"Careful with the Tulasi!" Mother Kamala warned Fefnir as he carried a bunch of bamboo rods.
She had asked the fire-based guardian to help her build a new canopy for the sacred Tulasi plant, the summer sun too harsh for her.
And thus, Fefnir and Leviathan were back at the temple. Sure, they may be busy trying to fix four years of Maverick behaviour, but the thermal duo had the least amount of work to do. Besides, Fefnir wanted to do something for Krishna as a way to thank Him. Same as Leviathan.
God didn't have to change Z-T as a Nanoid, and He didn't need to arrange for the truth to come to light. He was the Ever Aloof Watcher after all.
And yet, Krishna went out of his way for them...for a group of nobody trying to run the world's biggest empire while trying to prevent demons from taking over and starting a war with other cities.
Not only that, but despite everything, the four Guardians got a family out of the deal. And more friends they thought they should have, even poor Xerox, after cleaning Madri's Samadhi, had made friends with the pot washer. A very laid back guy who said little, and chanted constantly.
"Oi, Ferdi!" leviathan broke him out of his reverie. " Come down to earth, we have a busy day today."
"Right." the firefighter dropped the bamboo poled and cane, careful not to jostle the sacred plant. Both reploids were shamelessly wearing traditional Indian cloth. The mermaid-like General wore a gorgeous blue sari while Fefnir wore work duds...since he was the man of the group.
Well...he saw himself as a man...even if, as the soul, his identity had nothing to do with the body he was in at the moment.
As it turned out, the nature of all souls was female, as explained in the Gita.
To be female meant to give pleasure to the male, and the only male in the entire existence both mundane and spiritual was none other than Krishna, the Parama-Purusa, the supreme enjoyer.
And to give pleasure to Krishna, while still being in a material body with a material identification as 'male' (or even, female, for that matter.) was to serve him through his devotees. Something Fefnir loved doing.
Especially when it came to Mother Kamala, this woman was nice and sweet but had this fiery side and determination that could herd cat and break mountains.
The fire General loved it.
Really, Fefnir had given his heart and head to her, and not a drop of shame marred the experience. For she was beyond human and reploid, she was a Vaishnavi, a dedicated servant of Krishna.
He glanced at the wonderful woman from the corner of his eyes, this was one of those rare days were her own mother, and Larily-Lala's first daughter, would be in the temple ground...
She was ninety, and her right hand was constantly in her bead bag, chanting the Maha-Mantra when not talking to her daughter and Leviathan. This old woman that glowed with joy and bliss was the first daughter of Larily-lal, They had named her Ekadasi, just like the day they had dug her out of the collapsed hospital.
The moment the Old woman had meet Leviathan, her eyes had gotten the glow one gets when one meets an old friend again.
As it turned out, she had once worked as a secretary for the Spiritual division of the government. A division that had only lasted for ten years. But during this decade, She and Leviathan had grown close...even more so when she gave birth to her first daughter.
The ice guardian had gained another title and duty that day; to be Kamala's Babysitter. And yes, the elder still had the pictures.
Speaking of which.
"Yo Lucie, can you send me the blueprint again for Tulasi Devi's gazebo?"
Leviathan 'tsk' as she rolled her eyes. "Ferdi, I already send I to you."
"Yeah...but knowing you, I bet you made some change while I was bringing the rest of the material in."
Leviathan opened her mouth...then closed it. Showing her brother that he was right on the money.
Soon enough, he received the final blueprint. It was a rather simple construction made of twine, canes, and heavy jute covering that would provide the shade the divine being required while still letting some light in.
As he began to dig the holes where the foundation would be set, Fefnir took another look at Kamala and Leviathan, both women were talking over an old paperback, The Chaitania-Bhagavat. Beside them, Kamala's elderly mother, Ekadasi, her eyes brighter than any youth in Neo-Arcadia's main rich district, gave her commentary on the ancient text.
'hey Krishna...I know I didn't do much for you. But please my Lord, may this beautiful little Vrindavana and those who call her home be eternally protected. And may this day remain as sweet and action free as yesterday.' He closed his eyes and pray. Little Vrindavana was the perfection of Master X's dream.
It was a place where humans and Reploids, passing by the Cyber-elves and even animals lived in peace, the knowledge of being souls in different grades of body negating all and any trace of racism.
Reploids could marry humans, as long as they swore to serve and protected their second half, mostly woman until those fortunate saints would leave this world and enter the divine realm. They would take care of children in the community's many Kulis...Vedic schools were they would all learn about morality and build saintly character with love and care.
Most of those married reploids also had the right to build and care for childlike newbuilds. Having cracked the code of Reploid 'reproduction' but a mere month ago. But none of those newbuilds could be considered the same as Z-T. For they started their life at 'five' years of age and were very quick learner.
