The white lotus of mercy and the wily lost doll. Part 5
Warning, a dying man is at the and..., but ill of mind will say that a Vaishnava dies.
Zero cursed, it was the day after his disastrous flight lesson, and while his knee joint was considered fixed, the bent in his legs was not... and it seemed that his knee's were now practically unusable due to it.
Not only that, but the useless clunkers could not even support his weight anymore... and that was even though he had found this patch of the 'virus.'
Apparently, the ambient magic could fix what was broken, thorned, and burned to a crisp, but not dismemberment or bent frame.
"Zero-Prabhu!" Bahula explained as she picked the heroic doll off from the ground. "I thought your knee's had been fixed by your magic!"
"Yeah... well, they're not." He grumbled as he managed to get to his feet. Zero let the surprisingly powerful woman sit him on a nearby rock. Wincing as his frame protested. 'Is this how old age feels like? No wonder humans are always looking for the fountain of youth.' He thought as he tried to fix his alignment with an even worst success then his flight attempt.
Bahula kept looking at Zero's crooked legs, deep in thought.
"Mother Bahula?" the heroic reploid broke her out. "I... I think I have to return to civilization. I have this one medic; he will be able to fix whatever my nanites... magic didn't." It felt so weird to say that.
He had magic.
'You a wizard, Zero... I never expected X to be right about that.' He thought with a pang, his partner and best friend must be a bundle of raw nerve right now.
"I see... and where would that city be?" The saint asked as she sat beside Zero, not too close, but not impersonally far either.
"It's called Abel City, and it's..." Zero's eyes grew wide as he realized how far he had landed.
"And It's?"
"It's at the other side of the continent, like, were talking a few months of walk to get back." Zero informed his teacher.
Bahula's brows reached her gradient hair. "Oh my..."
"And by this time, I'd be lucky if they let me in alive." Zero knew the rules; whatever hunter was considered dead could not come back so easily to HQ since... they had not prof that this was not a Zombie.
Yes, zombie reploids were a thing, and it was usually a trojan filled to capacity with pleasant surprise like more viruses... including the maverick virus.
Or... Sigma's dark and evil magic, apparently.
"Can't you contact them?" Bahula asked, more then a little concerned.
"I..." Zero checked his communication array, shamefully realizing that even after the crash, he had not reached out to Alia.
He tried flagging her, sending out a ping as he hopped his signal was not cancelled.
He waited... and waited... 'No, that's not right... Alia should have pounced on the receiver.'
He tried to contact X, but without the Navigators and access to the communication server, it was the same as calling someone through a stone.
He let out an angry sigh, not at anyone but himself. "...I screwed up." He growled.
"What do you mean, my son?" Mother Bahula, her eternal concern for a stranger she had saved when he only desired the opposite.
Zero sighed again. "I... should have contacted HQ the moment I woke up," he admitted. "But... I... I couldn't face them, especially not X." He doubted he still could.
Oh sure, Wily's directives were now considered moot. But the fact remained that he had been waiting for his best friend...to kill him.
This... this was a great shame... a shame that prevented the magical doll from even thinking about returning to Abel City. To face X with the knowledge of his true nature.
"Zero-Prabhu," Bahula spoke up as she gently laid her thinking hand on his shoulder. " Let the past remain where it is; you have started a new life, a life of Bhakti... a life filled with divine love."
Zero snorted... "Love? Bahula... your talking to a man who killed his first love." He admitted sadly.
Even after 5 years, his act would always haunt him.
"Oh... Did she turned-"
"Yeah...Sigma corrupted her." Zero closed his eyes. While he couldn't cry like X, he could still feel the sharp pain of separation. " I know it wasn't a virus now... But..."
"This man caused an intense amount of grief to all."
Zero made this amused cough. "Oh... you have no idea." his smile fell. "I... For years, I thought I was the cause of his madness. But... I guess he didn't need my help for that." He sighed.
There was some relief there... but this relief would not bring back all of those who perished.
"It's alright, my son. We've all had our past, but by picking up the path of Bhakti, you have now started a joyful journey back to our eternal home, back to Krishna."
"Will he take me? " Zero asked. "I know you keep telling me how merciful he is as Gauranga... but I never heard anything about how... someone like me could get this mercy."
Bahula sat beside the Tsukumogami. "Zero Prabhu, what are you?" She asked.
"I'm a-" The reploid paused as he considered his answer. "I'm a spirit soul who's in a mechanical body, a part a parcel of God."
"Very Good, Zero." Bahula praised. "You are another dear atomic part of Krishna, and Krishna... it is said that no one is more anxious about our return to God then God himself."
Zero let out a self-deprecating huff. "Yeah... God must be blind then." He was a murderer; he knew that. And, if he were to believe those christen, his mere existence was a sin... as were all reploids.
"Yes, love makes one blind to the lover's flaw." The black and white saint spoke wisely. "And the Supreme Lover, Krishna, is supremely blind to our unlimited faults... and even more blind and loving is his form of Gauranga, and more blind is Nityananda, for He is eternally drunk on Love of God."
