I found myself carrying home three bags of different clothing items and accessories. 007 was carrying the other five that included several other items I was unsure of what they were.

The two of them made me stand outside while they gathered everyone to see what I was wearing. A white tank top, slightly form fitting, with a large red star over the chest. Black jean shorts, knee length but folded up and stitched to stay about three inches above my knees. White knee-high socks, to me they looked out of place. Black tennis shoes, tied with double knots because I'm too lazy to untie and tie them again. Placed in my hair behind my bangs, a black headband.

Too boring waiting here, I turned on my heel and carefully stepped down the stairs of the porch. Removing my shoes and socks, I ran to the sand. Its warmth felt soft under my feet, the sun-warmed ocean water splashed up my legs and little minnow-like fish rushed away with the waves. The breeze was cooled, ruffling my hair as I took in the bitter scent of the beach. Beside me, a little crab popped his head out of the sand and bubbled at his mouth.

A sad smile crossed my lips as I remembered what Françoise had mentioned yesterday. "You don't really care if I'm human or not, do you?" I asked the crab in a small voice. He reburied himself in the sand, making me sigh. "Thanks for answering that question." I muttered to myself, unable to feel happy again. I returned my attention to the water as it hit my skin.

"Amé!" I heard Françoise call from the beach house behind me. I turned to see her waving from the door of the house. "Everyone's here, come show them your outfit!" She was smiling.

Sighing, I put on a nervous smile and began to run to the house. As I neared the soft sand before the tall grass, my right leg collapsed under the weight of running. I fell, of course, face first into the sand.

It took me a moment to realize what had happened. The gritty sand in my mouth, down my shirt, in my pants. I groaned, thanking myself greatly for having closed my eyes. The worried shouts of the others, I barely noticed them.

Silence.

Hands grabbed my shoulders and lifted me into a sitting position. They mouthed questions, worried expressions on everyone's faces. I shook my head, not even receiving a sound from that. I put my pointer fingers in my ears, pulling them out rather fast. I didn't hear a sound. Their worried expressions turned horrified, and I saw Dr. Gilmore run out of the house.

He knelt in front of me, asking questions I couldn't hear. Françoise was speaking frantically to the doctor, who nodded and looked at my ears. He must have shouted something, for I felt the vibrations against my skin. I looked around the group, each one of them mouthing wordlessly to me, becoming even more frantic. I opened my mouth to speak, but I was afraid to create sounds.

I glanced around, my eyes falling almost naturally on 009, who stood back from the group watching with an even more terrified expression.

And in big red letters across my eyes, ERROR.

---

"It's cold out, Amé," A brunette man spoke softly to me. He rubbed my back gently before wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

"Joe!" I scolded him, brushing away the hug that a silent part of me really wanted. "I'm fine. Besides, it's only Springtime."

Joe laughed lightly, placing a kiss on my hair. "But Spring isn't exactly warm," He stated, removing his jacket and placing it around my body. "At least wear this until we get home."

Even though I groaned, I… I…

He… then I…

---

I was rudely awakened to someone shining a bright light in my eyes.

"Can you hear me, 00XI6?" Dr. Gilmore shouted overly loud upon seeing my eyes open. My hands automatically flew to my ears and an odd noise escaped my lips.

"I can hear you just fine." I groaned. Everyone in the room sighed heavily, and I looked around to see that, indeed, everyone was in a hospital-like room watching me with relieved eyes. "What happened?" I asked, confused.

Françoise sat on the bed next to me, rubbing my forehead in a mother-like way. "You had tripped on the beach about four hours ago," She explained in a hushed voice. "Then you had lost your hearing."

I sat up, blood rushing to my head. I remember that. The faces and silence.

"It's okay, 00XI6," Dr. Gilmore began. "It was just a minor bug in your programming. Falling from the trip merely disconnected--"

"Can I do it again?" I asked. He looked confused. "No offense, sir, but I have no idea what you're saying."

007 laughed. "In simple terms, my dear, the good doctor is trying to say is that when you fell, your hearing stopped. Like when someone's running on a treadmill and they accidentally hit the emergency stop button, it stops altogether. That's basically what happened to your hearing." He explained.

That made sense. "Oh," Was the only thing that my mouth would form.

"I also disabled the Black Ghost Organization tracking device. They shouldn't be able to find you, now." Dr. Gilmore continued. I only looked at him blankly.

"So!" 006 shouted, gaining everyone's attention. "Who's hungry? After all this commotion, I'm sure we've all built up some appetites!" There were some agreements to this, and they started to leave.

I stared at the bed between my knees. I was still caked in sand and it was starting to irritate my skin.

Two things were bothering me about this whole thing.

"I saw 'error'…" I said softly.

Dr. Gilmore and the others stopped to look at me. "Before you blacked out?" The doctor asked, and I nodded. "I merely placed you into a sleep mode that wakes you in a few hours. The error you saw was the system override."

This information made me sick. Don't talk about me like I'm some computer, I wanted to shout at him. But on the other hand, if what Françoise had said last night really was true, then I was a computer. Nothing more than wires placed together. Just a memory, falsified for someone's sick and twisted needs. A hard drive created for storing data and being used like a tool for whatever they had in mind. I wanted to vomit, but computers don't have organs. So could I even if I wanted to? Could I cry?

What about my memories? I can't just be something they created in a lab. Can I? According to 009, we had known each other.

Everyone was leaving the room again, and I found myself with Françoise, 009, 007, and 004, who were just leaving.

"Who's Joe?" I asked myself out loud, remembering the dream I had. I didn't get a good look at the man in my dream, just the part that he had brown hair.

009 immediately turned and looked at me, a shocked expression. The others had also turned, shocked. "My name is Joe." He stated softly, his eyes becoming sad. I watched him just barely mouth my name.

Françoise hurried everyone out of the room, telling me to go back to sleep for a while. "I'll wake you when dinner is done." She said before she closed the door.

Yeah, sleep. How can I possibly sleep knowing that I just had a dream about a man I don't even know?

Maybe it's not him…