AUTHOR'S NOTES: Behold, the Beginning of the End... it's short, perhaps with a surprise or two in hand, but the final chapter will be much longer, I promise! Please enjoy and review, and perhaps there will be a Book Two in the near future. ~Sierra Omega~
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PREVIOUSLY ON CREATION AND EMOTION:
"I...I'll miss you... both..."
"DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE IN THIS WORLD! ZERO! DON'T DIE! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!"
But it was too late... with a final smile of reassuring farewell... his eyes closed forever... and his form fell limp beneath the rain and thunder... even his blood stopped flowing... I cradled his body close to my own, sobbing into the shell that once contained the soul of my last brother...
"NOOO!!!!!!" I cried out, screaming to the heavens. "NOOOOOO!!!!!"
***********************************************************
AND NOW FOR CONCLUSION, PART ONE
He was gone. My only remaining family... carried away with the storms by an evil scientist. I was alone now, ever destined to wander the world companionless, loveless. I supposed darkly that it was my destiny to be so; that I was never to have someone to care for lest they be torn from me and have my heart... break once more.
The first time it happened was my activation. I knew from the beginning that it was not Wily that I was to serve, yet my choice was stolen from me. Then I was made to destroy things... people... anything that the scientist grew weary or angry with. I hated to do it... but still I had no say, no choice; no way to stop it all. Then... it was Rock whom I lost next... the brave little brother that never thought of himself... only of those that he loved... he even saved me, despite the fact I was completely undeserving of his great compassion. Now it was Zero whose path ended before my eyes... those fiery green eyes would never open again... would never gaze at Sierra lovingly again, and would never narrow in no hesitation to protect those he cared for as Rock had done.
They both died as heroes, no matter how much I hid it from myself. I was the true coward here, the one who was too weak to shield the loved ones from harm; the one too blinded to stand up for myself and fight. I could have stopped him... I know I could have... but what good was it now? None... none at all. I was disgusted with myself to the depths of my pitiful soul... no, I was not even worth wasting the pity on. I wasn't worth a look someone on the street would give me. I was nothing.
"So that's it," I said softly to the cooling body of my brother. My gaze rested upon the chips he had given me, still clutched gently in his hand in once-white gloves now soaked with blood and rain.
"That's it..." I repeated, raising my face to the still-pounding rain and thundering black clouds above. "I failed. I'm nothing... and alone. What am I here for? Tell me! Or..." I trailed off, "...or is the solution to my suffering... my death? Is that it? Is my destiny to let myself die?
"Then so be it..." the silver glint of Zero's fallen saber lay glinting in the gray droplets of angels' tears, just within reach from where he fell.
"I am not worth this, Zero," I said to him. "But it's the only way to end it."
Brother...
I paused, then shook my head. I looked again at the chips, my heart breaking yet again.
Brother...
My glance turned to a stare. What was it about those circuits? Did they always glow like they were doing now? No... it couldn't be... I was losing my mind...
Brother!
"Stop it!" I cried out, still clutching the sword but all at once grasping my head. "He's dead! And now I have no choice but to pay for my crimes! I won't even be reunited with them... I don't deserve it... Rock, Zero!"
Don't give up hope, Brother...
I heard it again... that voice calling me... tormenting me... stop it please...
Blues. Don't do this... you're never alone.
Alone? Yes... I was indeed alone, and now a voice was permeating my thoughts of darkness... just go away and leave me in peace.
You know I can't do that. Blues... they need you here. You have to deliver the chips to Sierra.
The chips? Oh, that. I don't care anymore... I'll drop the damn things down to the lab before I kill myself.
I won't let you, Blues.
"And who the hell are you to tell me what to do!?" I screamed aloud. Through my tightly shut eyes a bluish glow flickered into existence, bright enough to catch my attention. I opened them...
...and nearly began crying again from the sight before me. No, before one gets this idea, I am no weak fool... but even one with such a cold heart as I had would break at the sight I was seeing then.