This caused a smile to appear on Zero's lips. This was another reason why he readily took to the path of Bhakti; It was fun, pleasant, open to all and had the best expressions out there.
"Now." Bahula dusted off her hands. "I believe it would be most beneficial for you to return to Abel City." She stated.
"It's taken over a month to get there..." Zero reminded the saint. "More... with the knee's I have right now." Oh, how he hated his situation. Sure, it may be his Karma, but at the same time, he felt like the biggest dumb-ass out there.
How would he explain to Signas his prolongs absence... and what would he say to Douglas?
'I messed up my knee's because I wanted to learn how to fly?'
Yeah, well, that would fly about as well as he did.
"Oh, I can get us there in a week," Bahula assured as she helped Zero to his feet, handing him his make-shift crutches.
"How? I'm not sure flying me here would be that great of an idea, to be honest." If there was one thing Zero had learned as a pilot was that anything smaller then a plane in the sky would be immediately shot down, no question asked.
"Who said anything about flying?" Bahula asked as she manifested her magical sutra scroll, the disk hallowing her head. She spread her hands in front, and a black line emerged from her nails, forming what was...
Zero gasped at the sight.
It was an old motorcycle, as in... something that was dated way before X and Zero's construction date. It had two wheels covered by a hand-formed mudguard, it was completely black, save for the spokes, they glowed with the same scrolls that Bahula held in her head.
Zero grabbed his crutches and hobbled around the ancient beast, looking at it from under all of its seems and detail.
It was beautiful and one of Zero's wet dreams.
No... not like that. He only dearly wanted to ride one of those ancient road beasts... like, he would have been willing to empty his substantial zenny horde the even get a chance to sit on it for two minutes.
And it was staring right at him; even the light had a tungsten filament in it. Everything was mechanical save for its magically fuelled engine.
Then there was a flash of light, and Bahula's usual back and white dress was turned unto a very decent pair of biking gears.
No, no, the skin-tight, pin-up fantasy that would do nothing if caught in a crash, but some legitimate pieces of reinforced clothing, like black, reinforced pants, good boots, a solid jacket that provided plenty of protection for her front and a full helmet.
It had the image of a lion on it, Lord Narashima-deva, Zero's mind provided. It was on the front; on the back was a picture of Garuda carrying Him as he slew demons.
'If anyone would have told me God was so awesome, I would have converted years ago.' What to say about Bahula? The magical flying Hare Krishna Nun with seemingly endless powers and ability.
No, Zero was not envious of her; she was sweet enough and so humble, it would make the whole exercise futile and self-destructive. Something Zero was trying to move away from.
She turned to Zero as she braided her hair. "Alright, my son. If we leave early, we should be able to reach Abel City in four days, maybe less."
Zero's eyes grew wide. "Damn? What's the top speed you can go on this?" He asked as he owlishly stared at the road.
"How fast do you want to go?" Bahula asked with a smirk, straddling her ancient bike with the same familiarity Zero would his land rider...
No, X would mount his.
A goofy grin spread across his face. Oh, this would be a ride to remember.
Closing his eyes and... trying to fold his palms while holding crutches, the Red ripper prayed to the Lord. 'Hey, Krishna... I know I've just started praying to you and... I'm not much of a awe and reverence guy... but I just wanted to thank you for this opportunity. I promise I will protect Mother Bahula with my life, and I won't let anyone touch her... even if I can't walk right now. But yeah... thank you, God, you shouldn't have.'
"My son?" The saintly biker called from her mouth, her helmet hiding her features. " Do you want to chant the Narasimha prayer?" She asked.
Zero openly grinned as he hobbled his way to the back seat, holding the strap there. Bahula turned her helmeted head, and while her golden eyes were obscure, the reploid just knew she was waiting for him.
He reseted his voice box and began to sing, uncaring at how robotic his voice sounded and boisterously belted out the glorification of Lord Nrshimha.
'Namaste Narashim-haya!-"
"So... this is the place." Miko hummed as she and her cohorts stood in front of the old temple. It was a seemingly dilapidated store front with the name's of Radha-Mohan temple.
The main window had been broken and shuttered a long time ago, the door was not look it, but Miko doubted the hinges would ever let in close completely. The front was covered in disgusting graffiti and random posters.
'For a city that's 'technologically advance', I'm surprised they still use paper and glue...' Miko thought as she began planing how to fix the spiritual embassy.
"Oh God... how this temple get this bad?" Shou asked as she held her nose, her face pale. " It's... I can smell urine and feces... urgh, what have they done to this place?" The Shakti-avesha Avatar of Kuvera pulled at her hair at sight. "When my master hears of this..."
"Well, obliviously, Yukari's information was right about the neglect," Acyuta-Gopi spoke as she used her fancy nose gap, he face pale. " I fear what we may found in this temple."