And no one complained about that. actually, some human-bodied parents would try to have their own kids learn from the reploids, for they would become walking Bhagavatam Shrines after a whole year...
And they were cute as Heck, so pure, so precocious. And so loved...like all the reploids that lived in Little Vrindavana.
And all reploids loved those humans back a thousandfold.
'Oh...I wish our Master X could live to see this.' Sent a prayer to Srimati-Tulasi devi, praying to the powerful being for a miracle.
On the altar, Her Grace Sachi-Sundari took the Lord's plate, the old woman grunted as her full body burn scar was pulled.
'Oh, Kanaya...this bodies almost not good anymore...' She spoke from within her heart to her Lord. For her external voice had turned raspy and reedy from the two intubations.
Then she heard a peculiar sound, looking up, she realized that Radha, Balabhadra and Nityananda had dropped their garlands...and then she saw Khir-Chora-Gopinath break His.
The diminutive native of the Bengal coast felt whatever hair was left erect...this...was the sign of something so auspicious, no words could describe it, not even in sacred Bengali
.
Back at the Babel tower.
"Alright Z-T...I know Krishna said that He was an adventure and all, but do you think we should, you know...go back and prepared better?" Xerox asked as they approached a very bright room at the end of the extremely dusty and unused hallway.
Z-T blew a raspberry...and coughed. The heavy dust had entered his air filter and was already clogging it.
"You know, If I had my backpack with me, you wouldn't be crawling in century-old dust, ruining the awesome hoody mother Kamala made you and clogging your filter." Xerox purged his filters with a gust of air. " Now c'mon Z-T, let's get out of here and let me get the gears we need for- hey!" He yelped as the little mechanized dust bunny crawled toward the other end of the maintenance corridor.
Xerox sighed...and with a brazen smile, 'ran' after the Nanoid.
The Babel tower was boring, and almost everyone that worked there was more or less a bureaucrat.
Oh, he knew he deserved to be stuck in the tower of boring humans and reploids...seriously, none of them had anything better to do but work like asses in a dead-end job...and none wanted to hear about Krishna and the real goal of life. Xerox's only highlight of the day was his service at the temple, he would weed the garden and sweep Madri's Samadhi...and play with Z-T of course.
But one can only be entertained for some time on a tablet that ran slower than his own FPS...and video games were not so fun for him and Z-T and reading books...
He would read for one hour a day the books of the previous Acharia and that was it... he simply wasn't one for reading...and book distribution and Harinama was not an option either since he was still technically grounded for his past actions.
He may have had some help for his quick descent into madness...but it was still his decision in the end.
Still, Xerox longed for action.
'thank you, Krishna, for making this day interesting.' Krishna didn't have to arrange for the discovery...and yet He did.
Eventually, he managed to wade through the forest of dust, sand and cobweb, emerging in a broad room with a huge, glowing tree standing in the middle. The construct glowed with power, and Xerox could make out the steady hum of a generator.
"Woah!" Xerox breathed out as he took stock of the room... he could even see the stars and moon in the sky.
From the floor, Z-T did the same.
"I don't know what this place is...but it's awesome." it could totally be converted into a Tulasi garden with a deity of Radha-Krishna seated under the huge artificial tree, or even a swing to celebrate the Julhan-Yatra festival.
'Yeah...I need to talk to Harpuia and Larily-lal into it.' He could already see the place filled to capacity with ecstatic devotees chanting and dancing as they pull the golden rope of the most opulent swing in existence, pleasuring they're ever so sweet Lordship.
"Oya! Oxu!" Z-T called the one he saw as his big brother and only playmate. "Go. see I wanna!"
"Ok, ok..." The blue reploid chuckle, already mapping out the room. He picked up Z-T and swung the little Hero onto his back, his little hands powerful enough to keep his small frame on X's copy even if he would break at a full run.
He pattered around the huge, column-like tree, it radiated a power both motherly like Larily and Anasuya, yet dark and dangerous as the worst Virus in his quarantine.
It made Xerox Dizzy, but the call to adventure gave him a strength that let him power through it.
Eventually, the intrepid Duo made their way to the other side...
'Huh...what is this? A box? A control panel?" Xerox Wondered as he got closer...and yet making sure he was as close to the wall as possible. Feeling very much uneasy about his discovery.
On his back, Z-T held onto his neck tight enough to strangle him, was he a human. 'Even Z-T's not too sure about it...' He thought with dread.
Still, they had come so far, and Xerox doubted the guardians and his mother would let him return here. since there was no way he could explain how he and Z-T had managed to become so dusty.
The Babel tower was spotless, and nowhere was as disty as this secret corridor.
He stopped, and still too far to see what was inside the great three-like construct, he began to pray.
