Chapter 7: Racing
3 days later. Centaur Woman got along pretty well. In the fields, when it was time for lunch, while the workers have gone for breaks, she had galloped from the company pantry to pass a decent meal (prepared by a chef) to Axl.
"Oh hey." He was happy indeed. "Thanks, I really appreciate that."
"Ehehe." Kana giggled, and Centaur Woman's tail was wagging left and right. "You're welcome."
"Kana …" Mehri smacked her hand into her face. "You're behaving like a real animal now."
"We're a centaur, a horse-like creature, are we not?" Kana quipped. "So I figured we should display some kind of joyful motions. What's wrong with that?"
"Alright, alright, I'd give you that." Mehri resigned to that minor defeat. "Make us consistent."
Axl took the tray and opened the plastic cover on top of the plate with red spaghetti away. He got out of the wet fields, exposing his wet human-like feet and sat on a slant of the soil road. He took the plate with its fork and slowly ate.
"Axl?" Centaur Woman asked. "What's wrong? You're eating a bit slower than usual."
"I … I'm just in thought. It's nothing too serious." Axl smiled at the girls and continued.
"He's looking down …" Kana thought. "Did we do anything wrong in the past few days?"
"I doubt it. He was fine and cheerful whenever we were with him. It must be something else, but … we can't exactly interfere, right? Let's just be in our positions." Mehri replied.
"I agree. You're wise, Mehri. I'm amazed." Kana thought back.
Axl resumed eating. Centaur Woman noted a butterfly flying around and smiled at it. He was musing about his younger brother's latest rambling earlier in the morning.
"Grrrh." Lumine slammed his hand on his desk once. Rather loudly. Axl was the only one around. He walked up to his brother good-naturedly and gently pressed his query.
"So, what's bugging you now, bro?" Axl asked after brushing his own hair.
"Hey, Axl. Just some trouble brewing. In my view, the possibility of a spark itself is trouble." Lumine sighed. "World affairs, fickle as ever. So far, I'm only barely getting the system and the country working fine. All newer gens are cooperating, even most of the humans."
"Bro, humans associate freely with one another in their private lifes. We Reploids do the same too. All these arrests you've been making, even if you're not purging any companies or so on like last time, like how dad did, you're arresting the humans as … you know, humans. It's their own desire to do their bad stuff, it can't be helped." Axl remarked. "They're always like that."
"I know. The humans will take time to correct. Every newer gen knows that. In fact, the prison system is gruelling the humans heavily according to their crimes. But … this time, we may have an incident from the old batch of Reploids." Lumine said.
"Huh?" Axl was a little startled. "E – explain."
"For starters, you recall the Jakob incident, right? Right after that, the humans went on a rampage and destroyed 90 percent of all Reploids. Old batch, new gen. That time period. So right now, as it stands, Reploidkind is almost made entirely of newer gen, and there's a remainder 200 thousand or so old batch Reploids – including X, Zero, Layer, Palette, Alia. You get the picture."
"Hold on. What about sis and myself?" Axl asked.
"Come on, Axl." The white Reploid briefly buried his face in his hand. "You two are by definition newer gen. I'm talking about Reploids whose systems have the potential to be Maverick but by free will choose not to do such things."
"Including Mehri and Kana, right." Axl slapped his hands together. "Go on."
"The data of the clearance system suggests that a multitude of the old batch Reploids are starting to … outwardly be like those two. Airing their disputes in a rogue manner. They can be trouble."
"Bro, didn't you already explain to everyone the nasty human politics, the philosophical hullabaloo, humans being the Mavericks now? I thought everyone would've understood that." Axl asked.
"I did. That was so long ago." Lumine sighed. "But … I guess some Reploids either didn't listen properly, or for some reason, allowed themselves to remain partially-informed or utterly-misinformed. I … have a solution, I will launch it in the coming days, but … I think you will be mad at me."