"Hmm... Well, I ain't a mystic, but I'd gather their lordships got hidden good." Yuugi drawled, unbothered by the stench of the sorry sight. "But what I'm concerned about is why the lying prince's with us." She pointed at Miko.
"Well... I miss Bahula, and I also want to find her." The legendary prince explained, " She used to be my girlfriend. It's complicated since... I'm both. No, I'm not forcing myself on Bahula, and I know what she's following. Yes, I am aware that I was the leader of the Taoist -I'm still deeply apologetic about that Buddhist effigy, by the way." She addressed Shou, who waved it off as if a pesky fly had been bothering her.
"Think nothing of it, Miko-san. It's all in the past." the envoy of Kuvera spoke as she leaned on her spear. " And besides, neither of us are on the opposite side anymore."
"Yes, thank to her and Achyuta
A genuine, if tired smile painted Miko's lips. "Indeed... now, shall we go in?"
The group nodded... and Yuugi suddenly pulled our Shinmyoumaru from the generous cleavage. Surprisingly, the inchling was neither crushed nor overheated.
The rest of the group stared at the inch-high being... which covered her mouth and nose, quickly returning to Yuugi's 'breast-pocket'.
The towering Oni was about to reach back in when Miko held her wrist chain. "Yuugi-Sama... let her be, she cant handle the stench," she informed the chieftain of old hell.
"Poor thing. It's alright Shini, you can stay in there, just don't bite me again," she told the hitchhiker.
"Thank you." Miko heard the tiny princess shout.
(just so you know, Yuugi, being a prostitute in hell, has a very pleasant body to hold. It's cooling to those who suffer from the heat and warm for those too cold. And she smells like a flower ladden mountain breeze.)
"And how come you're not affected, Miko..." Achyuta-Gopi asked, still covering her nose.
"I live with Kaku Seiga... she liked corpses." The ancient prince of japan informed the daughter of Shinki with a barely repressed shudder. "Alright, we wasted enough time; let's go."
"And when did they made you the leader of our small expedition?" Shou asked, causing Miko to pause her ascent to the door of God's abode. She turned to the towering woman and...
"That's my nature... umm, do you want to"
"No... I'm just a follower."
"But I thought you were Bahula's... ah... an avatar of Kuvera and Bahula's... master by Proxies?" really, despite how smart Miko was, she had yet to grasp the intricacy of Toramaru Shou and Bahula's relationship.
The tiger like woman sighed. "It's... I see her more like my mother, you know. She saved me when I was just a little cub. And... I'm just a messenger, just a servant... and a student of hers."
"Then this makes us two." Miko bowed her head... she missed the wonderful woman. "Let's go in, shall we?" she asked as she managed to pry the door open, already calculating what would be needed to fix it and the entirety of the temple front and inner sanctum.
'I wonder how expansive gold is nowadays?' The ancient prince wondered she still had urns filled with enough gold powder and ancient coin to buy a small country, maybe more if she sold it to the right collectors.
Once they all entered the sacred place, they noticed that, while it had clearly been in a better shape, it was not as terrible as the front venue.
"Should we remove our Geta's?" Yuugi asked in a whisper "It's God's holy abode and... the floor doesn't look half bad... if pretty dusty."
"I... I don't know; we have no idea what's in there." Miko replied. "hey... did you hear that?" She asked, almost slapping herself at how stupid it was... for oblivious reasons. "I can hear a heartbeat and a death rattle." Once those words were out, the ancient prince rushed further inside the dark and gloomy temple, floating as to not commit an offence.
Despite the lack of light, it was clear that this place had been taken care of with plenty of devotion. There were some sickly plants here and there, struggling to get any light from the boarded up window. The floor was merely dusty; the walls darken by the smoke from the numerous candles, now but mere hardened mass on the floor.
The altar was closed, the doors and gratings firmly secure and not showing a trace of forced entry. In from of the entrance to the holy dham manifested in a busy city, three names stood out to the ravage of time.
Gaura-Nitai.
Radha-Mohan.
Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra.
Miko paused her flight before the names, knowing them to be none different from the Lord she desired to serve. And then resumed her search for the dying man.
She tried to open the door to the altar, only to be met with a locked door. She could hear Yuugi's desire to kick it down while Acyuta had a passing thought about blasting it down.
Thankfully, Miko had a lest destructive method for entering closed-off places.
She slipped under the generous door crack and entered the room...
Once again, the smell of candles and... bio met her nose, the grimy window offering no light whatsoever.
She make a few light bullet and illuminated the place. Revealing a kitchen that had not been in use for a few weeks. Most of what was there was cheap and free of meat. But by the look of it, the person who lived there did not have enough strength to finish his bhoga offering.
She heard a 'light' knock on the door. Miko quickly returns to it and unlocked the mechanism, letting the rest of the group in.
"I would appreciate for you to elaborate more, leader Miko." The prime and proper princess of Makai spoke with peeve's, Shanghai and Hourai floating above her shoulder, lanterns in hands... before she covered her mouth with her nose gap again. Her face awfully pale.