'Hello, Blues.' He stood before me... real but at the same time... not. How could it be? He laughed at my expression, but it was a clear laugh... before he had been altered...
"Zero..." I whispered. "But how... you're dead..."
'Don't I know it,' he joked, smile never leaving. 'But all at once I'm not. Look Blues; it's me... I told you the chips had everything. They are the keys to my reactivation... and the cure to the virus. Doctor Light can get the information directly from my memories and saved tracking of the virus in my subroutines.
'But you're still skeptical,' he noted. 'I can see it clearly... Why are you testing me, brother? Don't you want me to come back?'
I said nothing, but simply hung my head in shame. I looked down at his body... now a lifeless shell, then at the chips, now projecting a perfect hologram of that which he once was, minus a real physical form.
'Blues... Brother... go back to them. Give her the chips, and don't try to destroy yourself.'
"And why not?" I mustered at last. "I am the cause of the suffering..." As I said this a strange feeling washed over me... one I'd never known before. It was almost alien to me... surging through every circuit and causing me to lose focus. At the same time my anger rose; at me, at Wily, at Zero.
"Why did you do what you did?!" I demanded. "There was another way!"
'No... don't you see? I would become a living plague, a danger to everyone... and I couldn't let that happen... '
"But I let you get infected!" I shouted back. "It was my fault!"
'Quit kicking yourself,' he commanded, placing curiously solid hands upon my shoulders. 'Did you really think I'd just leave you here!? You're my brother, dammit!'
When I gave no response, the hologram looked up at the sky with concern. 'Lightning has not been our friend as of late... we'd best get inside.'
But suddenly I was paralyzed, a gasp strangled in my throat parched from sobs and shouts.
'Blues!?' Zero exclaimed, reeling back as telltale blue sparks began flashing over me. 'No... DAMMIT...'
I looked down at myself, searching for the source... there...
"Your blood... mixed with mine... hit my wound... and got into... systems..." I mumbled, tensing up in an attempt to deny the inevitable. I had to fight it... I wouldn't give in... I WOULDN'T!!!
I screamed. The pain was unbearable... "Chips! Sierra!" My choked yells came out in agony, and while my body cried out in protest I began crawling towards the hole in the ceiling...
No... Blues... this couldn't be happening now! I had never known this would happen!
'Brother! Dammit WAIT! STOP!' then something snapped in me... I had to warn him... 'Blues...' I hissed urgently.... 'Just DON'T laugh... that's what triggers the virus... gods please don't' laugh...'
"Heh... heh... damn you Zero... a little bit late... wasn't it? You HAD... heh heh heh... to tell me NOW? Heh... but I still have time... I have to get the chips... heh... to Sierra... then I'll leave here..."
My backed-up mind was racing as fast as the small chips would allow... not much slower than my original brain... but lacking enough to annoy me and distract me further...
'If you leave...' I began, out of time. 'You'll have to take me with you! I'm not letting you go off alone!' He completely disregarded my presence, holding the fragile circuits that were left of me with them close to his body as he hurled himself through the gaping hole on the roof. I heard him hit the metal tiling with a sickening crack, and I jumped down fluidly... and looked upon his twisted form in horror. What had I DONE to him?
He growled at me, reaching for my chips from where they had fallen, some feet to the left. Frantically I brushed them away into my own semi-solid fingers... though I couldn't keep up being real indefinitely...the power was running out fast...
"No!" he cried, face melting into an expression of despair. "Please... I want to do it... so that you'll forgive me... and maybe..." he sobbed deeply, "... maybe she will find it in her heart to forgive me as well..."
Sadness passed over my ethereal form... 'Forgiveness had already been given you, my brother... please don't torture yourself for my sake!' Then an idea came to me...
'Hold on, Blues... this is gonna sting a bit...' I turned one of his arms slightly, finding the slot identical to one in my design. Swiftly I placed my chips delicately inside, and instantly began to feel my formless body grow stronger.
