Sephira and Sigma stared at each other for a long time.
"If you want me, let them go." Sephira told him in a dark tone. Sigma laughed at her.
"You can not fool me." Sigma boasted. "There is nothing you can do to allow me to free them!"
"Nothing?" the human woman asked tonelessly as she gave a small eyebrow raise.
"Nothing." Sigma affirmed proudly.
Sephira looked Sigma over then turned to look at X who was presently trapped in suspended animation with Zero, Axl, and Alia. She knew what to do, but the idea made her stomach churn in disgust.
"What is it going to be?" Sigma demanded.
Sephira walked up to Sigma, and with a certain look she kissed him. Satisfied with what he wanted, Sigma exchanged the favor. A small moment in time revealed the sound of two busters being charged and being fired in Sigma's direction. Sigma fell to the ground from critical damage and looked up at Sephira as X and Zero stood behind her- all three of them had no emotion in their faces, and it came off as nearly terrifying.
"Never fuck with a girl who trusts Reploids." Sephira said in a voice that didn't sound like her own before X and Zero took one last shot at Sigma's core.
It was over. Sigma was never coming back now.
Their struggles, however, weren't quite wrapped up yet...
. . .
Later on, Alia had taken Axl to an abandoned factory once used by Sigma to reprogram Reploids into his bidding. Axl had no idea why Alia would take him here of all places, but he couldn't shake the thought of Sephira and what Sigma had done to her while he followed Alia around.
"She's... not going to make it... is she?" Axl asked.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Alia said softly. "If the universe wants to go kindly on her, she may be able to go on with a normal life again- maybe she and X will live in complete bliss."
"You're not betting on it?"
Alia said nothing, stopping in her tracks with thought.
"Axl... can I trust you to keep something a secret?" Alia then asked, her voice nearly in a whisper.
"I guess so." he agreed. "What is it?"
Alia motioned for Axl to follow her again and he did. She took him to two chambers in the corner of the room. Inside the each chamber was a single cell that was neither human nor Reploid. It almost looked like it was... both.
"The hell...?" Axl questioned as he got a closer look. "Am I looking at..."
"Twins, separated by those two chambers, created from DNA taken from Sephira and X. At least, some of X's DNA, from the small bytes of debris that came off of him during his battle with Sigma."
Axl grimaced and looked away from the chambers with a shudder. So he was looking at what he thought it was...
"They'll be the perfect hybrid of human and Reploid." Alia told him, "But the process will take a while, especially if we can not scrape off more of X's DNA. Perfection requires time, patience, and a lot of resources you never have on hand. But even when they are big enough to be considered premature... if X doesn't die before then, they will be only human with some rather... grotesque quirks."
"So... they're a whole new life form?"
Alia gave a solemn nod.
"And we can't tell anyone- do you understand me?"
"I promise." he said, crossing his heart.
. . .
X was no idiot; he knew Sephira was dying.
As the days went by, he noticed that he would find her sleeping more and more often. Some times she was in bed, some times she was on the couch, other times she had fallen asleep at the table while attempting to eat. More often times than none, X took the courtesy to place Sephira in bed, put her in a comfortable position, and lay down beside her to show that he was there beside her now- if only for a short while.
It was around the time X feared Sephira was going to die while he was with the Maverick Hunters that someone knocked on the door. At first, X didn't hear them knock- but when the knocks started to sound desperate and nearly shook the house, that was when X heard it and took action upon it. X had taken off all of his armor at that point but did not feel like putting it back on, so instead he found a bathrobe and wrapped it around his body before answering the door.
Almost to X's surprise, it was Dr Weil. Weil looked over X with a measure of surprise and disgust before composing himself once more.
"Is Sephira home?" Dr Weil asked, a hint of anger peppered in his otherwise formal tone.
"She's sleeping." X told Weil. "I'm not sure when she'll wake up."
"Oh." Dr Weil then said as his face forged into a frown. X looked at Weil and wondered something.
"Sephira is dying." X slowly told Weil. "I know she took a leave of absence, but she may not be able to go back. She... she isn't getting any better."
Dr Weil's face instantly became surprised and fearful, but he said nothing about it. But Weil's facial features relaxed soon enough.
"I understand you two are close, but before I get too far- can I tell you a little about my work?"
X raised an eyebrow, but said nothing against it. Dr Weil took this as a sign to continue.
"Sephira and I have been developing a certain kind of brain mapping intelligence- to upload one's brain into a computer, so to speak. Sephira was the one to label the project 'Cyber Elf' because these big personalities are getting squished into a tiny, external body- much like an elf in popular culture. We were almost complete with the main Cyber Elf that all other Cyber Elves will be based on, but we had decided to use a Reploid as the official brain map. However... considering the circumstances, and with your blessing, I can use Sephira. Only with your blessing, however, due to how close you two are."
X nearly lit up at the idea, but took a moment to consider it. Yes, she would be alive... but in a way she wasn't...
Dr Weil waited patiently as X made up his mind, and waited for the words that Weil had counted on.