"I can hear a dying man... He should have left his body a long time ago, but the Pujari of this place waited for... us, basically." Miko turned her heels and followed her sensitive ears to another room at the end of the corridor. It was definitely cleaner, but the smell of urine and feces was suffocating.
"S...Sumimasen... I can't go further." Achyuta choked out as she all but ran outside, holding her mouth.
Miko and the rest of the Gensokien Vaishnavi braced themselves as they went through the curtain playing the role of a door.
The room was plastered with pictured of Krishna, the tenth canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam rested of a cloth-covered stand.
On the floor, laying on his back on a thin yoga mat, stained with body fluid. was an old Brahmachari... or was he a sanyasi... Nevertheless, the agonizing Vaishnava, his body ravaged by time, was clutching his chanting beads, his chapped lips opened as his dried-out tongue vibrating the Holy Names of Krishna.
"He doesn't have long," Miko spoke quietly as she knelled beside the departing Vaishnava, taking out a pair of Karatala from a pocket. "Let's start Kirtana."
Mukhara knew how a dying man sounded like, having assisted Bahula numerous times as she gave comfort to the dying.
There was nothing else to be said, only the Chanting of Srila-Prabhupada's pranam Mantra, the invocation of the Pancha-Tattva and finally, the holy name.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare,
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
As they chanted with all of their heart, calling out to Radha-Krishna and Gauranga with love and helplessness, the Brahmachari's body slaked as tears poured from his eyes.
A minute became five, and five fifteen... thirty... an hour, two...
Finally, the fortunate soul opened his eyes. " Thank you... I... Have one last thing to do... before I may leave." He wheezed... in English.
Thankfully, when one desire to speak, Miko could translate what they wanted to say.
"T... Take care... or Radha-Mohan... Radha-Mohan... Radha... Ra...dha..." and with his final breath, the saintly man left his body with the Holy name of Srimati-Radharani to his lips.
The four-woman remained seated, crying for this unknown Vaishnava. He had passed on his sevaka-torch to four Bhaktine who knew close to nothing about deity worship... let alone how to deal with a dead body in a futuristic body.
"Now what?"
X walked to Signas office with decisive steps, proudly wearing his Tilaka in full view and without his ever-present armour.
Some parts could e removed, but X had also modded his body to make iteasier to look human. and to wear human cloths.
He felt great to wear Vaishnava wears; never in his life has he ever been so sure about the path he wanted to take.
Behind him, Kokila bounded up the hallway. Sometimes pocking a mechanimal, other times, leaning over another reploid's shoulder to read his data-pad before pulling her tongue out.
"Boo! There's no good news today." She declared with a raspberry. "It's all about this world's misery and how Zero's been gone for this long, and he's either dead or a maverick."
X let out a laugh. "Oh, I don't think so." he shook his head. "My partner's not gonna die or turn maverick anytime soon."
"Quick! Knock on wood!" The green-haired Vaishnavi spoke in a panicked tone. And X grabbed his Tulasi neck bead with a light chuckle, blatantly ignoring the suspicious look the other would give him.
"Oh wow! That's even better!"
X laughed as he let go of the sacred beads. "The only wood I need is Tulasi wood. Didn't you tell me that she could liberate me from death?"
"Yup! Tulasi Devi's amazing like that." Kokila confirmed with a happy nod. "Eve, if it seems the Vaishnava in question is dying, know that the Yamaduta's not around to drag those souls to hell!"
"Wow, really? Why tough?" X asked. Willing to hear more about this great soul in plant form.
"Because ,Devotees usually wear Tulasi Devi" Kokila explained. " So, if a Yamaduta or a shikigami sees someone wearing a Tulasi bead, has the dirt of a Tulasi plant on their head of even have a dry Tulasi leaf somewhere on their bodies, they can't do anything about it and leave the great soul alone and go to one without Vrindadevi's blessing. Vrindadevi is another name for Tulasi."
"Oh! I see." Once again, X's hand returned to his beads. "By the way, Kokila, I keep forgetting to ask you, were did you find those paraphernalias?" The blue bomber asked as he gestured to himself.
For the sacred Tilaka that covered twelve place of his body, his white cotton dhoti and wrapper, the beads on his neck, and his Japa all had to come from somewhere, and X doubted his friend bothered looking for it online.
"Oh, I got them from the temple on Blue Street, the Radha-Mohan Temple." She said with a bright smile, skipping forward and dragging X along with her. "It's an ancient temple, and the only priest there is pretty old and sick."
"oh... is there something I could do for him?" X asked, quite concerned to learn of the other Vaishnava's state.
"I think he should go at the hospital, but he never has enough funds. His name is Garuda-Govinda das Brahmachari." She explains, her easy smile gone.
X, unable to see his dearest well-wisher so sad, pressed his hands on her tiny, easily breakable shoulders. "It's alright. Once I'm done with Signas, well go at the temple, and I will personally take care of Garuda."
"Oh, you will?" Kokila asked, her fathomless eyes wide with hope.