"What are you...?" he muttered in defeat.
'I told you,' I replied coldly, 'I am going with you.'
...TO BE CONCLUDED
***********************************************************
PREVIOUSLY ON CREATION AND EMOTION:
"I...I'll miss you... both..."
"DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE IN THIS WORLD! ZERO! DON'T DIE! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!"
But it was too late... with a final smile of reassuring farewell... his eyes closed forever... and his form fell limp beneath the rain and thunder... even his blood stopped flowing... I cradled his body close to my own, sobbing into the shell that once contained the soul of my last brother...
"NOOO!!!!!!" I cried out, screaming to the heavens. "NOOOOOO!!!!!"
***********************************************************
AND NOW FOR CONCLUSION, PART ONE
He was gone. My only remaining family... carried away with the storms by an evil scientist. I was alone now, ever destined to wander the world companionless, loveless. I supposed darkly that it was my destiny to be so; that I was never to have someone to care for lest they be torn from me and have my heart... break once more.
The first time it happened was my activation. I knew from the beginning that it was not Wily that I was to serve, yet my choice was stolen from me. Then I was made to destroy things... people... anything that the scientist grew weary or angry with. I hated to do it... but still I had no say, no choice; no way to stop it all. Then... it was Rock whom I lost next... the brave little brother that never thought of himself... only of those that he loved... he even saved me, despite the fact I was completely undeserving of his great compassion. Now it was Zero whose path ended before my eyes... those fiery green eyes would never open again... would never gaze at Sierra lovingly again, and would never narrow in no hesitation to protect those he cared for as Rock had done.
They both died as heroes, no matter how much I hid it from myself. I was the true coward here, the one who was too weak to shield the loved ones from harm; the one too blinded to stand up for myself and fight. I could have stopped him... I know I could have... but what good was it now? None... none at all. I was disgusted with myself to the depths of my pitiful soul... no, I was not even worth wasting the pity on. I wasn't worth a look someone on the street would give me. I was nothing.
"So that's it," I said softly to the cooling body of my brother. My gaze rested upon the chips he had given me, still clutched gently in his hand in once-white gloves now soaked with blood and rain.
"That's it..." I repeated, raising my face to the still-pounding rain and thundering black clouds above. "I failed. I'm nothing... and alone. What am I here for? Tell me! Or..." I trailed off, "...or is the solution to my suffering... my death? Is that it? Is my destiny to let myself die?
"Then so be it..." the silver glint of Zero's fallen saber lay glinting in the gray droplets of angels' tears, just within reach from where he fell.
"I am not worth this, Zero," I said to him. "But it's the only way to end it."
Brother...
I paused, then shook my head. I looked again at the chips, my heart breaking yet again.
Brother...
My glance turned to a stare. What was it about those circuits? Did they always glow like they were doing now? No... it couldn't be... I was losing my mind...
Brother!
"Stop it!" I cried out, still clutching the sword but all at once grasping my head. "He's dead! And now I have no choice but to pay for my crimes! I won't even be reunited with them... I don't deserve it... Rock, Zero!"
Don't give up hope, Brother...
I heard it again... that voice calling me... tormenting me... stop it please...
Blues. Don't do this... you're never alone.
Alone? Yes... I was indeed alone, and now a voice was permeating my thoughts of darkness... just go away and leave me in peace.
You know I can't do that. Blues... they need you here. You have to deliver the chips to Sierra.
The chips? Oh, that. I don't care anymore... I'll drop the damn things down to the lab before I kill myself.
I won't let you, Blues.
"And who the hell are you to tell me what to do!?" I screamed aloud. Through my tightly shut eyes a bluish glow flickered into existence, bright enough to catch my attention. I opened them...
...and nearly began crying again from the sight before me. No, before one gets this idea, I am no weak fool... but even one with such a cold heart as I had would break at the sight I was seeing then.
'Hello, Blues.' He stood before me... real but at the same time... not. How could it be? He laughed at my expression, but it was a clear laugh... before he had been altered...