"namas te narasiḿhāya"
"prahlādāhlāda-dāyine"
"hiraṇyakaśipor vakṣaḥ-"
"śilā-ṭańka-nakhālaye"
He began to sing, behind him, Z-T followed with his broken words...and after five minutes, Xerox felt brave enough to see what it was.
For all he knew, it could only be the control panel to Neo-Arcadia's Eden dome...'But then...why is it so dusty?...it's like...it's like they forgot about it.' And as he had learned, humans had changed many accounts. Some in hopes that they would forget the atrocity they had committed in the name of the Asimov code...others, because the truth was too awful to face, even for them.
He crawled closer and closer, Xerox identified the huge three as a sun captor and generator...a big generator tied to a medical computer and... the control panel was not what it seemed at first. For under the layer of Dust, Xerox could make out a silhouette.
He climbed onto the reclined box, the thing looking more like Sleeping Beauty's coffin than anything else right now...
on top of the glass, a heavy layer of dust rested upon the reclined coffin...
It was as if the building itself was trying to hide an awful truth under poison and trash. Like a brat hiding his mother's favourite lamp he had broken, under a pile of Garbage.
He felt his core pulse faster...he felt like an archaeologist of old discovering ancient tombs...was this how Doctor Cain felt when he found X for the first time?
Maybe...Maybe this was where Master X's body was kept? 'No...why would they keep the Dark-Elf so close to the human population. Mega Man X's body is probably somewhere in the middle of the desert...' It would make no sense to keep the sacred body of master X, a body that held the most dangerous of cyber-elf, so close to humans and reploids...right?
Right?
Xerox closed his eyes...took a deep breath in and, wiped off the layer of dust...revealing...
"X..." Alalanath spoke this one letter that somehow meant more than expected.
In front of the fused couple, flashing in and out of sight like a faulty monitor was...
The blue legend...X
Just as his dear wife had told him.
He wore a long blue dress that covered his body, a cross emblazoned his front like a curse, and a Data-halo floated above his head...a dark...film weaving trough the data-hallow like a disease. X's mouth also looked as if it had been stitched closed centuries ago, but had been painfully opened. On his wrists were the broken remenent of data-cuff, a program used to retrained reploids on the level of their code.
He looked...tired, faded, thin, sick and...extremely disappointed at Alalanath.
'Prabhu...X is...'
'Is cyber-elf now?' Alalanath asked his wife, his disbelief clear in his subtle voice.
'Apparently, he is...but he still has his reploid designation.' Larily stated. 'You know...I think the rumours were true; one has to kill a reploid to make a cyber-elf.' She conveyed to her husband, he voice deceptively calm for one boiling in righteous anger.
'Alright...do I need to start chanting Hare Krishna to him?' Alalanath asked his wife at a speed only the best computers could clock. To be honest, to be able to free X and afford him a human birth was a dream Alalanath and Larily had for a long time.
'Ala, chant to him anyway. I think I have an idea about how to salvage him...Krishna gave me an idea. Just keep him occupied.'
'Got it, Devi.' Alalanath returned to normal time. And after centuries dealing with all types of personality, the withering glance of the eldest hunter didn't faze him at all.
Instead, Alalanath kept his eyes soft and kind, and as loving as is he would look at wither his wife and daughters, his brahmacharis or The Lord.
"X...how are you?" Alalanath began.
"Those Baby-elves...they were mere children." his accusatory tone was harsh. "You...you kill them."
Alalanath leaned back, the lower arms of Larily's seraphic wing providing a rather nice support. "Yeah...no choice X."
"they were innocents."
"I wouldn't call them that...look at what they did to your two sons. What to say about the thousand of Reploids and real Cyber-elves their kind corrupted." Alalanath gestured to the still prone form of Harpuia and Phantom. "And I wouldn't call them babies, X. Trust me, I've raised enough to know one."
"Every night, they cry to their mother." X accused, his voice and form wavering, his energy quickly waning. "And every night...they look for comfort...for me." His digitized voice rasped as if the legendary Re...Elf hadn't spoken for a century.
Alalanath lowered his head...yes, Those creatures had a nasty habit of acting weak and helpless to attract soft-hearted reploids and Cyber-elves to them. Twisting them until they were but programs running the nightmare machine. And it was clear X had been too close to them.
This had been Weil's plans...and it worked flawlessly. It was only due to the Lord's causeless mercy that cyber-elf X did no act on the rabid impulses.
"X...you took care of them, right?" Alalanath asked, trying to keep the conversation going, he could feel his wife reducing the elf-capture field.
It was slow progress, but she didn't want to have X figure out what she was planning and cause him to panic.
At the state he was it...it would defragment the poor soul, leaving him in an actual ghost body, now truly unable to interact with the world, cursed to suffer unspeakable miseries and the burning rays of the sun.
