Chapter Twenty-Two: Showoff
An amazing five days later, it was day 117 and the day Axl got a day off from classes and managed to go to his favourite store. For five days straight, Axl and Iris had only gotten contact with Lumine for mere minutes everyday. The white Reploid didn't want to be interrupted at all in his tedious work.
Along the way, Lumine would also rudely grasp control of the body mechanisms from Axl and use his features as a cover-up so he could gain access to the library and write many reports for X. Axl had to endure the irritating feel of being in the library but managed to watch at the knowledge Lumine wrote out.
They had come in no contact at all with mister Prez. He was reportedly on his final stages of preparation for a booth on an upcoming corporate exhibition and had many talks with the human authorities regarding a secret matter. No one knew what it was.
On an interesting note, yesterday Axl attracted a lot of attention during Geography lecture. While paying attention to Pallette teaching the rough characteristics of a mountain range, Axl suddenly lost control of his head and it knocked hard on the table.
"Hey what's going on? Why can't I… gulp… lift my head?" Axl tried his best but he just couldn't. He and Iris were experiencing what experts call technical problems in the computer brain. Apparently it wasn't any technical difficulties, it was Lumine.
The white Reploid appeared to be extremely tired for he was limping heavily out from one corner. In his right hand held a huge chunk of glowing squares and rectangles. He approached the other two and barely steps away, he just collapsed on the pitch-black floor; his eyes closing in slow motion.
"LUMINE!" They stepped forward and got hold of the Reploid on his body. The data chunk fell out from his hands as they struggled to put him lying properly on his back. Iris, however, was kind enough to tend to him first and let his head be placed gently on her lap, also avoiding the extending purple hair.
"Huh… it's done… the vocabulary… the voice style… all finished…" He stopped saying anything while the other two looked on anxiously. "Never felt this tired before… I must have stressed myself… too much." His right hand reached out to the data chunk he dropped and held it firmly on his chest and dozed off.
Iris smiled. "He deserves a rest. I'll take it from here. Just reactivate the body again, Axl. We don't want his control to interrupt you, do we?"
Axl just had full control over his body again when Pallette was glaring angrily at him. Several Hunters beside him also were putting on an expression of confusion. Axl smiled meekly, revealing his teeth at Pallette: "Er… sorry, he was so exhausted I couldn't contain it. I won't let that happen again."
"Alright, just pay attention, Axl! You're lucky Alia was called off by X or else, who knows what she would say about your terrible behaviour."
After the lecture, Axl landed up with another assignment. Lumine also got his share though he wasn't listening at all due to extreme tiredness. Instead of going back to his cubicle, he held on to his papers and books and went on for a small walk to the gathering grounds to watch the flowers. Sitting on a chair, he shut his eyes.
He was approached by Iris immediately. Without even asking for it, Iris quickly told Axl of Lumine's conditions. "He worked so hard, designing the programs and catching up on education. He worked 17 hours a day just for both of them. Just now, like he said, the program for voice and vocabulary was finished."
Having heard that, Axl retreated to his cubicle for some rest.
That was how Axl remembered the sequence of events just yesterday. He was arranging the cans of food on the shelves while thinking all that. Apparently, despite the 20-hour sleep, Lumine wasn't really refreshed and remained where he was: sleeping on an imaginary hammock in the air of the computer brain.
Minutes passed by later. Axl had just started to sweep the cement floor for dirt and dust when a telephone call came in. The old sir was awakened from his sleep on the bench and got up to pick the receiver.
"Hello? Oh! Yes I see! Yes of course! Thanks for calling!" The old sir put down the phone and stared at Axl with a wide smile. "Well, sonny. That was your dad, mister Prez. He says it's urgent for you to call the heir to a certain corporate exhibit."
Axl was surprised. "A corporate function? That must be the exhibit booth thing dad mentioned! Well, I don't know about… brother Lumine. I don't think he could make it so I'm replacing him." Lumine was still soundly asleep.
"Oh I see… very well then. You may go." The old sir bent down to his drawer to pick up a pen and pencil for Axl. But when he turned back up, Axl was nowhere in sight. "Sonny, I didn't tell you the place! Oh that Reploid child…"
Axl had changed to the corporate human form of his seconds earlier and teleported immediately to Prez's office. Once again, the human wasn't there and Axl got his hints from the office's giant screen before Iris could even rebuke him.
"Hm… the Exhibit Plaza. That's several districts away, near to the east coast of Big City! I better check the computer for the coordinates." Prez had never switched off his personal computer before (he could afford the bills) and Axl easily searched through a special Internet program for its location.
"Aha! Here it is! I'll just tap them into my teleporting device and we're there." Axl set the coordinates on his 'watch' and pressed the button that allowed him to teleport there instantly. A second later, he was in front of a large structure with many aerotrains running out of it and dashed in to find Prez.
After some 40 minutes rushing through the crowds here and there, he arrived at the 43rd floor of the building and entered a door. Inside was the giant hall that housed many booths about various businesses and opportunities. Humans were constantly moving here and there with booklets in their arms.
The bored Axl had no choice but to further his search for Prez and maintain his formal clothing. Meanwhile, the flushed Lumine began to wake up and all he saw was a blurred vision of many moving objects. The surrounding noise was getting louder.
"…and we are now live here at the Exhibit Plaza where we will soon observe a speech from the tycoon we refer to as mister Prez. Mister Prez, now affirmed as the Federation's most important man and one of the world's, will be…"
"Uh… dear boy? Dear girl? Where are we? Uh!" Lumine lost balance in Axl's head and fell on the pitch-black floor. Iris heard the fall and rushed over to him. "Lumine! You're awake! Axl's in the Exhibit Plaza! Father just called him to call you out but you were so tired! So he replaced you." Lumine raised an eyebrow.
At one end of the huge hall, thunderous claps were heard. A familiar figure stood up and walked towards the stand to speak. It was Axl's 'dad' alright; he shuffled up some papers and was about to speak when he saw Axl running towards the stage.
Axl immediately leaped onto the stage, much to everyone's surprise. Some security guards rushed over to brush the stranger away but instead found themselves shoo-ed.
"Where are your manners? This is my son! He's the one I ruffled with his hair two months ago, like this!" Axl was tugged under Prez's arms and got his hair roughed with. "Dad, stop it! You're embarrassing me again!" Unknown to everyone, Axl told Prez that Lumine was too tired to come himself so Axl was the replacement.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my heir couldn't make it today! So this is his stand-in!" From that sentence onwards, the reporters began to bombard poor Axl about various issues of Lumine. The session lasted around 40 minutes and Axl often struggled to find the right answers to their demands. What he didn't know was that the white Reploid was enjoying the scenes of Axl stuttering here and there.
"That's quite entertaining." "Lumine, stop teasing Axl behind his back!" "At least it's a better improvement. I used to stab him on the face a lot." Iris didn't know how to further rebuke the sinisterly-laughing Reploid.
