Purple - Assistance
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"I was overreacting, and I wasn't thinking straight. That wasn't me."
"I get it. I do. I really do."
"I didn't hurt you or anything, did I?"
Nya shook her head. "No. You scared me a bit though."
"I don't mean to. Everything is just so… wrong. Nothing feels like it fits anymore. No matter what I do, nothing feels… okay."
We both looked out over the crowded room, busy talking, calculating, and arguing. It was not easy trying to coordinate this many people who had hardly ever worked together. Not to mention the weight of those already lost in the fight. Everyone copes with acceptance in different ways. Some bury it, some embrace it, some find hope, some find rage, and some of us find our purpose. And then, there are those of us who can't accept it.
"…I think they're alive."
"Nya-"
"No, I do. I really do."
"You're just going through denial."
"No. It's not like that. Jay and I… we…" she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to collect her logic. "We were supposed to be together. We were supposed to have a family together, and live a life together, and grow old together, I know that. I can feel it in my soul, and Jay… he saw it. He saw the future and…" her eyes glossed heavily in the bright work lights. "That has to be true… Jay wouldn't lie to me… not about something like that… right?" tears spilled out of her eyes as her body shook. I gripped her hand with mine and placed my other on her shoulder.
"Perhaps this future is to be fulfilled in the next life. If nothing else, everyone will be united again then." As for myself, I was a bit uncertain. I knew Zane had at least a soul like essence within him. It was what made him feel and act and… dream. But I did not know how real I was. If I had a soul. If I died, would I be subject to an eternal nothingness, or would I join the souls of my friends? I did not know, but such things didn't terribly trouble me. Not anymore.
"No. It's not like that. We were supposed to be here and physical, it was supposed to be real! We were real." Her voice grew more intense.
"I fear there is no logical way in which they could have survived."
She tore her hand away from mine. "This is the one thing I have Pixal!" her body was stiff and ridged, slightly trembling as her eyes looked up at the ceiling."This is my one thing. It's the only thing that's going to get me through this. Just…" she closed her eyes in desperation. "Let me have this one, okay?"
I froze for a moment, and then retracted my hands, folding my arms across my body. Why was she so hostile towards my acceptance of the situation? Would it not benefit her to accept it herself?
"They're coming!" Griffin sprinted into the room from his patrol duty. "Mr. E is knocking down our door, and if we don't do something, fast, we are all toast!"
The room was quiet.
Lloyd closed his eyes in concentration. "We don't have the resources to go and pick off the Sons of Garmadon one by one."
"Besides," Skylor chimed in. "If it's just Mr.E, then it's clearly a distraction meant to separate us."
"We can't just let him waltz in here!" Griffon insisted.
"We are not sending half of us out there only to get ambushed on the other side by the full army." Lloyd insisted.
"Then what do we send, one person?" Skylor questioned. "One person isn't going to cut it. They would know it was a distraction. We need something big enough to address the issue, something legitimately intimidating that looks like effort or they will simply try to separate us more!"
"I can do it."
The room went quiet as I stood.
"Samurai X is a mech." I started walking towards the center of the room - towards Lloyd. "It's a big enough force to cause a threatening distraction, it only deploys one person, and Mr.E will certainly be distracted enough by my presence to forget the absence of anyone else."
"No way," Lloyd shook his head. "You know what happened to you the last time you fought him. He's dangerous!"
"He's my little brother."
"You tried to kill yourself."
"But I didn't."
"And then he killed you."
"I got over it."
"Your eyes were red, Pixal!"
I stopped in my tracks. Red? My eyes hadn't been red since the Overlord had control of me. They were never supposed to be that color again. Why had no one told me? Were they trying to protect me from it? Hide it from me? Were they… scared of me? I glanced back at Nya for confirmation. She hid her eyes.
"Does that bother you, Lloyd? Scare you? You think I'm dangerous because I still have some unusual coding left in me? Does that define me to you?"
"Of course not Pix, it's just-"
"So you can't trust me now, because I can be hacked and reprogrammed and imperfect?"
"No, Pixal-"
"Why can't I go out and protect you then?"
"Because I'm not losing you!" He screamed. "I'm not losing anyone!I've lost enough for one week!" His breath was heavy, and his heart rate was extremely elevated. "I've lost my love, I've lost my powers, I've lost my father, I've lost my brothers, I've lost my sensei, I'm done losing things! And I'm not going to let you go out there and get yourself killed again!"
"Someone has to go out there."
The room was quiet as he thought. "Send me out," Nya spoke from the back. "I can hold them off, you don't need me for much else."
"No way. Have you been listening?" Lloyd asked.
"Nya," I turned to look back at her. "It's a suicide mission."
She sighed. "Yeah. I know."
I quickly ran back to her, cradling her broken head in my hands, and whipping away the tears on her cheeks. "I can be rebuilt. You, can't."
She pressed her eyes together tightly. "If your neural drive gets damaged, then-"
"Then… Samurai X is… expendable." More tears grew in her eyes. "You know that."
She looked at me for a moment and then slowly nodded her head. I slowly let her go and turned back around to face Lloyd. "I'm your best option."
"You're sure you want to do this?"
"Of course. I was built to assist, wasn't I?"
There you go! I really think that Pixal's programming as an assistant would stick with her, making her totally willing to step in between any of her friends, and danger. Anyway, I know not much happened here, but next is the very first idea I had for this fic, so that should be fun!
Thanks for reading!
