Part IIV

Fateful Endings

Chapter Thirty-One

It had been another ten long years. Gamma had been asleep the entire time, patiently waiting for Lilly to finish rebuilding her. With the new age, reploid parts were hard to find. The mavericks had taken them, to prevent the production of new hunters. Lilly now peered over her friend, a worried look on her face. In those years, she had gotten taller and more intelligent. She was 27 years of age now. Two children stood at her side, both with their mother's hair and soft green eyes, lighter than the sharp emerald of their mother's eyes. They were to be her legacy, to help them as Lilly had.

"Here goes nothing." She mumbled lightly, softly pressing the palm of her head on the cobalt crystal that activated Gamma's online circuitry. A bright light came to life from the energy, flickering wildly until it remained lit. It seemed like such a long time, and it really had been. Her azure eyes flickered open, unfocused and wide before they contracted. The multiple iris discs that made up the main plate in her eyes swirled a few times, before they stopped. She stared at the long vertical fluorescent lights of the dim lit lab. She studied the odd bulbs for only a few seconds, readjusting to the fact she was awake. She slowly angled her neck to each side, looking around the metal lab. She finally realized where she was, and eventually, she looked over at Lilly.

Her body, no matter how synthetic it was, did not hurt as much as it had before she had fallen asleep. She was in the middle of a system scan, checking her own databanks for any reports of damage. She found the one flaw she hoped was gone, that stupid virus. She knew better. It was imbedded in her brain, and that was too fragile for anyone to mess with if they did not have the proper training. And in this time, no one did. She knew that the virus would continue its slow infection, until it eventually changed her ending code to 10010, thus making her complete code 4876-GX10010, instead of the code she had now, 4876-GX01001. That scared her, but she would never admit it openly. Not as long as she had choice in the matter. She didn't want to worry the only people she had left. That wouldn't be fair to them. They didn't need to know.

Slowly, Gamma sat up, wincing only slightly. She hadn't moved on her own in a long while, and the movement sent a dizzy spell racing to her head. When she was able to, she looked up again, at Lilly directly this time. "It is good to see you again, Lilly. You have gotten much older. 27…correct?" She carefully studied her dear friend, noticing the weary gaze that she wore. She was only slightly taller, but she had become frailer, as what always occurred with age with humans. Reploids didn't have to worry much about that. Their bodied did not keep aging like that of humans; they were given a specific height from the time of their creation, and stayed that way.

Lilly gave a grin, "It has been awhile. And yes, I am 27 now. But how do YOU feel, Gamma?" She asked, a small hint of worry in her voice. Gamma assessed herself, looking back on the scan records. "My outer and internal mechanisms are working properly. Everything is fine." She lied thinly, but did so perfectly. In truth, her systems wouldn't go above 20%. She quickly diverted the subject. "How is X?" Her head tilted, waiting for her answer. Lilly looked toward the left wall, sighing. "I made a copy of his programming and memories, as you asked. I didn't know how to sort them. Sorry, but hopefully it will help. And his vitals are alright. He's on a machine that keeps him alive, but he won't wake up." She gave a frail smile, indeed hoping that the little thing she had done would at least spare Gamma some of the time it would take her to get everything together. Indeed, it would.

"Thank you, Lilly. That will help me a lot. Thankfully, any information that was at the base was destroyed. I sent a virus to the mainframe computer that told it to wipe it out. Now WE have the only copy." Gamma gave a thin smile, but suddenly blinked. Her eyes slowly fell of the small movements of the two children, who darted behind their mother, peering out to stare at the reploid. Their eyes were wide eyes, squeaking as she finally looked at them. "And who are these youngsters…?" Gamma blinked, looking back up at Lilly's face, smiling faintly. The young woman smiled sheepishly. "This are my children, Gamma." She looked down at the young girl to her left, who peered back out. Her soft eyes were wide with adventure and curiousness, much like her mother used to have. Gamma noted the spunk that was imbedded in the girl's heart, and the thirst for adventure and discovery. "This is Akki, my daughter." Lilly then looked at the young boy to her right. He was ducked more behind his mother, a sheepish look on his face. He was a bit more weary of the reploid that now looked at him. His face reddened out of shyness, before he ducked behind her, clenching at Lilly's pant leg. Gamma couldn't help but smile at his shyness. "And this is her twin brother, Miecha."

"They're adorable, Lilly." Gamma chuckled, waving to the tw children. The moment she did, Akki attacked. The little girl darted over to her, peering up before grabbing her hand. A wide grin appeared on her face as she squealed, "So cool! A real reploid!!" Her tiny voice was filled with excitement, and she was in no way afraid. She was so much like her mother. Miecha slowly followed his sister, keeping behind her. He looked up at Gamma's face, eeping. "A-are you gonna fix that blue reploid? He's neat looking…" He grinned shyly, slowly looking to the cubbies. Gamma followed his gaze, and gave a small nod. She smiled at the young boy. "I am. Would you like to help me?" She already knew the answers that the two would give her, and she was dead on. At her words, the two squealed and nodded excitedly, darting over to the wall. Gamma gave a light chuckle, and slowly stood, testing her legs for just a moment.

She carefully opened X's cubby. It was time to fix her dear friend. He was laying limp on the table, offline as he had been for years now. Gamma b it the thin plating of her lip, slowly looking back to Lilly. "I am going to need your help Lilly…if you are able to." She awaited an answer, slowly pondering on her answer. It would be enough. Lilly gave a small nod, "I can stay a few months, but I will have to leave after three. I promised Alex I'd come home. He misses me." She chuckled, walking over to her friend and children. Gamma gave a slow now. That would be more than enough time. She just needed Lilly's help gathering parts. It would take about six months, but she would be happy with the company.

It was going to be a bumpy ride for them all now, but somehow…it would just have to be enough. It would have to be, for X's sake.