"This isn't the same frame is it?" Sora asked, taking her hand in his to look at the gear work, "Oh, this is pretty original. Did you do this?" He directed to Axel, "I like her facial features." Xion would have blushed if she had blood in her veins or veins at all as the brunet invaded her personal space, "I like your facial features." He smiled softly finally acknowledging that she was a sentient being, "Kinda cute as far as an AI go. Did you choose this hair color?" Sora questioned inspecting the wig, "Nice length. Doesn't interfere with the rest of the system. Good selection."

Like a bee on honey, the taller of the two boys was next, "What's your base code?" He asked her, "Is it cool if I open your hard drive?"

"Here?" Kairi interrupted, "Wouldn't that be better reserved for somewhere more private?"

Riku sulked, "Yeah, I guess."

The robot laughed, "It's fine. You can open me up after my match, considering how much work you put in to help make me me." Riku smiled wide, checking with Axel to see if that was cool. With a nod, the redhead gave his consent.

"So is your guys' match over?" Roxas inquired, looking around. The arena was still full to an extent, but it was as if there was a leak. The crowd slowly trickling away.

"Oh yeah, we've been done since semi-finals." The auburn girl hummed, "But what can you do? We went up against some old friends, and we were toast!"

Riku grumbled a bit, "They knew my attack style to a T and where Sora's defensive measures tend to be weak, so what can we say? Next year we'll have to change a lot of things."

"To progress!" Sora laughed, "To progress, we have to change! And there's nothing wrong with that."

"I guess that means we'll come and watch your guys' round." Riku looked around to his friends to see if they were behind the decision, "Plus, I have someone to introduce you to, Axel."

"Oh?" The redhead took the queue from the older teen that he shouldn't ask any more questions, so he shut up and changed the subject, "Well with this done, what are you guys going to do this summer?"

"I want to go down to Atlantis that huge waterpark on the south side of the city!" Sora exclaimed, "Or maybe we could all come and hang out with you guys at the beach! I have a couple places I'd really like to visit." It wasn't often talked about, but the redhead had learned that at one time Sora's parents had worked for Moshiva. When his dad had found a better job at another company, they were quickly hassled and bullied out of the neighborhood. It didn't change the fact that Sora still had a few ties to the place he had grown up and surprisingly knew quite a few cool spots.

Riku and Kairi nodded, "Yeah! We should all do something!"

Brain struggling for a suggestion to remain part of the conversation, Roxas supplied, "Well why don't we go to the waterpark first where the water is heated, and then the beach once the ocean warms up a bit?"

"Sounds good to me." Sora nodded, "I just want to go swimming. Hey, is your frame waterproof, Xion?" Looking her over, he sighed, "Nah, it's not. Probably was too expensive to make it that way, huh?"

Axel relented, "Can't have all the perks when you're living off mowing lawns and Christmas money."

"Makes sense." Everyone in robotics knew that, "Well alright," Riku stretched a bit, "We might want to go head over to registration. 5B is being serviced, and wouldn't want you to miss check in." It was a short walk, but in it, Riku and the redhead lagged behind a bit to talk, "So you know how you asked about that…thing at Meow's Chow? I got a guy who specializes in that. Kind of a weirdo, and he won't do business today because he's out with his girlfriend, but Marluxia, that's his name, is like the best when it comes to nanomachines."

"I don't have the cash for it anyways, Riku. I'm hoping to win this thing, so I can make a payment." Axel pocketed his hands and the two dropped back to a saunter.

The teen ran a hand through his silvery hair, "Yeah, that'd be an issue, and you do realize that-" He paused for a moment to look the other man in his eyes, "You do realize that there's no way to control them. When they work, it's through luck. They're still having issues with coming up for a design for a transmitter. It's hard to get them to leave your system too after you're done with them, and half the time you have to electrocute yourself to kill them off. The person I've seen who's the best with them is Marluxia, but even he's had some accidents."

"I know, and I don't have an issue with that." Axel resisted smirking, "My dad, not that his work was well known for it, he actually put a lot of time in with nanomachines, and I'm not saying that it's a problem solved, but I'm sure if everything goes right, I can make nanos a safe thing to use in the medical field."

Riku's brows scrunched in thought, "So…Is this some design that you're keeping secret or something? Has anyone seen this? Have you been working on it?" For once in his life, the city boy wasn't worrying about the budget or the profit, but of the peoples' lives that could change, "What if this backfires? You're doing this for Roxas, right?"

They were an entitled generation, as had been their parents.

Axel felt like Roxas deserved life.

Roxas deserved life.

There were not enough words in the dictionary or breaths in his body to describe how much Roxas meant to him. He would sift all the salt from the sea, and he'd pluck every star from the sky to fashion a necklace for that pretty cream poured pale neck of the blond. Roxas was like standing out in the snow underneath a streetlight watching it fall, hitting the ground in a silent way. Roxas was the heat from a humid summer day making you feel lazy and loved in a Southern way. Axel would trade an empire for him in an instant. He would fight oceans and hurricanes just to see the other's smile.

And most of all, when Roxas decided to leave, Axel would let him go.

"Right."

Oh the word was soft but it rang true.

"That kid will break your heart."

So true.

And Chapter 21 is up. Review! Odd tidbit for those who read this: This document/story is known on my hard drive as 'Let's Get Digital'

Yeah, lame I know. Thanks Layla for Beta!