"D – depends on what you're saying." Axl folded his arms. "Go ahead. We've been through so many things together, even Iris. I think I can also speak for her."
"I guess. You two do share the same outlook. Alright." Lumine rubbed his palms together. "I'm planning to call all these old batches to undergo body replacements. Transfer of their ID chips, their … souls, if you will, into newer gen bodies so that they learn and don't go Maverick."
"Huh." Axl frowned. "You're not going to harm the others like X and so on … right?"
"I believe they can be trusted. It's only the others I don't really trust. So …" Lumine gestured. "Go ahead. Let me hear it. You're going to repeat that message of not killing everyone?"
"Bro, you're not killing anyone. You're preserving them, making them learn to be good. And … I guess to use their free will correctly and properly. But … to force them … sounds harsh." Axl scratched his head.
"Newer gens don't want to be Mavericks by choice, because they know it's wrong, even if they can." Lumine pointed a finger to the ceiling. "If only the humans can be made like this though …"
"Urgh …" Axl looked like he was struggling. "D – do what you have to do. Just do it gently, okay? And … as long as you make them see the point."
"Well then, if even you can say that, then I'm going all out. Just ignore any incoming rumour or hint that Reploids temporarily went missing, okay? I'm going to handle it. It's so that at least this Maverick problem is confined to the humans." The white Reploid slammed his hand on his desk.
"Careful, bro … you're going into grey areas again." Axl clicked his tongue before he left.
Axl finished his food. "Alright … I've got something on my mind."
"Uh … yes?" Centaur Woman asked with confusion. "Hey, wait, I – I'm supposed to carry the tray and everything back to the kitchen!" She protested.
"It's okay! Come with me for a bit." Axl said, and then turned to his workers and said to them: "Hey guys, I need to be away for a while. Can you handle things here for bit?"
"Sure!" "No problem, boss!" "On it!" The general cry of support and affirmation.
Axl and Centaur Woman headed to the company's pantry. Axl himself saw to it that the tray was cleaned, the plate was washed and cleaned and all were sorted back where they belonged.
"So … actually …" Axl made sure that no one was eavesdropping. "I've always wondered. How long have you two known each other? I mean …" He gestured in a weird way. "It feels like you two get along a little too well."
"I resent that! We're friends for so long!" Kana hissed softly.
"I get what you mean, though. Any other two Reploids who've been forced into a merger like this with have trouble getting along." Mehri answered. "It's simple, like what Kana said – we're friends for a long time. Well, we only meet occasionally. But we get along."
"Bro said you're from the 5th Unit. H – how come I've never seen you before until that day? You know, when I bumped into you to ask for X and Zero's whereabouts?" He pondered.
"Simple. The 5th and 14th Units are rarely arranged to tackle Mavericks together. You were from the 14th Unit, right?" Mehri answered, to which Axl nodded. "My former friends know me. I say 'former' because … you know." She gestured to her form.
"On the other hand, everyone knows who the new gen prototype is." Kana giggled. "It was announced back then, right? During the Jakob project's initiation?"
"Yeah, I know … they announced the project, bro was selected as its director, and that all Reploids produced thereon were to be based on my systems …" Axl sighed, quite uninterested.
"I've been around … since the days X and Zero were the first Hunters. I've been through all the crises we experienced. I rarely socialize. That's where, after the Repliforce incident, I met Mehri." Kana continued. "She was always Hunting, and we just chanced upon each other."
"Maverick duties after the Repliforce was hard. Kana just happened to be someone whom I spilled the ramblings of my mind on at the time." Mehri continued. "And she listened. I was glad. She's special to me. Because … she's unlike the other Hunter friends I had whom mingled."
"Because Kana quietly listened to all your rage, and that helped you calm down?" Axl asked.
"They were not rages!" Mehri protested. "It did get there on times, but …"
"You can call it that. I don't mind. Because after Mehri finished spewing everything on her mind, she can be a cool and good friend. My navigator work was stressful too, but listening to her made my own stress disappear. After that, it's just idle chatter. Nothing significant." Kana said.
