After a few minutes, it seemed like the robot wouldn't wake up. One of the scientists theorized it might not do so until it reached full charge, and that wouldn't happen for a while. With the time they had, he offered that the scientists and agents head down to find Judd the cat; maybe he recognized the mysterious robot or at least knew something about it that they didn't. 8 was the only one who seemed reluctant, and decided to stay behind and keep an eye on it. So there she sat, watching the robot with intense curiosity.

...

"Zero, you need to get out here!"

"No! Not without you!"

"There's no time! I'm sorry, old friend."

"X, NO!"

Zero's eyes shot open as he woke up. That nightmare was still vivid in his mind; only it wasn't a nightmare, it was his last memory. Blinking as his eyes zoomed into focus, Zero raised a hand to his head, only to find that a cable of some sort was restraining it. In fact, multiple cables were placed on various parts of his body. It wasn't until Zero noticed his power level that he realized the cables were charging his power cells, and they had just reached full power.

After a few minutes of fiddling with the cables, Zero managed to sit up and get the remainder of the charging cables off. With that out of the way, Zero got to his feet and looked at his surroundings. It was definitely a lab of some kind, but it wasn't the threatening kind like the Maverick labs he had X had destroyed. Weird. He decided he needed to learn more. Suddenly, he heard a small gasp, and looked to see a girl standing there on the other end of a viewing window...or, he thought it was a girl until he saw her pink tentacle hair. Zero realized that this wasn't a human he was looking at. Hopefully, he could communicate with her.

Zero wasn't sure what to do in that moment, but she didn't seem hostile. Plus, Zero needed answers. He put up his hands and slowly walked out the door and towards her. The girls was nervously backing up and he exited, so Zero put his hands up, palms open, to show he wasn't a threat.

"It's ok" he said, "I won't hurt you. Who are you?"

The girl seemed surprised he could talk, but then looked confused before replying in a language Zero had never heard before. Even worse was that it didn't match anything in his language database.

Uh oh...

Zero had to hide his frustration as he tried to motion with his arms as he spoke. "Me...friend. Me...Zero."

The girl looked more curious then scared now and cautiously approached him. It also seemed like she was trying to say something, but it only came out as gibberish again. Zero sighed in frustration; he needed to access a terminal to figure out this new language, or else he was going to crash through the language barrier face first multiple times in the future. Zero immediately looked around for something, and this peaked the girl's interest even more. Suddenly, she grabbed him by the arm and began to lead him down the hallway.

"Where are you taking me!?" she shouted, but the girl paid no attention as she reached an elevator door, proceeding to hit the button and wait for one to arrive. The door dinged open after a few moments, and the girl led Zero inside. Zero had no choice but to follow; he needed to learn more about this place, and something told him the strange girl was trying to help him do just that. Once the elevator stopped, the girl led him through yet another hallway, this time, however, as they turned a corner. they ran into a group of other squid-like beings as well as what seemed to be a cat in a casual business suit. They were surprised at first, but that initial feeling quickly turned to shock as they recognized the robot standing before them. The cat especially began to quiver in fright a little.

Zero saw their frightened expression and, despite the girl's attempted explanations to them, he realized he needed to do something and fast. That's when he noticed one of them take out what looked like a phone in the shape of an arrow, and realized he could use that. In a flash of motion, Zero grabbed the phone from the squid being and, deploying a plug from his finger, plugged it into the phone, immediately scanning and downloading what he could, his translation processors finally beginning to decipher the language. After a few moments, the process was complete, and Zero unplugged his finger and handed the phone back to a very confused Inkling (Zero had learned that that was what they were called).

He was now able to make sense of what they were saying just as the girl from before asked. "What was that about?"

The Inkling that Zero had taken the phone from looked over the device. "It doesn't seem hacked or damaged."

"I believe" the cat spoke up, "that he was using it to download something."

"More like learn something" Zero said. The others widened their eyes to realize the robot knew their language. the girl from before was especially shocked.

"You can understand us now?!" she asked.

Zero crossed his arms. "I should be asking you the same thing. Now that we can all understand each other, you can call me Zero."

The Inklings all took turns introducing themselves. The girl Zero first met was Agent 8. There was also the Inkling with green tentacle hair named Agent 3. The cat's name was Judd.

"It's nice to meet you all" Zero said after the introductions, "But if I may ask, if you're not human, then what exactly are you Inklings?"

"It's...difficult to explain" Judd replied, "Better you and I discuss that in private; the world has changed quite a bit since you were last here, Reploid."

8 looked at Judd, confused. "You recognize him."

The cat laughed "Recognize?! I lived alongside his kind way back in the day! They're robots that can think and feel just lie we can."

This sparked an "Ooooooo!" from the Inklings. Zero was amused at their awe, but he was mostly happy that there was someone who recognized him; at least he wasn't completely alone in this new world.

Judd continued. "What I want to know is: how have you survived? I was sure that all the Reploids were destroyed long ago!"

Zero's expression became distant; he knew the answer to Judd's question but the memories involved were painful to recall.

"It's...hard to explain" he finally answered, "Not here."

"Well, meet me later then and we'll talk then." Judd said, nodding his head in understanding.

Just then, 8 shot over next to Zero and took his hand. "In the meantime, how bout I take you on a tour of the city?"

3 spoke up. "You sure that's a good idea?

"I can handle myself" Zero argued.

"Oh, I can believe that, but what are the other people gonna think of him?"

Zero saw she had a point.

8 also knew 3 was right. "Good point, but where should he go then?"

3 thought for a moment, "Agents 5 and 6, perhaps? 5 has a way with tech; maybe she can help us understand him more."

8 nodded her head in understanding. "True. Ok; 5 and 6 it is then. Follow me, Zero!"

Zero wasn't fully sure who Agents 5 and 6 were, but 3 and 8 seemed friendly enough. However, he made sure to keep his guard up, just in case.

"I look forward to speaking with you more, Zero" Judd said as he passed by. Zero nodded in reply as 8 led him back upstairs to the helicopter. Once they climbed in, 8 got to the controls and took off, heading for one of the larger towers of the city.

"Relax, Zero" 8 said, "I know these two agents. If anyone can teach you about this world well, it's Pearl and Marina."

Zero sat in the co-pilot seat silently as he stared out the window; he still had a multitude of questions, but for now, his main goal was getting to know the Inklings more as well as gain their trust, just incase he needed their help should a new threat rise up.

He had no idea how quickly that threat was coming...

Let me know what you think so far! Also as for Agents 5 and 6 being Pearl and Marina, I am doing this based on popular belief as 5 and 6 were not really shown in the game itself.