"Of course I will." X gave his little friend a winsome smile, causing the young girl to joyfully jump in place. "Once I'm done with Signas and Douglas, we'll go at the temple, how does it sound?"
"It sounds like your heading toward a terrible end." Signas suddenly spoke, his face unreadable as he loomed above the shorter reploid.
Well, unreadable was a clear exaggeration; he was looking at X disapprovingly from the top of his nose.
"Ah, Signas sir, I was just about to go to your office," X said, not at all disturbed by the chilly atmosphere his young colleague generated. "It's so convenient for me to met you like this."
The commander of the hunter narrowed his eyes. "yes... Since you were being a... nuisance to your colleagues, I was asked to... take care of you." He spoke meaningfully.
Taking a quick glance at his shaking fist, X knew that this was not something Signas wanted to do, but was forced by the circumstances.
"Oh, that's so nice of you, Signas." X beamed. " But you won't have to worry about me anymore."
"And why would that be?" The towering figure asked the edge in his words almost as sharp as Zero's blade and tongue.
"Because I quit!" X proudly declared as he gave Signas his notice. It's immediate effect. "I've already cleared mine and Zero room from whatever stuff we had. Oh, and I tried removing my buster but, since it would mean I'm out my right arm, I chose not to."
Signas stared, completely speechless, at what came out of X's mouth.
"Oh, by the way. I've looked up my right as an individual spirit soul and also my Legal right as someone human; by the way, did you know that, since January 23, 2XXX, Reploids can be granted Personal right once they have proven stable enough not to turn on the world at large." The Father of all reploid took out his data tablet and, opening a PDF, showed it to Signas. "It's amazing what no one tells us. Glad my friend informed me of this fact, though."
His official emancipation document granted X full rights, including the right to quit his post as a hunter.
"By the way, If my agent doesn't hear from me for the next twenty four hour, the hunters are liable to be charged with kidnapping and a whole other slew of Felony."
Signas looked up at X, speechless.
Taking this as an opportunity, X turned on his heels and made his way to the elevator for a final time.
He was finally, finally walking out of his personal hell...
"X Wait!" Signas yelled as he caught up with the freed reploid. "You can't quite on us; the world needs you."
"No, they need Krishna," X answered without looking back, having called his bid to freedom. "And it's not like Sigma will come back to bug us anytime soon."
"You can't know that, and... It's Sigma; he's bound to pop up again and rain on everyone's parade!"
"Not anymore; God gave him a divine time out," X informed his ex-superior. "My friend Kokila told me Bhagavan got tired of him... so that's one less problem you have to care about." He dismissed.
After hanging out with Kokila and hearing this amazing philosophy, the blue bomber had come to a few conclusions about himself.
He was a Spirit soul in a body, and while he had no idea how he managed to get stuck in a robot-body, it was his Karma and thus would have to deal with it until Krishna would free him from this awkward situation and reinstated him back in his usual post, somewhere int the unlimited spiritual world.
Until then, X just wanted to move on and do something else that didn't involve Violence... if he could help it.
The door opened, and as he was about to walk in and out of the underground base, he felt Signas's heavy hands grabbed his shoulder.
"X. As your commanding officer-"
"I've already quit, and I'm the one who gave you this post." X removed the arms and, sending a glance at Kokila, walked backward in the elevator. "If I wanted, I could easily destroy you."
"Your talking like a maverick!" Signas raised his voice. To which, the father of all reploid grin.
"Oh really? So, being a maverick is now considered a proper label for those sick and tired of fighting now?" He asked as some anger flickered to life, only to be stomped down. "Listen, Signas; I gave my notice; I'm backed by the law; you have to let me go."
"So you may join this crazy cult?" The Sigma-sized reploid spat. "X, they've brainwashed you." He spoke with deep concern going as far as to lean closer to the First Ensouled android.
"Oh yeah, She did." No use denying it. " And let me tell you Signas, the moment I stop seeing myself as the source of an imperfect race of slaves, z product to be used by two legged animals who will eat stool and bedrock if it can help them have better sex and tasted fancy, my depression left, and I don't feel like I have to sacrifice everything I am, including my moral code for a bunch of jerk who love sticking the maverick label on people they don't like is perfectly acceptable." X's words were sharp. He truly was tired of it.
He knew a good percentage of his kills were sadly innocent, just outspoke and wanting to live as people... and not viral.
"You will remain here!" Sigma barked, straitening to his full height.
This would intimidate any lesser reploid... but not X.
"Nope! Not if my best Friend Kokila has any say." And as he spoke those words, Signas eyes grew dull and unfocused... and the gathered crowd walked away from the area as if suddenly waking up from a dream.
Kokila gave X a victory sign as she bounded into the elevator, leaving Signas to walk back to his office in a daze, wondering why he had been standing in front of the elevator door and how much time he had lost during his glitch.
Also... who was this X Life-saver kept renting about? And why did Signas had his files?