Later on, the session ended and most people resumed back to booth-studying. The booth receiving the most attention was obviously Prez's; he was a magnate and everyone wants a slice of his profits. Unfortunately that wasn't going to be any profit to gain unless HE invested in their companies and doing that alone is tough.
Axl dropped himself on one of the chairs and sighed a great deal of relief. He had been made bored due to all the questions directed at him. Some questions were relevant to himself, which he avoided, and annoying ones, which he just hushed them away. One of the annoying questions was opinion of Lumine the ex-Maverick.
"Annoying, isn't it, dear boy?" The sudden booming of voice in his head made him jerk forward on the chair. Placing his palm on his forehead, he shut his eyes.
"You're awake?! How long was that?" The white Reploid gave a loud laugh. "I've been up for a while. That's all. If you don't mind, could you walk around with father? I would like to see the booth he painstakingly prepared."
Axl immediately got up from his chair and walked off the stage towards Prez, who was greeting other middle-class members. Axl tapped on his shoulder gently.
"Em… dad, Lumine says he wants to see your booth. Could you show us around?" Prez beamed a smile at him. "Why of course! Alright people, I'll catch you all later. My Reploid son wants me to show him around. Yes, goodbye. Have a nice day."
Prez's hand firmly held Axl to himself, causing Axl to make a face. Prez walked around with the crowd towards the booth he owned. There many impressive looking machines and prototypes, which irked Axl slightly, and the results of their functions were displayed.
"Alright, here we have the brand new wide screen plasma television. It's 120 inches long, having superb graphics and also acts as a personal computer. It has a remote that integrates television controls and computer keyboards. You do anything with it; Internet, channel-surfing, video call. It does come with a heavy price of tens of thousands, but it's the best companion for you. The HQ will be a spot for experimental usage."
"Here we have on display is a newer Reploid dummy. You ought to know that it has a fixed thought of sole devotion for love and peace. Normally many other industries and sectors employ such Reploids but this one here's for household use. Never Maverick, always loving, it shares happiness for all."
"The newer Reploids! Dad, what are the schematics for this?" Axl had remembered he was supposed to ask him about why there weren't any cases of Mavericks lately after Jakob. Lumine and Iris were grateful he asked the question but were disappointed that Prez declined to reveal it, fearing plagiarists would stole the formula in public.
"The formula's rare. Only I have it. If I tell you now, some eaves-dropper would copy it and start his own cheaper brand! Oh great. Look who's here." The trio turned around and were shocked to see the two humans.
"YOU! Sue?!" It was the fat man of a bloke, wearing his usual grey pocket-shirt and dark trouser. Just at his side, Sue was dressed up in a glamorous red dress. She too was shocked to find her 'Brownscar' with mister Prez.
"Hey what are you doing here?" Axl blushed and stammered. "Er… er… I had to replace Lumine. He…em… asked me. He was very tired. Is he your… dad?!"
"Aii! I remember jou! You're the guy with the heir on the camping trip! I hopes yer alright! There was a bear rampaging at the woods and me and me son ran for our lifes!" Axl glared at Sue with a huge shock. Sue never told him she had a nerdy brother.
Sue's dad still had some plasters on his skin, though not shown. There was a huge blue-black area on his cheek. Somehow he felt the pain and groaned. "Aii aii. Me cheek still hurts. A girl in he woods came outta nowhere and given me a slap! It still hurts! It feels as though her hands were made of steel…"
Iris made a gulp in the computer brain. She felt not-entirely guilty for slapping Sue's dad the other day. "He was such a showoff. He said father was a coward and anger overcame me, I guess. I'm sorry, guys."
Lumine walked up to her and pressed on her shoulders firmly. "Dear girl, you don't find us complaining. He deserved it, despite the fact it's against the law." Meanwhile, Axl had diverted their attention to Prez.
"You invested in Sue's dad's company, increasing output of fisheries and you had to tolerate his insults? Of all people! You were tolerating for nine months already! How could you? Lumine was right!" Axl turned to Sue's dad. "You're such a jerk!"
Sue's dad fumed up slightly. "Aii let's get one thing straight here, no make it two! Firstly you are a jerk yourself for being rude to yer elders! Secondly, I earned my profit all by my own work! Prez's cash were just payments for me equipment!"
Sue stood up on her dad. "Dad, Prez made contracts with those machines you bought and you know it! There's no way your company could afford such expensive and advanced machines! Mum was right! You changed to a jerk!"
The arguments started to create a stir on the spot near Prez's booth. Many people were attracted to watch and gather around the squabbling trio. Prez just watched.
"Dear boy, please stop it. You're contributing to the fuss around here. Just give this whole issue a rest." "Axl, please! We're here to accompany father, not to pick up a fight!" Axl ignored his inhabitants' pleas and fought words with Sue's dad.
Prez only put his hand covering his mouth. His eyes showed an expression which was difficult to decipher. "Hey, old man! Your so-called assets belong to Prez and you know it! Contracts are undeniably right. In fact, I don't think you own anything at all!"
"Brownscar, dad! Just stop it, okay?!"
"This bloody man insulted me! I can't hold back my pride! Sonny, listen here! Yes, I bought them equipments and machines with contracts! But I did earn my profit fair and square! Just ask Prez! Does he actually inform you how much he's earning lately? Four months, lad and he spends a lot! Cleaning up damages here and there! Not me! Am stable!"
Axl looked at Prez. Prez didn't answer a single thing at all. Axl preferred to ignore that, as he had long trusted what the old creator was doing. Meanwhile, a crowd had fully formed around the arguing trio. Some were afraid that the exhibition would be a mess, some watched.
"I'm earning better and better! I won' take no sneers from a human loyal to the robot heir!-" "Dad, that's enough! Let's just go away to your booth!" "No, Sue I'm serious here! Look at the man! I have a happy family and a good home!"
"Watch your mouth, you human!"
"And what are yer gonna do about it? Yer can't manage even yourself now, can yer? My daughter is beautiful and you had a huge scar on your face! Really ugly looking-!"
"ENOOUUGH!"
The loud shout stunned everyone else and all stopped watching, arguing and whispering. The trio of Axl turned to look at the source of the shout: the old man Prez himself. Though the shout was loud, that didn't bother to tire him at all.
"I have had enough of your words of insults! You are the only one around here who doesn't seem to know the limits of speech! It has been always unwise for you to criticize another people's children, especially if that was my son of a Reploid!"
Sue hit brash realization and shock. "Brownscar? Your son?"
"Yes of course, my dear girl! You've been talking to my son all this while! He often mentions about you; true, being beautiful and all. The only beauty I see here is your virtue, far better than that of your father!"
Sue's dad intended to rebuke back but the odds were against him.
"You, on the other hand, have no business criticizing people! You know, I've got a lot of complaints recently about you! You know what? Your best friends are actually talking behind your back due to your terrible manners and attitude!"