"Zero..." I whispered. "But how... you're dead..."
'Don't I know it,' he joked, smile never leaving. 'But all at once I'm not. Look Blues; it's me... I told you the chips had everything. They are the keys to my reactivation... and the cure to the virus. Doctor Light can get the information directly from my memories and saved tracking of the virus in my subroutines.
'But you're still skeptical,' he noted. 'I can see it clearly... Why are you testing me, brother? Don't you want me to come back?'
I said nothing, but simply hung my head in shame. I looked down at his body... now a lifeless shell, then at the chips, now projecting a perfect hologram of that which he once was, minus a real physical form.
'Blues... Brother... go back to them. Give her the chips, and don't try to destroy yourself.'
"And why not?" I mustered at last. "I am the cause of the suffering..." As I said this a strange feeling washed over me... one I'd never known before. It was almost alien to me... surging through every circuit and causing me to lose focus. At the same time my anger rose; at me, at Wily, at Zero.
"Why did you do what you did?!" I demanded. "There was another way!"
'No... don't you see? I would become a living plague, a danger to everyone... and I couldn't let that happen... '
"But I let you get infected!" I shouted back. "It was my fault!"
'Quit kicking yourself,' he commanded, placing curiously solid hands upon my shoulders. 'Did you really think I'd just leave you here!? You're my brother, dammit!'
When I gave no response, the hologram looked up at the sky with concern. 'Lightning has not been our friend as of late... we'd best get inside.'
But suddenly I was paralyzed, a gasp strangled in my throat parched from sobs and shouts.
'Blues!?' Zero exclaimed, reeling back as telltale blue sparks began flashing over me. 'No... DAMMIT...'
I looked down at myself, searching for the source... there...
"Your blood... mixed with mine... hit my wound... and got into... systems..." I mumbled, tensing up in an attempt to deny the inevitable. I had to fight it... I wouldn't give in... I WOULDN'T!!!
I screamed. The pain was unbearable... "Chips! Sierra!" My choked yells came out in agony, and while my body cried out in protest I began crawling towards the hole in the ceiling...
No... Blues... this couldn't be happening now! I had never known this would happen!
'Brother! Dammit WAIT! STOP!' then something snapped in me... I had to warn him... 'Blues...' I hissed urgently.... 'Just DON'T laugh... that's what triggers the virus... gods please don't' laugh...'
"Heh... heh... damn you Zero... a little bit late... wasn't it? You HAD... heh heh heh... to tell me NOW? Heh... but I still have time... I have to get the chips... heh... to Sierra... then I'll leave here..."
My backed-up mind was racing as fast as the small chips would allow... not much slower than my original brain... but lacking enough to annoy me and distract me further...
'If you leave...' I began, out of time. 'You'll have to take me with you! I'm not letting you go off alone!' He completely disregarded my presence, holding the fragile circuits that were left of me with them close to his body as he hurled himself through the gaping hole on the roof. I heard him hit the metal tiling with a sickening crack, and I jumped down fluidly... and looked upon his twisted form in horror. What had I DONE to him?
He growled at me, reaching for my chips from where they had fallen, some feet to the left. Frantically I brushed them away into my own semi-solid fingers... though I couldn't keep up being real indefinitely...the power was running out fast...
"No!" he cried, face melting into an expression of despair. "Please... I want to do it... so that you'll forgive me... and maybe..." he sobbed deeply, "... maybe she will find it in her heart to forgive me as well..."
Sadness passed over my ethereal form... 'Forgiveness had already been given you, my brother... please don't torture yourself for my sake!' Then an idea came to me...
'Hold on, Blues... this is gonna sting a bit...' I turned one of his arms slightly, finding the slot identical to one in my design. Swiftly I placed my chips delicately inside, and instantly began to feel my formless body grow stronger.
"What are you...?" he muttered in defeat.
'I told you,' I replied coldly, 'I am going with you.'
...TO BE CONCLUDED