Oh well, it must've been a c-ranked rookie, no big loss then.
Beside... Gate had been... shifty these past few days. and their had been rumours of a Viral Zero running about the place, terrorising some tiny seatelement. Aproaching the slowly normalizing Abel in a worrying pace.
Thankfully, the Nightmare Police were more then willing to help stop Zero. Hopefully before... X came to learn of it.
Signas pauses... and shook his head. what was he thinking about again?
"X! I can't believe you made it!" Douglas exclaimed as he dragged his buddy into his home, hugging the shorter man to his chest. "I never thought they would let you go!"
X laughed as he was pulled in in the man's private apartment. "Me neither, but Sri-Krishna sent me this amazing friend called Kokila, and I'm not sure they will even remember that I was a B-rank."
Douglas's eyes went as wide as his skull would permit. "Wait... I thought you wanted to use the Legal System to get out." Douglas reminded his friend as he made him sit on his plush couch. "Can I get you something?"
"Yes, I could go with some energen right now... and how about you, Kokila?" He turned to his friend, who was perusing Douglas's MediaTek.
"Wow, your friend got some weird taste in movies." The Vaishnavi said before turning to X. "Krishna wants the unopened organic concord juice."
"Got it." X chirped before conveying Kokila's order to a very confused and amused Douglas. "How did you knew I had this particular juice?" The medic asked as he went to fetch the requested item.
"I didn't." X readily admitted. "It's my friend, Kokila devi Dasi. She can read and manipulate other people's minds."
Douglas nodded wisely as he poured a glass... and subconsciously offered it to Krishna as per Kokila's demand. "There you... Uh... Sure, OK... yeah. Here you go, Kokila. I hope you'll like it; cost me some shiny zenny."
"Oh, it wasn't for me, it was for Krishna!" The greenette piped up as she grabbed the glass and drank it.
"So, what's the plan now, X?" Douglas asked his friend. "You're free to do as you want."
"As far as my Karma is concern, I do have a few options." X spoke as he sipped from the offered E-tank. " But I have no more interest in Karma, to be very honest."
"Hmm-hmm." Douglas hummed as he cracked open a beer. In his home, he was free to move without his heavy green garb; he only wore a wife beater and his boxer shorts... and a pair of red and gold socks in a pair of sandals, leaving his prosthetic in full view. "So, let me guess, you're going to give up this material world and become a monk?" Douglas asked with a mocking smirk.
"Well, considering that nothing belongs to me, and everything is Sri-Krishna's property. There's not much I have to give up." X took a sip of his Energen.
"You willingly gave up on your fame as Mega Man X, the killer of Sigma and the Hero of five wars," Douglas informed his friend as he emphatically took a sip of his beer.
"Yeah, as I said... nothing much to give up." A sad smile stretched X's lips as he drank from his thank. "Now... How's Iris? Any signs of improvement?" He asked. Beside him, Kokila carefully nodded as not to spill any grape juice.
Douglas made a face as he deposited his can of pseudo fuel down. "It's... complicated." He began as he leaned his elbows on his forearms. " I can initiate Iris's booth sequence with no problem at all... but She... or her hardware keeps looking for its other part."
"Colonel." X said grimly.
Douglas nodded sadly. "and unlike our sweet Iris, Zero didn't even bother with his frame, let alone his chip-set and core."
"But... Iris merged with his core." X spoke quizzically. To which, the cyborg shook his head sadly.
"Well, apparently, this core she merged with really was a glob of Virus... the sigma virus."
"Oh Sri-Krishna Chaitania!" X covered his mouth as the true horror of the final weapon revealed itself.
"yeah... whatever that is." Douglas took another drink from his can. " So, without Colonel, she won't be able to booth up properly."
"Meaning... she's neither dead not alive."
"Schrodinger..." The cyborg mumbled as he drained his can. "Ah... Want another one?" He asked X, who gracefully declined.
"No, We have to make a wellness check on one devotee at Radha-Mohan temple, on Blues street."
"Blues street!? But that's the worst part of town!" Douglas sputtered.
"Well, that's were God wanted to give his causeless mercy." X gave a happy kind of helpless shrug. He drained the last of his fuel and ate the can, his body needing the alloys and minerals that made the container. Once that was done, X send a prayer of thank to Krishna.
Then he returned his attention to Douglas. "Doug, don't worry about me. I have a wonderful guide and God at my side."
The cyborg snorted. "Listen... you may believe in him, but I chose to believe in what I see."
" Alright, can you explain how I know Iris was not really dead? Or how did Kokila knew about the organic concord grape juice?" X asked with a sly smile.
"Well... you've just turned Crazy awesome on us... Guess Zero was too good of an influence on you after all."
X's smile turned wry. "Anyway, I gotta go. I'll see you around, Douglas... contact me if there any change with Iris."
Douglas got up from his seat and gave X a half-mocked salute. "Will do, sir."
After X walked out for his flat, Douglas sat back down and grabbed his drink. Things were changing rapidly, now that all reploids could gain their independence offer a simple mental health waiver.