"Guess what? No one wants to do business with you at all! That goes the same to me! I'm pulling out all my investments from your little fishing station! That's right; 3 billion cash worth of equipment, furniture, machines, everything!"
Many were shocked. This was now officially recorded as the second time in a decade that Prez had forcefully acquired another company worth much cash. The last one was that of several companies in far west Federation and Axl was familiar with that.
"I've got some comments from the Big City authorities. They did that because I was the only one who knew you. It seems that you will be arrested by the law for managing several illegal loan institutes; in other words, you're a loan shark."
Loan sharks were strictly prohibited in the whole of Federation and the crowd was shocked to find one living amongst them. Sue and Axl were also shocked; that fat bloke was the source of the old-sir-at-the-store's displeasure.
"Hah, don't forget that nearly every building in the Big City and the Federation itself bears my signature on their contracts. That includes this building too. As Chairman of the joint groups, you are hereby arrested by law for managing illegal loans. I shall see that my lawyer meets you tomorrow morning in your prison cell. Let this be a lesson to everyone; don't forget your etiquettes."
Human security guards marched forward and handcuffed the fat man. He was then dragged away wordlessly and with a face full of regret. The stares of people soon disappeared and activity was back to normal. Axl and Sue were alone together amid the crowd. Prez had gone away to his own booth relaxed.
"Er… Sue, I can explain why-!" Sue merely placed her finger on his lip. Axl became silent again, fearing for somewhat igniting Sue's anger. However, she put up a meek but sad smile at him. "Just follow me, will you?"
Sue led him out of the hall to the marbled corridors and leaned on the glass walls where Axl could easily see the view below him. He was sure that Sue was quite angry at him as he kept a lot of things secret from her. His inhabitants had distanced themselves from him, believing they needed to be alone.
"So… let me get this straight. You are one of the three Reploid children of mister Prez and you never told me? How could you? We are friends, aren't we?"
"I'm sorry, Sue. I can't just so easily tell this to anyone. The attention is too much to bear. Heck, I don't even want to be noticed too much. Me using the gun in the store is already bad enough. And yes, I'm related to Lumine. I do meet him often. I'm sorry for lying and keeping many things away from you."
"How come no one ever tells me this? Why is everything around here so secret?!"
"Sue…I'm sorry. I had no choice. If you want other words of this, you can always ask the old sir at the store. He promised to keep this secret since day one; that's why he occasionally skips joyfully. I just want a simple life, that's all."
Sue was speechless. For the next few minutes, neither said anything at all. Axl constantly walked step by step in front of Sue who was gazing down on the floor. Weaving her hair aside, she looked up on Axl.
"I'm sorry if my dad caused your dad to blow his top. I did ask my mum to stop him but she couldn't do anything. She was one of those who talked with Prez on the phone. Huh…stupid father. He messes with your dad and now, my whole family must pay the price. Stupid showoff." With that, she stormed away.
Axl was alone then in the corridor. Apparently his inhabitants decided he needed their company and they showed up to him in the computer brain. Everyone bore an expression of confusion and uncertainty.
"Sue's right. That man is a total idiot. He's such a showoff. I don't think I'll join dad so soon. If you don't mind, I'll just skip around the area for a while."
"It's okay, dear boy. Do whatever you please."
Lumine's cold yet soothing voice somewhat calmed him down a little. After straightening his tie and suit, Axl slowly walked out to the balconies ahead and landed himself on one of the available chairs, sighing and made deep thinking for the coming hours.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Stream
'It was a furore two days ago, here at the Exhibit Plaza in the Big City. Giant tycoon mister Prez lost his temper for a second time in a decade, a mere month or so after taking over several companies in far western Federation. This time, the company he claimed was that of a local City chain of fisheries, marking another field the Prez Corporation will soon dominate.'
'It is now day two as the Federal Court hears the case of where the giant laid claims over billions worth of assets from a fat man under grounds of fund misuse. This ground was further proven true by recent discoveries that the fat man secretly operates loan shark activities and is subject to further investigation.'
'Several business organizations and the Commerce Chamber have objected to this rapid takeover attempt and claimed that Prez gets things fast done his way so that he will enlarge his monopoly. However, the government and huge banking corporations oppose the stance, saying that Prez had never intended to increase his empire and on a side note, he was a liberal monopolist and the Federation prospered thanks to him.'
'The outcome seems to favour mostly for mister Prez. If so, he would soon take over 3.6 billion worth of assets. He would also face extra criticism from many labour groups that strongly oppose any of his moves which favour him more. However, Prez strongly denies that he planned to rule over all fields of the economy.'
'As of this year itself, mister Prez holds giant, or even complete, stakes of share and property in the industries of iron and steel, mining of virtually all minerals and oil and gas, research of science, virtually all kinds of consumer goods and manufacture of machines. The man seems to be highly reluctant to invest in automobiles, technological gadgets, computers and education, fearing a strong decrease of creativity.'
That was the short newspaper clip on the Internet Axl read that morning and another two more concerning himself, the heir and reaction from many peoples. If he knew better, Lumine would be disapproving of him reading such news. And right, he was.
"Really, dear boy, could you stop reading all those articles? I'm tired out having to read anything about me and the heirloom. Please, dear boy, I've asked you time and time again to stop. I don't want to repeat myself."
Lumine's tone was filled with great sadness this time. Compared to previous times where he bluntly told Axl off, he sounded as though he was pleading to the Reploid to stop. Axl sighed heavily in plight of the white Reploid's feelings.
"Geez, alright. I'll stop reading the articles for now, if that makes you feel happy." Axl closed the program and immediately turned to writing some brief notes about his assignments. In the computer brain, the white Reploid sighed at Axl with a smile and slowly walked away. Iris only watched the scene.
Axl understood how the white Reploid felt, for he experienced the same situations with him. Neither felt comfortable among the crowd of elites and under the spotlight of the media. Their creator's recent claims over Sue's dad's company made the members of the press chase after Axl or Lumine like crazy, all hungry for either opinion on the matter.
The case was going to be settled fast in a few days or so, since this was the way things were done: fast but safe. Machinery and other assets will be transferred back to Prez's hand if he wins the case. Many companies became more frightened of such a thing happening. Some opposed but the government supported the takeover.
But enough of the corporate issue. Back in the Maverick Hunter HQ, education was just as normal as nothing has been affected by the media's buzzes. Even X and Zero preferred not to say anything because "it is out of our hands". Axl had so far heard no word from Sue; though that was usual, this time it was different.
On the other hand, two Reploids found a familiar Lumine tempering with a small cube in the computer brain. It was the small chunk he made for White Axl's voice.
"Hey, Lumine. You were done with that thing, weren't you?" The spark shots of tiny flames stopped on the spot. The white Reploid held the cube in his hands and turned around to meet his fellow friends and fellow host.