X looked at the much younger reploid. His eyes softening somewhat. "My only companions...they stayed with me...as I lurked in the broken web of cyberspace...the only shred I had left...of Zero."
Alalanath raised a brow.
"Zero...they made Mother-Elf from his code...his DNA."
Alalanath bit his tongue. He knew what X was alluding to...something that was a desire longed for any couples... Desires that were ultimately impossible.
No, reploids didn't have DNA...unless they really were Cybertronien, like their community's conspiracy theorist, his Grace Gokulananda Das kept insisting. what they called Reploid DNA, really were blueprints, nothing more. And no, uploading once blueprint and specks and nanites into one's partner and splicing them together would not produce an offspring.
Reploids didn't have the required hardware to do that, only an external machine could do that.
'Ala... keep him talking, I'm making good progress.' Larily whispered, it was clear she was using her antire brilliant mind to keep the father of all reploids with them. 'he's so low...there's practically no connection to his body.' He heard her murmur. '...I may need to...'
'Do it. I already broke and used some siddhis today, go wild Lulu, make Him proud.'
'Yes...keep him calm while I work, would you?'
'Yes devi...I'll try to have X in a better mood...Shit, I thought I simply dislike Weil. May Yamaraja send the demon to the deepest pit of hell.'
'Alalanath!' Rebuked her husband.
'Hey, he's just going to hell for some time...if I really would hate him, Al would have reached the impersonal Brahman by now.'
'Alright, point taken.'
"So...that's what you've been doing all those years." Alalanath began, his tone light a caring.
"I...I'm not sure...existing?...helping?" X spoke, he looked confused and tired.
"Helping with what?"
X starred at Axl...blinked for a bit and...
"The humans...reploids...elf..." he looked down. "I...my father wanted me to help them...Light...Light made me to help...I helped Ciel...When the copy was reprogrammed."
"Ah...I see. You must be the Cyber-elf that helped Ciel and the resistance...right?"
"Yes..." he pursed his lips as if he had eaten something bitter. "But my plan...didn't go as expected..." he admitted.
"No...Z-T turned into a Nanoid on us." Alalanath spoke with a mirthful voice. "Man makes plans...or android in our case, and Krishna laughs at them and makes something better."
X gave a static-filled huff...and nothing else. But for Alalanath, this little bit of sound conveyed how tired and defeated X was about everything.
"so...how long did you stay here X?" Axl asked, he could feel the field closing on X, on a hunch, he started to chant in his mind as he waited for the overwrought ghost of a hunter to finish calculating the years...and purging the dark influence of the corrupters.
"I...don't remember...four years? no...I lurked in Sub-Arcadia and the under-net...for close to a century... And I fought...I fought maverick for a hundred more...I think..." he pulled a face. "Nothing changed after...my sacrifice... Humans are still envious...of us..."
"X...not all humans hate reploids, and not all reploids are against humans," Alalanath spoke with wisdom he rarely showed. "You should see the reploid right activist, and in our part of the land you gave us, this type of racism on close to nil."
X gave a blink...Or it would be if he had enough energy to make his graphical avatar move.
"X, do you remember the piece of land you gave me and the Hare Krishna as a way to apologize?" Alalanath asked. "It's flourishing. We have a centennial forest, plenty of pasturing ground and a village here by the name of little Vrindavana." He explained with unbounded enthusiasm. "By the way, we know you did your best, I saw the security recording of that day."
'Ala...why did you have to broach this subject?'
Thankfully, X reaction was just to stare.
"We now know there was nothing you could've done...and Z-T...he forgave you a long time ago." The last of the copy-reploids readjusted his shot, speaking with all the compassion in the world.
The sight of X staring in pure, undiluted horror as Z-T was dragged to his execution chamber while his body refused to move was not something Larily-lala could easily forget.
"How would you know?" X asked, his form a bit more stable now.
"Because he told me so...he's a bit hard to understand sometime," Alalanath admitted. "But when Z-T wants to, he can and will get his point across."
"And he...he remembers?" X asked fearfully.
Alalanath nodded. "He does...he may be baby-shaped right now, but, by God's mercy, he still remembers everything. And he has forgiven you..."
X clenched his jaw.
"He...he still think...he misses you X, he really does." There were but very few moments Z-T would let go of his old X plush. He would eat with it, sleep with it...the only time X-doll would not be in Z-T's arms was when he would do a system clean-up or worship his Radha-Krishna dolls. Who would also be in his arms.
X crossed his arms over his chest, holding his elbows.
There was a lull in the conversation...a very dangerous lull, for Alalanath could now feel the elf-containment field closing in on X.
"Glad to see you weren't alone." The semi-ancient Vaishnava commented. Referring to the corrupting program.