...
'Hey, wait a minute... they tried passing this law decades ago, and it never managed to pass the first scrutiny... how come it past now?' He wondered as he went to check on Iris.
He had cleaned out his room and managed to have Iris's pod fit in snugly.
To be honest, Douglas preferred to sleep on his lazy boy, for it made his dialysis easier to deal with.
She was still between booting and crashing, always looking for her secondary unit, her dead brother.
Neither could live without the other, and with Colonel blown apart...
No, Douglas doubted there could be anything done to Iris... Not without some questionable things done to the poor girl.
The reploid medic gave one last look as Zero's girlfriend, now rendered as good as a vegetable because someone thought it would be cool to have a pair of reploid would not function properly without the other!
He huffed... there was nothing he could do for her... save pray, maybe.
'ha, If that's even going to work.' And then he paused...
A week ago, X started praying. And a week ago, the number of viral mavericks plummeted to nil and a week ago...
a week ago, X managed to sneak Iris out of the catacomb and figure out she was not dead without any equipements.
And now... reploids could easily gain their emancipation, to be considered on the same level, right-wise, as humans.
Douglas returned to Iris's side and knelled beside her pod. Then folding his palms, he began to pray.
He prayed to X's God, the one who kept performing miracles after miracles.
He remained in silence, his palms pressed together as he performed an act all of his colleagues would openly laugh at.
And just to make sure his prayers would go at the right person, Douglas began to chant this... Maha-Mantra X seemed to adore.
"Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare..."
Suddenly, some sound came from the pod, specifically from Iris's underused voice box.
"Z...Z...E...Ze...Zero...Zero..."
And then... she grew silent again as Douglas stared owlishly. Some idea's starting to form in his head...
'Yes... this may work... but Zero's as good a dead at the moment.' He thought with dismay.
He returned to his couch and heavily sat down, grabbing another warm beer...
Only to discover that it's the half-drunk concord juice.
He drank it anyway, too tired to care as he fired up the Emoji movie, just about ready to turn his brain off.
"So... this is the place," X whispered, feeling his voice to be an intruder in this hidden sacred place.
"Yep! It's pretty, isn't it?" Kokila asked, her smile never faltering at her genuine declaration.
X returned his attention to the dilapidated storefront. The whole thing was... terrible. To say the least. That with all the uncollected trash, the bio-waste of the walls, the graffiti and the broken widows... the once glorious temple of the lord now looked practically abandoned...
And yet, Kokila was right, it was also the most beautiful thing X had seen in his life.
It was a temple of God, right there, in the heart of Abel City, were sin is so common, it's a part of accepted life, despite its heavy consequences. Shining effulgent despite the layer of filthy matter that covered it.
Kokila grabbed his hand and joyfully dragged her friend inside, unmindful of the debris and the broken door.
Once inside, X followed her lead and washed his feet, now freed from their clunky boots.
No, those chunky blue boots were not meant to be removed, since... well, those were essentially his feet. But Cain had thought X well enough that Doctor Light's son only needed twenty-four hours to design, make, implement, and come a new pair of smaller arms and legs.
Sure, those were still bulkier then what a human would have, but hey... if it worked!
Then he froze... he could hear voices coming from the back of the temple.
There were some Japanese women conversing about how they could bring a dead body on the bank of the Yamuna in less then a day and without raising any alarms from the authority of this land.
'Yeah, OK... that's not good.' X thought with dread as he ran to the back, calling his buster.
Oh yes, apparently, downsizing his buster meant that his shots could now easily pierced the highest grade of steals. And it was something doctor light told him not to.
Well, Ah-ha! X was going through his teenage rebellion phase and was not looking back!
He reached the back door, absentmindedly noting how... surprisingly neat the place was, saved for the smell of death that permeated it.
"Oh no." He heard his Friend whispered sadly, on the verge of tears.
'we're too late.' X thought as he opened the door, only to come face to face with a woman who was the same size as he... and who held a ceremonial stick and glowing golden eyes.
"My name is Toyosatomimi no Miko, but Miko will do." She began with a deep bow, a smile playing on her lips. "I'm the millennial imperial price of Japan, and no, I'm not lying about that. IMy cohorts and I were sent out from Gensokyo to here to find our teacher of Bhakti and dear friend Bahula Devi dasi. Bahula was... attacked by one of her followers and, by the mercy of one of her old and dear friend, was transferred here."
"Oh, Alright... and how about-"
"We were gaped to this location by a super-powerful entity by the name of Yukari Yakumo; we arrived two and a half hours ago and... yes, a Devotee did die," Miko confirmed, her voice silent as a few tears fell from her golden eyes. "Oh... Yes, we would love some help. You see, Gensokyo is a rather rural realm where technology is seen as more troublesome then necessary, and thus, when someone dies, the body is burned on the bank of the Sanzu river... but in this place, I don't think burning a body close to a body of water would be seen as proper... or legal."