"Sorry, but it seems I missed out some certain aspects here and there the other time I was too tired. But anyway, now that you've mentioned it, I'm sure that our Maverick will get his copy of voice and smarter vocabulary somewhere today."
Iris was the first to react with joy. "Really? Oh wow! Well, what are you waiting for? Go work on it fast! We want to know everything from him, don't we? Axl! Why are you still lingering around here?! You have another two more hours before you go to work for the old human at the store! Go do something useful!"
This was the first time in her life that Iris was directing orders to other people. The other two were surprised that Iris showed her leadership capabilities but they assumed that this would only be temporary.
"But of course, dear girl." That was all Lumine said before he returned to his work. Axl merely opened his eyes again, assumed full control over the body and got off the chair to 'do something useful'. Unknown to him, Iris was told that Lumine had deliberately made the sparks shot out of the cube for visual purposes.
Axl played video games in the VR room for the first time since many weeks previously. Of course Iris had preferred him to complete his assignments but he "couldn't care less". That caused her to jerk him a lot while playing and lose the game. Lumine found some pleasure at that while working.
Some time later, Axl had just received note from X concerning his metal bearing balls before going out. X was quite frustrated about the giant objects present.
"Axl, could you move those things away? What good has it ever done to you?"
They were at Axl's cubicle, arguing. "What? Hey, I'm not throwing away those! Those are pure stainless steel and some other metals Lumine gave to me! I like it there. I know it will have some uses in the future!"
"Hah. If you don't find a way to use it properly in a week's time, I'm getting the Mechaniloids to remove it. Either you do it, or I'll do it. Understand?" Axl just nodded silently before X walked off back to his own share of duties.
Axl didn't close his eyes so he didn't know that Lumine and Iris were staring at him. "Uses in the future? You don't really think that will happen, do you dear boy? I am starting to regret even more for giving you the two bowling balls."
"Aw, c'mon! It's not so bad, is it? I'm not even making any more dents on the floor. Now, I'll just teleport back to the outside world if you don't mind. The old man needs me." Axl roughly teleported away to a dark alley corner on the streets.
He rapidly assumed normal human form and rushed out into the streets. He ran faster and faster but he seemed to be far away from his destination; that was true because the old sir's store was 5 districts away from the Hunter HQ.
Along the way, he endured much complaint from his inhabitants saying that he was wasting precious time. Iris even doubted Axl's words that he wanted to arrive on time for work. Anyway, Axl had arrived just on time for his day's work.
For the next few hours, the Reploid had focused much energy into keeping the store clean and nice. It was back to roughly scrubbing the windows for stubborn dirt and roughing the floor with the detergent-rinsed mop to days' much of dust.
He was interrupted once during his routine of arranging goods on the shelves by the old sir. Apparently the old man was pondering over something and to sum up his soon-to-be big expression of words, he held up an article of a subject Lumine hated to read and talk about the most.
It was an article the day before about a stir during a corporate exhibit. The media had taken pictures of Axl arguing with Sue's dad and security guards dragging the fat man away on Prez's orders. Axl gulped slightly.
"It was Sue's dad, wasn't it young Reploid? He managed the loan shark activities which threatened to sabotage my store, isn't it? And your secret about being Prez's Reploid child further told to the whole of the nation…"
"Err… yes." Axl hung his head downwards in slight shame. "I didn't even know it was him who did all this to you. Maybe the reason why he acted so arrogant since nine months ago was he felt he had much money and he could terrorize you poor lot. Sue… I don't know when I'll see her again."
"Quite right you are. I have not been seeing the young girl for some time now. Who knows where she ended up? Some customers were talking about it and even her friends dropped by. They said she was going to do something so drastic…"
"Something drastic?! What's that?" The old man only shrugged and walked away.
Axl felt sad on the thought of something terrible was going to happen to Sue. His hand still held a dirty piece of rag and the other holding a small can of preserved fruit. Lumine was too busy to notice that but Iris certainly did. She expressed her aura onto Axl, making him feel warm all over before she talked.
"Axl, are you okay? Please don't be sad. I know how you feel."
"It's nothing. I'll just continue on with my chores…" His hands spiritlessly moved to clean the dirty spot where the clean of pineapple cube originally lay. Iris had a facial expression of both sadness and disappointment.
She slowly walked to Lumine on one corner of the computer brain, arranging tiny bits of data inside the red aura he emitted from his hands. Iris was briefly distracted by the colour of the aura before she got to her point.
"Red aura? You haven't done that for a long time already, Lumine."
"It's my aura, dear girl. I can do whatever I please at. I usually prefer it dark purple for that's who I am, but I decided this was a different situation. What's wrong, dear girl? You're sad just like dear boy."
"You weren't paying attention, were you Lumine? Axl's sad because he feels he'd never see Sue again. I hope you understand how he feels, how I feel too. I know you read records of me when I was active fifty years ago. I lost my brother in the war, I fought Zero mindlessly…" She started to cry but Lumine's finger had reached out to wipe the tears away.
"Yes, dear girl. I understand your feelings. You helped me awaken my senses before and I had a strong feeling of sadness; I yearned to see father again. We can only hope everything will turn fine; this matter is out of our hands."
Lumine stopped speaking and returned to his work. Barely a minute alter where Iris stared into deep space, Lumine let out a great gasp and plummeted himself on the pitch-black floor, panting with a smile.
"It's finally done. The configurations, details, everything… all finished. All strings of data, their proper order of compilation, all done. I can now truly rest."
Iris became excited instantly. "Really? All done? What is it all about?"
"Details, dear girl? Of course. I have already arranged all data concerning speech and further complex vocabulary in order. The Maverick's voice will be exactly was we ought to hear. As for his form, I only arranged exact details of his armour's colour. There was something odd somewhere but I can fix that."
"Armour colour? Odd somewhere? How's that possible?"
"I have a theory but once I've made contact with him, then I'll confirm it. As for the prison censorship, it's all finished. No matter what he says, depending on parameters set, either only we hear him or we hear nothing at all. It's easy and fast getting used to it."
Lumine lied on the floor with a completely straight back; his extending hair seemed to penetrate the floor deeper thus making him relax better. His eyes darted to Iris. "Dear girl, please tell dear boy that everything is ready. I'm waiting for his response."
Iris certainly burst with joy. Lumine allowed himself to sleep for the moment on the cold, pitch-black floor but he did not see Iris dash off to meet Axl. Axl was in control as usual so he wasn't closing his eyes when he was carrying stuff. Iris saw him as just standing still in the computer brain.
"Em… Axl? The program's done. Now, we need your confirmation."
"Gee, you guys are depending a lot on me, aren't you?" Axl placed the crate he was carrying on the cement floor and leaned against a wall thus closing his eyes again to meet his inhabitant. Iris looked rather cheery that time and he was surprised.
"We are going to learn everything about White Axl! Aren't you a least bit excited? It was quite easy for me to persuade him to cooperate but still, it was better me than you guys. Show some enthusiasm!"