X scoffed. "Not alone? Axl...I had nothing but a pair of new-age virus for company!" Cyber-X gave a wry smile... as some sanity returned to his darkened eyes. then a wince shook his frail protonic body as he tried not to dissipate in background noise. "Sorry, Axl...I...Had a terrible...Century..."
"Yeah...I can see that." Axl spoke emphatically. 'Lu...what did you do?'
'Oh...nothing much, I just lifted some influence on him...we really should've chanted the Maha-mantra the moment we saw him...poor X.'
'I never thought I would hear you say this Devi, not after what he and Zero did to you.'
'you're the one who shot me, Madan.' Larily playfully shot back.
"Are you...still with Lumine?" X asked.
"Yep," He grinned. "I've been with her for a bit more than a hundred years, and so far, God still kept us together!"
X's eyes brow went and hid under the v of his helmet.
"you're a...believer?" He asked, taken aback by the surprising development. "Wait...how did you and Lumine manage to survive Omega's wrath?"
Alalanath gave a beaming smile, both sides humbly thanking the Lord for this unprecedented mercy. " God's grace. Four years before Zee...fell down, I partitioned my hardware. Lulu has my left side. Between the two of us, we have this super small buffer zone. That's where the cut happened." Alalanath explained. "God's the supreme controller, and he loves those who love his devotees...He's the one who saved us." he explained, remembering many incidents where those who simply loved and appreciated a devotee of Krishna got His rare and seldom given mercy.
Oh, it was not that Krishna didn't want to give his mercy, there's was just so few who wanted this amazing and sweet grace.
"So... you're telling me...God saved a couple of synths...because..."
"Because we love Z-T, one of his dear servant...and look, here you are too!" Alalanath gestured at X...his body still flickering.
The ancient reploid...a soul that had inhabited a mechanical body for a very long time, pressed his damaged lips together. "No...God abandoned me..." a haggard old man who had seen too much, spoke through the mouth of X. "I...I just want it to end...I just want peace..."
"X...no!"
"So many wars...so much loss...so much pain...I just want to join them...to leave this cage." X's flickering intensified, his extremities dissolving in the darkness of Sub-Arcadia's lowest level. "Let me fade away for good...I want to merge in the earth's natural magnetic field and...cease to be..." the burnt-out reploid closed his eyes, the weariness of the entire world resting on his sagging shoulders. "My existance...is an...it's a mistake...an abomination...Light spat at God's work... and now look...look what happened..." He kept on fading, his protons unable to escape...and yet still unravelling.
" X, listen- everything will be fine." Alalanath desperately tried to reach his last mentor. "X, just come with us, we have some lands and we have the means to take care of you. You won't have to fight anymore...and nobody will need to know your alive. Please, X, don't do this!" The red-head pleaded...
A sad and relived smile light his lips. "It's...too late for me Axl... l...my life's not worth continuing."
"NO!" Axl denied as he tried to catch X's incorporeal hand. "I Won't let you go, and my wife, Larily...Lumine's working to stabilize you as we speak and-"
Fear entered into X's forlorn and tired eyes. He tried to escape, but the containment field was cocooning him. "No...NO!" he used his Data to try to push the now solid field away, spending more energy than was optimal.
But Alalanath would not let his mentor and father figure suicide on him...he would not let him waste his rare 'human' form over a dead past.
'AXL! NOW!' Larily yelped as she suddenly collapsed the field onto X, forcing him back to his sphere form. The one a cyber-elf would usually take when their avatar was not in use. And before X could struggle his way out on the inescapable net, Alalanath physically grabbed him, and Larily's nanite tentacles held him in place in her motherly embrace.
It was the form that would drain the least amount of energy and prana...and right now, every-drop of energy was crucial.
It was like putting a tourniquet on a gashed artery.
"Please...Please let me go! Let me die!" The broken legend begged as he struggled to break free from the Vaishnava's solid grip. Returning to the form of a glowing orb of light emblazoned with an X-like pattern as he tried to escape the loving yet firm grip of his protege.
Alalanath didn't want to say it. But it was clear all those years of slavery had utterly broken the once charismatic commander. For he had never seen him break into hysteric like that... Not even when Omega Zero had breached the Neo-Arcadian shield.
Not even when he had found Alia's broken Remains.
it was heartbreaking, and he could only pray to God that X could be yet another recipient of his causeless mercy.
When he was done, X was locked in the barrier, he could not move, could not return to cyberspace, and could not...he was safe. Safe in his student's hands...
Alalanath gave himself permission to collapse, finally feeling the strike he had collected from his fight with the two corrupted guardians. And it seemed his dear wife felt the same.
Oh...and saving X.
Finally, silence returned to the dark and gloomy confine of Sub-Arcadia's Tokamak, and Larily-lal began to chant the Holy Names. Cooling off from this crazy event only God could've made possible.