X stared at Miko, waiting for her to keep going. The strange woman scratched the side of her cheek.
"Umm...Well... Some other girls from Gensokyo are also here, we entered this temple, and the first thing we found was the dying Vaishnava. We chanted Krishna's name to him, and... he left his body; he died... well, no. The spirit soul in the gross body returned home back to Godhead, leaving behind a body we have to burn. We don't know anything about Vaishnava funerary rituals, and we have even less idea how to proceed with the custom here and-"
"Say no more." X stopped the rambling girl. "But... may I see him?" He asked instead.
After seeing so many mangled corpse of humans dying in agony, to see one who passed away in peace and in one pice, a Vaishnava, would certainly soothe his heart.
Or make him cry... or both.
When X walked into the room, he saw a sight that he would never forget.
There was an exceedingly tall woman with yellow and black hair; she had fangs and resembled one of those statues Buddhist temples would have. Beside her was an even bigger woman wearing a blue yukata, she was also blond, had a horn in the middle of her forehead and piercing red eye. She smelled of strong sake and fresh flowers.
Then there was another blond, this one with shorter blond hair and blue eyes. She wore some European cloth, and a pair of adorable dolls flew by her shoulders.
From the three, this blond generated about the same virus output as Sigma... but it was clear that it was not the same.
It was magic.
The two tall blonds were waving some... yak tail fans to chase away the flies over the inert body of an old man. He was holding onto a set of dark Tulasi beads, blackened by years of chanting. A serene smile seemed to decorate his greying face.
X could not perceive any movement of his chest, and his body was cooling down at a steady pace, signifying that the only Vaishnava of Abel city truly had left his worldly remains behind.
"Mister X, this is Toramaru Shou, shaktiaveshavatar of Kuvera, the tall and bodacious blond is Hoshiguma Yuugi, the head oni of old hell's red-light district and strongest brawler of the underworld." she gestured to the two tall women, and X bowed whit all respect.
Someone had told him that to chant the holy names of Krishna constantly, he had to be as humble as soft grass in the street, and more tolerant then a tree, and give all respect to others.
Those women certainly deserved all of X's respect, for they were serving the body of a saint.
And those were also women, and as Cain had thought him, you had to respect the fairer sex.
"The one waiting outside with the two dolls is named Acyuta-Gopi Devi Dasi. And her dolls are named Hourai and Shanghai."
"I see," X said with a nod, still gazing at the prone form for the departed. The blue bomber was already kneeling beside his form, taking his stiffening hand to lift his fingerprints.
" Frederik de Lemos..." X murmured, now knowing the name of the departed... his family and ...
"Actually." He heard a squeaky voice, dragging X away from his legal perusal. "His name was Garuda-Govinda das brahmachari; he joined in 19XX."
X raised his head at the direction of the tiny voice... only to see a tiny girl floating on the top of a rather dense, pink cloud. She wore a simple red Kimono and wore a tiny lacquer bowl on her head, obscuring her purple hair.
"The inchling is none other then Sukuna Shinmyoumaru, the last of the known Koibito and last descendent of the great Hero, Bushin Insun. And the Cloud is Uuzan, a nyuudo."
"Oh, I see..." X mumbled. "I was more shocked by the fact that this man is just a bit younger then me."
"Hmm. I see." Mukhara nodded. "You know, I'm well over a thousand, same for Toramaru-sama."
"Oh, Hush, Miko-Taichi." The tiger-like individual gestured the hidden praise away.
"Nevertheless... it is clear that you are a devotee of the Lord, for your desires are not as polluted by lust then a normal man." The androgynous woman addressed X as she walked out of the room. "Now... I'm sure we will have plenty more opportunity to speak, but... it would be for the best for you to deal with this situation quickly."
"Understood." X nodded. " I know this one crematorium that caters to Hindus, and I'm sure they will let you perform whatever ceremonies are required."
This seemed to remove a huge weight from everyone's shoulder. "Thank you... X-Prabhu, your service will be greatly rewarded." Miko said with a much deeper vow.
After that, X sat down and began to call the coroner, and whoever was needed to be notified after a human expires of natural causes.
"You know, X-Prabhu," Kokila said as she sat on his shoulders. " I know how to perform the final rites." She whispered to his ear, once again, no one seemed to notice her. "Can I? Can I perform his final rites?"
"Yeah, sure," X mumbled, it was astonishing what he had to do and the money that had to be spent on a dead body. 'Really, cremation's so much better, as long as you only have a price for the fuel to pay... and liquid sun's inexpensive nowadays... I wonder if direct cremation's legal here... I'll have to look it up.' As he worked out the legal detail at speed only he could calculate, Kokila spoke the glories of Garuda-Govinda.
And thirty minutes later and plenty of tears over the departed saint, a Man X would have loved to call a close friend, the body was taken away, and the menagery followed.
This was not anybody, but the body of a servant of Krishna, certain procedures had to happen, and no one could pierce it.
Besides, tomorrow, at the latest, it would all be dust and ashes.