"Alright, Iris, I get the picture. Go tell Lumine to start installing the data of his in the Maverick. I'll be joining shortly. I still don't trust him…"
Iris ignored the last sentence Axl said before resuming his duties. She then skipped all the way to a resting white Reploid. Once again, Lumine opened his eyes so fast that Iris was literally shocked and fell on the pitch-black floor.
"Hey, don't do that! You've been doing that a lot ever since you got into this body. Stop scaring me and Axl like that next time, okay?" Lumine gave a light laugh at her before standing back on his feet.
"So dear boy's given consent? That's good. I'll start immediately. Like dear boy, I still don't trust the Maverick so I will need your help, dear girl. When I unlock the prison for a moment to install the data, you have to make sure he remains stable as in not attacking anyone." Iris glared at him while he brushed his chest.
"He said he wouldn't be attacking any of us at all!"
"Well, I'm not taking any chances. Just do it, will you?" Iris fumed slightly as she walked with Lumine towards the prison cube. The repulsion forces were still operational and any attempt of the Maverick to escape only resulted in him being endlessly bounced around inside the cube. Naturally the silver copy was sitting still.
Out of nowhere, a purple orb appeared just at the white Reploid's left side. Lumine raised his left hand, getting ready to punch in codes only he knows how to interpret. Glancing briefly and nodding at Iris, he then went on to tap various unseen buttons.
The prison started to separate into long piles of steel-like projections. The projections were vertical of height so from each end of the sides, projection by projection were dismantled and lifted into the air. White Axl only stood up on the same spot.
Before he could do even anything, Iris was already there to confront him. The Maverick widened his eyes with a little shock. Iris smiled at him and then proceeded to hold his right hand. If she wasn't mistaken, he was shivering out of assumed 'fear'.
"Please… just remain calm. You promised me that you'll never hurt us at all. In return we are giving you what you need. Relax." Indeed the Maverick calmed down slightly and Iris held his right hand firmly.
By now, Lumine was holding the data chunk he had painstakingly created. Despite his earlier outburst of remorse and regret, Lumine still bore the same grudge for the Maverick and had the evil look in his eyes, not his facial expression.
The two pairs of yellow eyes somewhat met. An evil glare was returned by another evil glare. No one said anything just about yet. The white Reploid blinked first. "You're lucky someone made me wait or else you would have been destroyed a long time ago."
White Axl wanted to do something but Iris held on his hand tighter, restraining him.
"Hm. Dear boy's not quick done yet. Oh well… let's start this." Lumine pointed a finger at White Axl's head, forming a deep circular hole on the forehead.
The data chunk disintegrated into millions of tiny bits of squares and rectangles, flying gently in the air. Using his purple aura, he directed a thin ray into the hole and diverted all data on the course. A tiny square came in contact with the hole, causing small sparks to fly. The more data went in, the more sparks flew out.
"Lumine? What are you doing?!" He had a stern look.
"I'm trying to incorporate the data into his system. The only time data can be integrated with these blockages are when the data themselves are written into the data soul during creation in father's factories. This is the use of force at hand."
White Axl was shaking violently as a result from the huge stuns he had to bear. In Lumine's opinion, White Axl deserved it but he wasn't going to be so dumb and to tell that directly on Iris' face. Just when it looked like it was all over, Lumine rudely dived his hand deep into White Axl's head.
"LUMINE!" Iris was going to refute him but the situation was quite tense and this called nothing for debate. At the wound, several square fragments were spluttered out from the armour. The white Reploid made a frowning expression.
"Hm. Just as I thought. You are plain lazy, just like dear boy. Let me bring it out for you. HAH!" Inside the data soul, amid the tones of flowing data, Lumine's palm and fingers spread far out; emitting the dark purple aura in a sphere. The hand sort of grabbed some silicon-looking strings hard and pulled it out.
The result was sheer brightness. Light came out in blinding intensity. A wave of force somewhat was emitted from white Axl's wound, causing them to be thrown backwards. Somehow, even the light was 'seen' by Axl himself in the form of blurry images of his surroundings.
The whole incident happened in the old sir's store while Axl was carrying some other crates. His vision was temporarily brightened up a little due to the 'explosion' that happened in his head. He wanted to know what happened fast but at the same time, he must make sure the store wasn't empty for anyone to rob.
Old sir definitely was awake and even reading the newspaper at the counter. There seems to be no customers at the moment so Axl was able to quietly slip to the back lane alley to have a private conversation with his friends.
Slamming the back door gently, he then grabbed himself a nearby wooden chair and sat on it. "What happened? Man, I should have stayed and watch the guys configure the Maverick instead!" He closed his eyes and got a clear picture of what happened inside his head.
The 'smoke' had gone from thicker to thinner. Iris was lying downwards on the pitch-black floor. Concerned, he dashed over to her.
"Iris! Iris, wake up! What happened?!" He placed her left hand on his shoulder and sought to life her in a standing way. Iris opened her eyes slowly. "Axl? Uh… it was so blinding… White Axl… White Axl! How is he?!"
"He's fine, dear girl. Just back in his prison as usual."
The smoke lessened until there was none left. The white Reploid appeared, walking out of the black background. He bore a wide but sinister smile with him. The green orb which accompanied him disintegrated into thin air.
"Well, well. What do you know? Apparently I was right. The little sneak had his full form in detail but it was somewhat embedded inside him, remaining inactive until I had to pull it out. That was a deliberate action, though. To tell the truth, I was rather surprised from the beginning that he had zero voice applications in him."
"Deliberate action? Full form? No voice? What's going on here actually?" Axl still held onto Iris who appeared to be exhausted. Iris only nodded in silence, signaling that she knew what Lumine was talking about.
"Who are you calling little sneak? You're just smarter that's all."
The voice had boomed out of nowhere. The trio certainly weren't speaking and that meant only one other possibility: White Axl had gained the capability to speak again.
The trio turned towards the direction of White Axl's prison. The Maverick now possessed full form that of a mixture of Axl and Lumine. That white armour was clearly visible and every detail wasn't missed out. Even his scar had vanished. This time he had a mouth to convey his messages.
"You! You did this to my friends?!" Axl yelled at the Maverick copy. The copy was busy examining himself, perhaps not even noticing Axl's yells. He admired the detail of his own armour and responded back to Axl after a while.
"I'm sorry, but did you say something?" His voice sounded chilly to Axl even though it resembled a lot like his but had a definite pitch of sneer from Lumine's. The sneer was so clear Axl wondered if he'll ever sound like that.
Axl didn't reply his copy's question. The white copy smiled back and gave a surprising bow to the three of them. "Well, thank you very much for giving me a voice. Especially Iris. If it wasn't her who persuaded you both, I wouldn't get a chance to cooperate with you."
Lumine looked at Axl. "Well, dear boy. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask. I have none at the moment."