'I can't wait to return home now...Glad this day's almost over.'
Back at the base of Yggdrasil...The sound of Z-T's unending sorrow echoed off the walls as Xerox look at the original Master of Neo-Arcadia; Mega man X.
In his glass coffin, the blue legend looked pristine in death and serene. Nothing seemed to have faded, the synth-skin still looked pliable and...
'what the hell is he doing in the middle of Neo-Arcadia?!' Xerox thought with deep dread. Frowning at both the fact that his citizens had been sitting on a time bomb 'This is terrible...I need to contact Harpuia about this. We need to get him out without rousing the dark-elf...otherwise.'
He'd rather not think about it... but it involved more death than what Neo-Arcadia could deal with.
Then...a weird thought came to him.
What if...Theoretically, the Dark-elf could be purified? Ciel was with them and could deal with the codding aspect, and Alouette was practically tamper-proof, so she could deal with the dark being directly. Not only that, but they had many friends who knew how to break curses, hexes and exorcise ghosts and hobgoblins.
Xerox's core began to flutter at the possibility of X walking among them again, free and...
'But...is this body empty? Or is X just sleeping inside it?' He wondered.
Once again, what had happened to the true master of Neo-Arcadia was rather obscure. Reports said that he sacrificed his ancient and infinitely potent frame to seal the Dark-elf...either forever or until the technology was advance enough to get rid of the rogue program that drove the A.I mad in the first place.
Or...maybe it really was a curse, a mystical hex.
Those did exist.
Anyhow, to extract the Dark-elf...mother-Elf from X's body meant that...that he could live again.
And maybe...just maybe he could fake his death and join the Hare Krishna...they were all so happy with only a few cares. And Larily-lala would be well over the moon and right into Goloka about the joyful event.
Oh...Xerox could already see it, the reunion of the century. And it would offer a chance to rest for the one who went through too many wars.
But for this, he had to get Z-T away from the sleeping prince.
"C'mon Z-T. We may still be able to save him." Xerox spoke as he tried to pry the Nanoid away from the casket. " We just need to get mom to look at him."
"NO!" Z-T yelled as he maintained his grip on the casket... to Xerox's great chagrin.
Xerox did a reading on the ancient hunter. it...didn't look good, and it was clear the huge 'tree' really was a solar-powered generator/medical computer and whatever was needed to keep the dark-elf from breaking out. Nothing came from X...
Xerox's hope for a miraculous reunion disappeared, and, after sending yet another prayer on the behalf of Neo-Arcadia's designated martyr, began to copy whatever information he could. Knowing that his mother and the other techies needed to have as much information as possible about this volatile situation.
The blue biped shuddered to think about the disaster this would be, would the system fail...he had already caused so much damage in Neo-Arcadia in a scant four years...what would having crazy reploids and elf running around the place and maddening other reploids would do?
Once again, Xerox tried to pull Z-T away from the Dark-elf's prison. And once again, Z-T's cry and forceful denial met him.
"Z-T...Listen, we can't stay here, he's...He's gone alright! Gone for good. It's just an empty body now." Those words just made the little Nanoid cry more. His sorrow now starting to affect Xerox too. "Let's go back to mom...and let's go pas a few nights in Little Vrindavana...we can hold an all-night Kirtana for him..." he tried to pull the grieving Nanoid off...without any effect whatsoever.
The blue copy sighed as he lowered himself to the ground, crossing his arms as he waited for Z-T to run out of energy...of for him to finish his mourning.
As he sat, Xerox began to chant...he hadn't brought his neem beads with him, but her could still use his internal counter to calculate how much he recited.
And thus he chanted the holy names of God as he waited for the other Vaishnava, one who actually could chant the prescribed number of round, to calm down.
"Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare...Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare...Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare...Hare Rama Hare Rama...Rama Rama Ha...ah?" Suddenly, the blue reploid felt that...something had changed in X...like...a connection was gone...
'somethings wrong...' Xerox realized. He quickly got up and...he froze!
Master X's body...was twitching.
Plenty of expletives ran in his mind...this was... the worst-case scenario. He climbed as fast as he could and tried to grab the jubilant Z-T from the casket...and then he froze in pure horror as 'X' began to open his eyes.
"Eko!? EKO!" Z-T didn't seem to know what was wrong...X was not supposed to be able to move.
Then...his eyelid fluttered open, revealing pure darkness and what seemed to be a pair of stylized red pupils.
Needless to say, Z-T celebration was cut short...and Xerox began to pray as he held the Nanoid to his chest.
The seemingly processed X stared at the duo...his body eerily still.
"Uh...Um...A...Hi?" Xerox ventured, paralyzed by fear. Somehow hoping that the Dark-elf would maybe just go back to sleep?