"Ah …" Axl rubbed his chin. "Just normal friends."
"Just normal friends." "Normal friends." Kana and Mehri spoke simultaneously.
"And then … you two had to spy on me and X and Zero …" Axl groaned at them.
"It was a spur of the moment! That's it!" Mehri said. "I didn't even know that Kana had the same issues that I had, so … yanking her along was a surprise for me!"
"Yes yes!" Kana quipped. "Just a spur of the moment! And I never left HQ so much, so …"
"It's fine. What's done is done." Axl gestured. "I just wanted to know. Explains how you two can adapt to this form rather quickly. Normal circumstances will say otherwise, even longer maybe."
The air was quiet. Centaur Woman gazed on her boss while he thought of more things.
"Sue really likes you two, you know. Please be good friends with her." Axl said. "Iris likes you too."
"But … for us Reploids to have lifelong associations with humans … is it fair for them? I mean, humans die, and we are eternal till we die too." Kana asked worriedly. "I worry for Sue …"
"Like you know, Sue and I go a long way back. I'm doing this because I want to. I know Sue will get married eventually, have her own family, stuff like that, but … at the very least, I want to be meaningful to someone just besides myself. I don't care. She means a lot to me and that's that. I'm sure … Sue will have a long happy life till the end. After that, we'd see." Axl sighed.
"Oh …" Mehri could only respond as such.
"T – then, l – let us also make her happy! Let us do what you do with Sue, too!" Kana sounded like she was pleading. "I want to make her happy too!"
"Noble of you, Kana …" Mehri awed. "But she's right. I want to have Sue be happy too!"
"Let us be your happy and faithful horse!" Centaur Woman said enthusiastically.
"Thanks guys. That means a lot to me as well." Axl smiled widely and held out his hand.
She obliged and shook his hand. Kana and Mehri pondered on the exciting new possibilities that await them – what sort of things and daily life were they to experience now, in this semi-human and semi-Reploid state of existence that Axl and his siblings were now in? Could it really apply to them too? Who knows? Perhaps in due time, they can comprehend what it means to be human …
"Oh yeah, perhaps there's something you can help me later on, after work but before we go back to the Corp for dinner with the guys." Axl looked as if he had a great idea.
"R – really? We can?" Kana said excitedly. "Let us do it!"
"Yeah, please! What is it you need us to do? We can do it!" Mehri was excited as well.
"We head back to the City proper first. After work here." Axl smiled – with a hint of naughtiness.
"Woohoo! This is fun!" Axl cheered as he held tightly onto Centaur Woman.
Axl (Reploid form) was riding on Centaur Woman and had her running through the streets back in Big City's districts. The humans and Reploids were in no danger from her running, but they stayed away nonetheless.
"Ne – next time, I'm doing no more of this! Not even for the others!" She said that with a stoic face, but inwardly, Mehri was blushing red and struggling to ignore the self-humiliation.
"Me too! I'm never doing this again!" Kana thought loudly to Mehri inwardly. "I'd rather have Iris and Sue touch us and hug us instead! Thank goodness no one knows who we are!"
"I feel so relaxed … really, Centauria! Thanks! You helped ease my mind!" Axl said.
"We're Centauria now!?" Kana and Mehri thought together.
"Alright, stop here!" Axl squeezed her belly a little tighter, bracing himself for any sudden halts.
Centaur Woman stopped her running, and they came to a halt. The passersby around dared not obstruct let alone indulge in their curiosity concerning Axl and this centaur Reploid. Axl got off her and stared upward to a rather short building of a mall.
"Alright, let's go in! I think this place has the best Energon supply outside of the HQ!" Axl said.
[AUTHOR'S NOTE]
I'm personally sorry for Kana. Her being the body of Centaur Woman is kinda sorta begging for something like this to be written about her. But, no cruelty intended.
Once again, comments and crits for future chapter improvements are most welcome and helpful.