"Who are you actually? Why do you keep harming us previously?" Lumine felt awkward that Axl had asked that question since he had already answered that previously.
The copy smiled back. "I am a new personality as you may have known by now. I am quite special. I am a mixture of you and Lumine in many other aspects. Behaviour, combat styles, codes and protocols. That's me. Unfortunately, that means my mission would occasionally be disturbed."
"A mission? Okay, but before I enquire about that, why do you tend not to harm Iris at all? You harm me and Lumine the most! Even if a Maverick were to be a female, I would have trashed her out thoroughly!"
White Axl was speechless for seconds. "But Iris isn't exactly a Maverick is she?" Iris was taken back a little by that comment. "That's right. It's all in your personality data. The both of you have been programmed, or taught in Lumine's case, to respect girls. Simple as that. Naturally I inherited both such data. You two must have huge respect for the girl, don't you? Besides, harming someone irrelevant to my mission would simply obstruct my mission further."
Lumine said nothing but Axl certainly blushed a little. Iris only smiled with her happy eyes back at him. "Er…okay… Anyway, back to the topic. Tell us everything we want to know."
"Are we in a lonely place?" "Yeah, at a back lane alley." That was Axl.
"Are the censors to the outside world switched off, Lumine?" "Correct."
"Are you excited about this, Iris?" Iris blushed slightly. "Yes…"
White Axl made do with the prison grounds he was imprisoned in and sat with folded legs on the floor. "Well then. Everyone, gather round. Please do sit. I don't want you three to stand too long now. Listen carefully. I am about to reveal to you everything about me and the source of me."
Chapter Twenty-Four: Alterego
The three personalities sat on the floor, forming a small circle arc around on of the four transparent walls that hold the prison together. The white Maverick also was sitting down, getting ready to tell his story.
"First things first, I am originally created by Master Bob."
The last word hit the jackpot. The cause of all this was the human criminal Bob who had escaped from prison twice. "Bob only created me as an integral part of the Maverick Lumine. In easier terms, I am the Maverick data itself. I was programmed with the sole purpose of directing the force behind Master's plan for new world domination, expressed in the form of Maverick Lumine."
"So, Lumine acting Maverick was directed by you? How's that possible?"
"Calm down, Axl. I've just told you the beginning. Now that I'm in this condition, perhaps you'll come to see me as your alter-ego." That fumed Axl a lot. "My alter ego? Heck, I don't even want to think about that! I do not have another side of my personality! It's just one Axl around here and that's me! No more, no less!"
Iris had stood up to pin Axl's hand. She pulled it downwards roughly, signaling Axl to relax, sit down and listen to his copy's point-of-view. Axl only sighed as he allowed himself to be dragged down to the floor.
"Perhaps you're right. I cannot be you exactly but at least some of you. Anyway, now you know me: a piece of program data meant to carry on Master's plan for world domination through the advocating of Reploid evolution. Here's my history."
"Master has long planned to rule the world and the easiest way was through the Prez Corporation. After some eight years of Prez's care for you, Lumine, a new project was initiated. It's what you all refer to as the Jakob Project. You would have known by now that the endless rebellions were initiated by Master Bob, triggering the Project."
"The Tower was on the verge of completion and Prez needed someone to manage it on behalf of the corporation and the Federation. You were the perfect choice, Lumine, for you had nurtured much intelligence needed to run the Project. Prez entrusted you to Bob's temporary supervision and approval; and it all started there."
The white Reploid was only partially listening because he knew many things; he only wanted to know how White Axl became who he was in data soul sense.
"Master created a type of corruption program which allows its host to be safe and at the same time, integrate itself as a huge part of his conscious. That kind of conscious allowed Master to influence Lumine with ideas that the new world was inevitable, under his rule. That kind of conscious made him also act as though nothing happened while he pulled the strings all along. That conscious was me."
"You held control over Lumine?!"
"Not in that sense, Axl. I didn't control his body movements and speech. It wasn't even necessary. Let's put it this way; I suggest the next step of actions to be taken and it appears as though Lumine is thinking about them, his own ideas. He willingly accepts it because I'm his conscious, the corrupted programming of the time."
"My sole mission was simply to indirectly direct Lumine to complete the Jakob Project and in time, to purge the world and ensure Master become the ruler of the new world. Somewhat along the line, a huge Reploid showed up and he soon had eight new generation Reploids to do his own bidding. You know him; I also indirectly ordered Lumine to finish him off. Yes, that was Sigma."
By now, the white Reploid had realized that for the past two years, his thoughts had been influenced by the gentle pestering of a Maverick program. He then looked up at White Axl and asked a question of his own.
"So, if you were influencing me to think all the nonsense about evolution and the new world, what about my other decisions, Maverick? Did you influence them too?"
White Axl smiled. "I'm sorry, but my mission was only to influence you on your actions concerning the Jakob Project. The other things, like your schedule, behaviour, trends of relaxation; those were not of my concern. You truly acted on your own."
"That brings me to another important point you would all like to know. If I remember correctly, Lumine briefed you two" – he turned to Axl and Iris – "regarding all new generation Reploids being corrupted to do Sigma's' bidding, including himself. He also said that if he were truly Maverick, he would have caused more destruction, right?"
"Yeah…hey, how do you know that?"
"I listen around, Iris. Anyway, Master had detected something flawed in all the new generation Reploids some days before the entire batch by the millions was to be released to the whole world. The Maverick personality in each new Reploid has been exponentially quantified."
"Seeing Lumine too as part of it, Master quickly induced him to sleep and corrupted that Maverick personality. I was created then, to control that data so he would be loyal to Master and finish off Sigma. The huge energy supply in the body was also controlled to prevent massive destruction."
Axl was starting to become confused so he quickly asked: "Wait, let me get this straight. A Maverick conscience suppressing Maverick data and controlling a Reploid? So, one data was to make a Reploid loyal to Sigma and the other loyal to Bob. The second one was you, right?"
White Axl made a creepy smile. "Exactly. I'm glad you understand Axl, or else I'll have trouble explaining myself. Anyway, the kidnapping of Lumine, that was me. I influenced him to stage the act cleverly at the Point Galapagos rocket base in order to be led to another point of my mission: to finish off Sigma."
"The other Maverick new generation Reploids took us to the Moon shortly after. They imprisoned us but did treat us nicely, in hopes of giving up the Tower for their use. I wasn't going to allow that so I directed Lumine to bust out of the prison just when the Gateway satellite was exploding. Finally after some wasting of energy on feeble construction Reploids, I watched you Hunters fight Sigma."
"Then I made Lumine act to go on the stage and reclaim the Moon for Master, destroying Sigma on the way. I also made him fight you three because that was Master's orders. You know by now, Master has long despised you three because you always spoil his plans. Forget the baldhead Sigma. He's an idiot."