The possessed body of X Lurched forward, his head hitting the thick pane of tempered glass with enough force to crack it. Xerox finally managed to make his arms move...and he ran away as the dark-elf broke free of the containment unit, using the body of X as her ill-gotten vessel.
Xerox, with Z-T desperately holding on to his neck, 'ran' as fast as he could, tripping on himself with fear. On his back, His little big brother cried in pure fear. And behind them...
The possessed body of X glided in the air, always too close for comfort, even if Xerox was quite far.
He somehow managed to reach the dust-filled corridor amid the blaring siren and the failing security system, plowing through the numerous cobwebs as he tried to put as much distance between the Dark-Elf and himself.
He didn't want to turn rogue again...and he didn't want Z-T to either...
'I need to run...but if I run to mama and Nandini, then...or any reploid...'
'no...no...I can't...I can't let the dark-elf get to them...but I can't let it get it Z-T! Oh Krishna, What should I do?'
And then, as he burst through the spotless hallway, he realized that he only needed to reach the elevator and the calamity would not be able to reach him and his little brother.
His U.I warned him that his filters were at fifty percent capacity, and the young reploid could definitely feel it. Were he in a human body his lungs would be burning.
Usually, a reploid suffering from a half-clogged filter would simply need to work at half his capacity until he could get it replaced or cleaned out. But Xerox didn't have this luxury. For the nightmare was right behind him, calling to Its a blue copy in warped, broken words.
"ZzzZEEEEE...EEEEEEEE...AAAAA...NaaAA He-HE-h-E"
Whatever it was trying to say, Xerox didn't care, he could see the elevator door, literally the door to salvation.
On his back, he could feel Z-T's system overheating. His much smaller filter completely clogged. It was yet another reason for X's failed Heir to reach the damn elevator and get the hell away from the abomination...
And he did...with enough distance to be able to call the lift.
But as he gave the order for the lift to come a terrible surprise awaited him...
the whole floor was in lockdown.
The lift would not come, the emergency exits were all locked, and he could forget about throwing himself off the damn tower since there were no windows on the upper floor!
Xerox could feel Z-T's grip slacken despite the panic they felt...and he could feel the dark-elf being a bit too close to comfort.
Xerox tried to run...but his arms failed him.
Bering him, X's sacred body floated and moved like the processed doll it was, Black wings with red and orange lines and the same eye pattern that filled X's hallow camera jutted from his back, encapsulating the body in its dark embrace.
Xerox grabbed Z-T from his neck...he could feel the little system straining, in his forehead, the blue gem was flashing, indicating that he was low on fuel.
The little Vaishnava closed his eyes...
Xerox looked back at the looming form of the Dark-Elf and its ill-gotten body. One of its arms was outstretched...inching closer and closer to the copy-duo.
Xerox knew this was the end...at least, he managed to make some little spiritual progress in this lifetime, he just hoped that somehow...Z-T would make it out.
He turned over, keeping Z-T to his chest, showing his back to the abomination...trying to protect the Nanoid with his own frame as he began to chant.
If that was the end...then better he remembered Krishna...
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
He chanted and chanted, taking full shelter of Hari-Nama Prabhu as he prepared to die.
At that moment...Xerox, the soul in the body designated as Xerox realized that, since he was the eternal soul in activating this body, nothing could happen to him, he could not die, could not be destroyed, atomized or erased and he didn't really suffer. It was only his mind and his conditioning that made him think that he was a body with a soul...when he reality, he was a soul in a body.
This body he was in, even if an amazing piece of technology was not meant to be eternal. And today was the day he had to leave it.
With this consciousness, the pure soul conditioned to think that he was a reploid by the name of Xerox, chanted with deep feeling to the Lord...to Radha-Krishna. Taking an amazing pleasure in their names..knowing that...very soon, he would be home in Goloka.
Oh, Mother Radha...I'm about to return home. Please engage me in Krishna's service...I'm ready to serve him now...
Oh Gauranga, oh Nityananda...I'm most fallen and insignificant. And Unlike your blessed Madri, I'm unable to even give my life to protect your devotees successfully. But please, oh most merciful ones, at least bring Z-T back home...I can wait.
Suddenly, he felt a hand of whatever was left of his lower back.
"KRISHNA!" The replica of X screamed as loud as he could.
The hands kept moving on his form, mostly to his truncated abdomen. The touch was gentle...and curious. And yet, Xerox kept praying and kept repeating Krishna's holy name like the powerful prayer it was.
The hands kept roaming and roaming...trying to grab, to reach the unmoving Nanoid in Xerox's arms. And yet, they were still gentle...
finally, with a frustrated huff, the dark-elf turned Xerox over...and then paused.
"E-e-e-e-e-eKKKKKKKkkkkkkk?...Zee-e-eRR-RRR-ooo-oOOoo?"
'Uh?' Xerox opened his eyes and stared at the bright green eye of X...or The Dark-Elf.
Only...the dark wing thing with the eyes was gone, and X's body had taken this otherworldly glow, in his back, a pair of cyber-elf wing stood erect. They were looking at Xerox with unbounded curiosity and confusion.
In the centre of its eyes, a white glow shone.
"eeeeE-Ee-e-e-e-kEsU-U-Uuu?" Mother-elf tried again. Lifting the half-reploid off the unforgiving ground. "Zee-EeR-r-R-Roooo...ZeE-eerooOoOoo BaaaaB-b-Byy-y-yyy?
Xerox stared, still clutching Z-T as he stared at what could only be Mother-Elf using Master X's body. After a few awkward seconds, he finally spoke.
"No...I'm...Xerox..." The failed copy managed to choke out, his system now finally having the time to recover a bit. "And this...This is Z-T."
"ge-zEeEe-eroo-oooKss-sus-?" She asked with a tilt of her head...her eyes wide and innocent. "ZeeEE-Ee-e-Te-eEEee?"
Actually, X's eyes were wide and innocent. And the one inside made them even more.
'X has green eyes...why did mama give me red eyes then if I was supposed to be his perfect copy.' Xerox observed, whatever fear he felt now completely dissolved.
The dark-elf...or was it mother-elf now, stared at Xerox and Z-T.
Z-T...being low on fuel blearly turned to look at...the first elf in the first reploid. "E...ko?"
'Oh, scrap...he needs a charge and fasts.' Xerox noticed. Would he be...on the ground and not in a potential treat's grips, he would share a charge with his little-big brother.
The Elf processed X noticed the discrepancy and immediately lowered the duo to the ground and pried the Nanoid from Xerox's grip.
For some reason, The copy of X trusted the...processed original.
"ZEee-TEe...N-o-o-ot Ze-e-eeRo-Ooo...Z-E-er-Ooo...ba-a-aaB-yY-yyy?" He...she asked as she held The Nanoid to her core. "ZeeeeeeTeeeee-e-e-e-e..." she cooed, rocking the low powered Nanoid, a soft and motherly smile adorning his...her lips.
"Ah...no...he's Zero's copy...kind of like how I'm X's copy..." Xerox explained, trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was having a very civil conversation with...what seemed to be a purified mother-elf...using Master X's body as if it was her own. "Your using the original's body right now."
Mother-Elf..s Eyes grew wide...and her pupil turned into pinpricks and she stopped rocking Z-T.
"Maybe...maybe you should give X his body back?" Xerox ventured, still fervently praying that this was not a trick and that the dark-elf really was back to being good.
Mother-Elf got up...then X's eyes blanked before returning to normal. But it was clear she didn;t like what she was seeing...scanning...whatever mother-elf did.
"Ee-Eee-ks...noo-...Nooot...here." She shook her head. "Gone..." some tears flowed from her eyes.
"Oh..." Obliviously. X had been reported dead. "So...ah...this bodies like...yours now?" Xerox asked, very much unsure about how to deal with the whole situation...and also concerned about Z-T.
He had been helping at the temple, then both had roughhoused for some time...and then there was the adventure that had lead to this event. Xerox could feel his battery was bellow fifty percent...so what to speak of Z-T?
"So...your mother-elf, huh?" What else he could do but small talk, hoping his guardians would arrive and soon...since Z-T had just slipped in power-saving mode.
Mother-elf-X stared at Xerox for a bit before returning her attention to the 'sleeping' Z-T. "Noooooo...I...I...I" She tried to speak but, she seemed confused.
"Yes...who are?"
Mother-elf pointed at her face. "I...A-I...ssss"
"Oh...your Ai...like, love right?...or is it A.I?" Not that she was an artificial intelligence. She was conscious, she had emotions and she had desires...meaning she was a soul.
Like every single Elf's that came after her.
She shook her head, her frustration clear. "No-o-o...I...I...A...I..."
"Hey, it's alright. We can figure it out later just ah...Z-T needs to recharge and...I'm also a bit tired." Xerox admitted. The crazy event that had just happened, the close call with the dark elf and the miracle that had just occurred...he was feeling the strain.
'I want a nap...with Mama nearby.' He wanted his Mama...and Larily-lal and Harpuia...
Yes, Mother Sachi Sundari is yet another Devotee I know. she used to be my Beta reader and yes, her whole body got burned twice, and on the second time, she fell into a coma.
She's a family woman, all of her kids are grown up, she still lives with her equally short and saintly husband and both are university teachers...
And yes, what Fefnir said about the soul is a hundred percent true, It's in the Bhagavad-Gita as it is, I believe in the second chapter. but I'm not an expert.
Sadly enough.