"Testing out the eight Mavericks' abilities, which crystals were obtained from a laboratory in another section of the Moon's settlements, was a bad idea so I persuaded our Lumine here to use the greatest attack mister Prez had given him: Paradise Lost. If Lumine hadn't been so defenseless, we would have defeated you three already."
The white Reploid was sitting calmly on the pitch-black floor with his arms on his knees. Axl and Iris could not tell the emotions he had now; given the fact a dark shadow covered his eye. His lips didn't provide any clues either.
"I wasn't going to let Master's plan get ruined especially since preparations were on way to launch a massive rebellion to topple the world's governments and declare himself leader. The best way was to pass us on to another body, possess it and continue the rebellion. Remember the tentacles, Axl?"
Axl shivered a lot. "Yeah… those were horrible…"
"Master had found an abundance of electronic wires inside Lumine's body at the time. He had already figured so many possibilities of events in the future so he had input in me a strategy to escape death and live on. Lucky for us, the nearest Reploid was you Axl. It was quite easy to crack open the armour, really."
Lumine stood up suddenly. "Would it be possible if you stop using the term 'us', Maverick? I did not want to do all those actions of the past, you know. You were the mastermind so you did all those. It wasn't me."
"Very well; and you are right too. Your soul and body was merely a physical unit I could use and influence so as to complete Master's work. I decided to tolerate your presence too since you were my host."
"Grrr…" Lumine growled at the white copy of Axl before sitting back on the floor. Axl and Iris were worried that another rage was going to happen. Iris had rushed over to Lumine and tried to sooth him down. Axl only turned back to his copy.
"So if you passed yourself and Lumine into me, then how come you got separated and Lumine was Maverick for the first few days? That hurt me a lot, you know."
White Axl smiled again. "I'm sorry for that, but you know what I've just said. I had to figure a way to continue on Master's plan. The electronic wires passed on… a merged form of me and Lumine to your system. However, I had not anticipated the huge pressure from your copy chip. Master's calculations were wrong."
"Master thought that the energies controlled by your body's copy chip was of no threat and that taking over you would be easy and he could reclaim a united data soul led by me for him to continue his work. However, he made two mistakes. The two mistakes had made such a huge impact on you and everything around us for the past four months or so. Such a pity really."
Axl became interested in the issue. "What mistakes were those?"
"One, Master underestimated the amount of energies inside you body and their functions. The repelling energy was so strong that I was separated from Lumine's mind. It seems that I am a form consisting of majority Virus data and the body repelled it so ruthlessly I thought I was going to be destroyed. But I found a loophole."
"The loophole was to merge myself with all your physical features and Lumine's thus turning myself into inactive data which lives alongside others in this brain. At the same time, I wasn't going to let Master's plan get ruined so I ensured some Maverick data behind in Lumine's mind and this just happened before the body knocked you out."
"The recognition process was complete then. I was a registered inactive data, Lumine was a registered partial Maverick and you were you. You see, when the separation took place, all Maverick data were kept intact in Lumine and kept him going as though I was there. But there's where the second mistake came in."
Axl and the other two looked at him. "What was it?"
"Master didn't foresee Iris' presence in this body. When Lumine was acting rougher the second time, Iris had to appear at take him out. Her aura was powerful enough to quell the ongoing fight. Lumine went to chase after her but she was already well-aware of the situation. Sigma's data was never passed on to me. All she had to do was delete the Maverick data of mine and Sigma. My last hope of continuing Master's plan was ruined."
Iris stood forward to White Axl. "Yes, and things were getting better too. It was good we didn't have to worry about your presence or else, we would have had a tougher time dealing with Lumine's new image and the mess your Master created."
"Dear girl…" Lumine spoke after moments of silence. He was touched that she was defending him. Axl got up too. "Yeah, I prefer this kind Lumine anytime than you!" Lumine's eyes glittered. "Dear boy, you too…?"
White Axl made a face. "Yes, I suppose we all get happy reunions. So you all have solved various problems out there and I was trapped in here with failing hope of survival or development. I was cut off from the world for two months. I had no idea the Jakob Tower was dismantled and the corruption of new recruits for the plan."
"Anyway, since I was partially a data soul and inactive data, I still had a data soul engine. My energy supply was running out. After a month of hiding, I was revealed. I had just dropped dead on the pitch-black floor. Then Lumine found me and analyzed me. I had no means of retaliating him. He knew my configurations here and there instantly."
"Out of curiosity, I was tested on you, Axl, since my data consisted mostly of your physical appearances. For a brief moment I was activated and felt alive again. Not forgetting my mission, I took the opportunity to copy most of your data in your soul. I was nearly complete but I forgot to copy some voice data. I wasn't activated again till nearly a month later."
"Your power is very strong, Lumine, even within the confines of the copy chip. I was tied as inactive data so strongly I couldn't break free. Even so, I was considered lucky to be able to copy your agility and speed codes, Axl. I knew I would be free somehow."
"Once again, I was activated when you were fighting Bob for the second time. Lumine briefly tested me on Axl for a flying ability and those minutes were good enough for me to stealthily copy all details regarding the body mechanisms and features. I was deactivated again and the fight went on. Iris sacrificed herself thus knocking out everyone unconscious, not dead. I could have taken control if I wasn't tied up again."
"But just then a miracle happened. Axl's so-called depression, despair and desperation had enabled the body to use up all excess energy to repair itself. All data souls were registered, including little conscious me. So, I was fully energized and yet still tied as an inactive data."
"Grrr…" It was Axl's turn to growl at his copy this time. The other two have sat down on the pitch-black floor, watching the moment. White Axl only laughed.
"As the days passed by, I was somehow growing stronger and more powerful. I owe it to your speed and agilities, Axl. I began to recognize the knots and threads that pinned me down. With speed, I was able to move a little, as an inactive data."
"But the knots were still strong. The repulsion force that was pinning me down was way stronger. This resulted as what you only felt as the 'pangs of pain'. Initially only you felt it Axl because it was quite weak. This one repeated on till the third one."
"At the same time, I tried to tie up you and Lumine together as my revenge on both of you. I didn't intend on Iris to experience the pain because she wasn't part of my mission and like you, Axl, I respect girls. Unfortunately, I could only tie up several movement and speech knots in both of you and once again, I forgot to make copies of your voices."
"But you failed didn't you? Iris was there to help us."
"That's correct, Axl. Iris was an obstacle for my mission to come true: to unify you two under me and search out for Master Bob. Nonetheless, I still couldn't hurt her not only because she wasn't my target, but I had immense respect for her."
"Shortly thereafter, I had to hide myself. Do you know where I was hiding all along? I bet you didn't for you only checked amongst and behind the inactive data. I was actually hiding INSIDE the inactive data. Funny though it seems but I had no choice."
Axl got fumed slightly. "You didn't mess my data, did you?"
"No, I didn't. You must be crazy to mess with the configurations of your own mechanisms. A massive disorder could happen just like the time your emotions were unstable and tied to the release of excess nuclear energy. We would have been wiped out and the Big City too."
"I know all this. Master Bob programmed lots of knowledge into me as well, though I tend to read some of Lumine's while I was his conscious and also keep track of certain events. I am a data soul now so I still can hear and see it all."
Iris saw a potential rift-raft during the talk for Axl was getting angrier at the copy. She tugged his hand and pulled him down forcefully.
"Where was I? Ah yes, I remember. You know, the other 2 pangs after the third pain were just leftover static energy I left behind before I moved on to hide inside another inactive data. Lumine was the fastest to act so only he knew what the pangs of pain were actually. He cleansed it with his aura. Fascinating the things the mind can do, isn't it Axl?" Neither spoke further then.
"There was the time when all three of you were sleeping. You had no idea how hard it was to resist the sleeping injection. I am a data soul so I also felt the pressure. I had to control myself from being overwhelmed. It took me hours to hold you two up while you were sleeping. I began to integrate myself into you two before the complete merge."
"This was a perfect chance to copy more data. I had perfected the configuration of Axl's own data threads and copied almost all of Lumine's data. So sorry if that fact disturbed you, Lumine, but I had to do what I must do."
"I used some of your stunning methods to pin you both down, Lumine. Your secret data was most certainly helpful for my use. Then Iris had to come in and bother me again. The wounds she made were terrible yet I can't even stop her due to my respect for her. All my threads and knots I made so far were blown away to bits and you two were freed again. I reassembled myself from fragments to escape."
Axl interrupted him. "But Lumine managed to scan you, didn't he?"
"Yes, that was most frustrating. He soon found exact matches between me and the last time I was analyzed. That was when he began to hunt me down furiously but he certainly didn't spot me inside the inactive data." The white Reploid said nothing.
"I soon realized that I needed to plan my actions more carefully for there was the creation of a virus tracking program inside this body. It was a mistake for me to wonder around in my copied form while the scanning was in progress, I admit it. I was caught but thanks to Lumine's combat codes, I was able to break free."
"Yes, that time was most frustrating for me. I had to struggle with Lumine's aura just to merge him, though I admit it was never easy to break a wound in it and absorb him. Having accomplished that, I copied every other data of his and went on a fight with you, Axl. I also further reinforced the copied data before expressing a form of what was supposed to be me now. But I was lazy and had more important things to do: take over the body and search for Master."
"Iris' interruption was also frustrating. I can't believe you used her to distract me and you delivered so much pain to me. The reinforced prison was tough so I had to temporarily retreat myself. I figured out new ways to escape."
Lumine looked at White Axl. "You used the same abilities to create a wound on that electrically-charged wall to shock us and destroy us, didn't you?"
"That's right. That time, I used the same stunning method, only it was further improved. It was designed to rip away many connections of data threads in all of you till the data soul engine becomes fried and stops operating. That was an easy way but seems that Iris decided to sacrifice herself to save the more powerful ones."
"Well, if you respect Iris so much, then why didn't you stop attacking?"
"I wanted to, Axl, but my target was you and Lumine. I wouldn't stop until your data soul engines were fried and disintegrated. Iris used her aura to attract the shock stuns to herself. Having you saved by Lumine, you guys then beat me up till my attacks were forcibly stopped."
"Alas, all of the copied combat data were destroyed by Lumine and the prison was further reconfigured to use repulsion forces instead of electric charges. Pity that was the thing which could stop me. How do you stop yourself from continuously being bounced of by a magnet mechanism? If I were to attract myself to the magnet, I would be severely injured. Hence my presence here."
"On a side note, all along this while, I had never really bothered to express my full form because I was too focused on my mission and ignored that. I also kept forgetting to make a copy of voices, largely due to Axl's own personality: sometimes I am forgetful, sometimes I am not."
"Thank goodness Iris came by and offered a compromise. Or else, I would never be complete of codes and you all won't be able to know why this happens."
The story was over. The trio thus stood back up while White Axl preferred to remain seated on the floor. The scar-less copy of Axl merely stared back at them.
"Well, I am done here." The Maverick reclined on the floor. "I'm imprisoned, my combat codes have all been forcibly erased and it looks like there'll be no way out for my mission. You've won for now. As I understand it, Lumine wishes me to be totally destroyed and you two are hesitating."
Axl and Iris glared back at the white Reploid who bore an expression of hatred and destructiveness. Lumine merely shrugged his shoulders, still implying that although he wanted total deletion, the others were entitled to free speech.
"Do what you feel is right. I have no power over you now. I also wish to let you know that the past three months or so, those experiences with everything; human modes of consumption sources of energy and the human activities, the classrooms, insults on that human was most pleasant."
Decided that he should not go further with his sweet words, Lumine pulled out the green orb out of thin air and began pressing invisible buttons. The prison cube let out a brief siren sound and then it was all silent.
"The audio censors are switched on. What he says won't reach us and what we say won't reach him. He will remain in that prison until we have decided of what to do with him. That decision rests on you, dear boy, if you don't mind."
Axl was mildly surprised. The white Reploid and Iris had been waiting for Axl's decision for a long time now and although they wished the issue be dealt with hurriedly, their opinions were divided and depended on Axl.
"Wow…gee… we've just learnt about the giant tale of the past. If it's okay with you guys, I'll tell you what to do later. This time, I will make my decision clear."
"But, of course dear boy." Iris only nodded at Axl. "Dear boy, you've been in this dark alley corner for nearly 80 minutes. I suggest you get us back in the store. The old human would be angry at you for delaying his time."
Indeed Axl got a brief scold from the old man and hurriedly resumed his work for the coming hours. When it was already evening, Axl greeted farewell to the old sir and teleported back to the Hunter HQ.
It was close to bedtime. During the intermediate period, Iris had taken control of the body and had a long chat session with Zero in his office for the first time in many days. Lumine had taken control of the body to complete his last-minute assignments real quick, using Axl's features as a cover-up. Axl himself had not much time to complete his own assignments and stuff.
Axl made a loud yawn in the middle of the central resting chamber but his rudeness didn't bother anyone or his inhabitants. Deciding it was time to sleep before facing another day of classes, he dragged his feet back to his resting pod.
After setting the alarm to seven in the morning so he could read some online comics he saw the other day, he lifted the glass hatch. He was about to put his right foot on the metal base when Lumine interrupted him.
"Dear boy… dear girl… thank you. Thank you for soothing my anger and defending me while that Maverick spoke so much ills of me. I can't fully express my gratitude to you both. Thank you."
"No problem at all. It's what friends are for."
"Yeah, what she said. Anyway, I'll let you know my decision later. I'm quite tired and I'd rather not think of the topic. Goodnight you two. Wow, look at the lightning and rain. I hope we don't have another blackout again…"
The trio laughed while Axl entered his pod, marked by fierce flashes of lightning and thunderous noise of both thunder and raindrops.