A House Divided, chapter four
Authored by Yoster
Authored on 8 May, 2001 10.32 PM, PST
All characters herein copyright their respective owners.
4th Author's Note (added 8 May, 2001, 11.36 PM, PST)
Like I said, few and far between. It took a while, but I finally got the guts to but my proverbial pen to paper once more and tack on yet another chapter to my humble little story. Don't even ask about chapter five, but rest assured, it's always on my back burner.
chapter four
"ring-ring!" X was wandering around in the park, wondering what he would do with his new found freedom, and was startled by the sudden chirping of the phone in his pocket. Only one person knew his private number.
"Shit!" He damned the luck that made him forget what he had in his pocket. "Even if it was him, there's nothing he could say..."
X let it ring, hoping that the caller would give up. Maybe it was just a telemarketer, or a wrong number. But the ringing continued, unabated.
"Rrgh!" X clenched his teeth, tore the phone out of his pocket, punched a button, and stuck it to his face. "What do you want?"
"X!" Zero almost dropped the phone in surprise. "X! Where the hell have you been?!"
"Thinking."
"You're not still on that whole 'monster' thing, are you?"
"It wasn't just a damn 'thing', you know."
Zero kicked himself. He was trying to get X to come back, not piss him off. "I know."
"You know what's funny?"
"What?"
"That you help and save humans for years, and at the end of the day, you're just another bucket of bolts with a gun to them."
"You know that's not true."
"Do I? Tell me, how'd Dr. Cain take my unscheduled leave?"
Zero grimaced. X knew Cain as well as he did, and knew quite well how he would react in a situation like this.
"...not well."
"He wasn't concerned with my well being, was he?"
"Not in so many words..."
"He wasn't concerned with my feelings, was he?"
"Well, he didn't say..."
"He wasn't concerned with me in any capacity other than a weapon, was he?"
"X, you and I both know..."
"Yes! You and I do both know that we're second class citizens to him. You and I both know that he'd rather have a reploid cleaning the floors than a human. You and I both know that he took Dr. Light's technology and used it for financial gain."
"Well, there was no way he could have known..."
"Bull. I was buried in the ground with big red warnings for 30 years for a reason, you know."
"X! If he would have known, then he would have-"
"What? Left me there? To lie buried forever?"
Zero couldn't fathom a reply to this. He was trapped in a corner. He waited for what X had to say next.
"You and I are both the same, Zero. We both have feelings, wants, desires..."
"Yeah..." Zero wasn't used to not being in control of a conversation, so he just followed where X led him, hoping for some concrete answers.
"Unfortunately, as reploids, parameters, functions, and obligations are all that matters. And I for one am sick of it."
"And what are you going to do about it, X?" Zero was getting angry with the runaround his friend was giving him. "What the HELL are you going to do about it?"
"I'm going to stop fighting. To hell with my 'purpose.' I was designed to be as human as any other human, not to be a gun with legs."
Zero was certainly in no position to tell X to get his ass back to HQ, but he certainly wasn't going to be dragged along like this, so he struggled for a plan of attack, sending the conversation in another, hopefully more fruitful direction. "Dr. Cain told me to find you and bring you back. He didn't say you had to be willing to come back."
"Is that a threat, Zero?"
"Take it as you will, I've been given orders to get you back here."
"And then what?"
"...I-I don't know. It's up to Cain. I've just been told to-" Zero was shaken. He had to threaten his best friend? What was going on?
"Fuck Cain. And fuck you too if you're going to be his puppet."
Zero was as stunned as he was from X's punch in the face. The silence was deafening.
"Are you going to leave me alone?"
"X, you know I-"
"Are you?"
Zero, for the first time he could remember, didn't have the answer he needed. He felt a sting in his lip, and blurted out:
"...it still hurts, you know. My face."
"-click." The line went dead.
"DAMN IT!" Zero threw the phone at the wall, and it shattered into pieces.
He sat upon the bed, put his face into his hands and began to cry.
"X.." Zero wished with all his being that X could hear him. "X... I'm... I-"
The door burst off its hinges, and a swarm of security repolids seized the fallen hunter.
"What the hell?!" Zero struggled, but he was without his blaster, armor, or saber, and wouldn't be able to get very far if he succeeded. He stood still.
Dr. Cain hobbled in. "We've been listening to your little convo with X, Zero."
Zero yelled at himself in his mind for not checking for bugs and taps. In a situation this serious, Cain would look for any leads he could, and he knew full well how close he and X were, and the likely chance they had a way to communicate 'off the record.'
"Ignoring the fact that you LIED to be saying you couldn't contact X..."
Zero couldn't deny this, but he didn't intend to lie. Not completely, anyway.
"...You've had unauthorized contact with a Maverick, and that is completely unacceptable."
Zero looked up angrily and attempted to charge the hunched figure, only to be slammed against the wall by his captors. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'MAVERICK?'"
"Upon listening to X's responses, the security commission and I have come to the conclusion that he has been somehow infected with an advanced type of the Maverick virus."
Zero's mind spun with the possibility.
"X did attack me, but it was just a punch... X did speak as Mavericks often did about Reploids and humans, but he had good reason... X was refusing to fight for the hunters, but he didn't say he was against us... How could he... Where might have... When did... Why..." Thoughts upon thoughts pounded upon his psyche.
"Your silence indicates I'm understood." The doctor bridged his fingers. "Now then, we have much to plan and discuss. Come." He signaled the security to bring Zero.
"Plan what?" He veinly struggled against the robots. This was getting a bit too familiar.
Cain left without a word, proceeding into his office, a distressed Zero in involuntary tow.
The door slammed shut, and left them in a sparsely furnished, dimly lit room.
Authored by Yoster
Authored on 8 May, 2001 10.32 PM, PST
All characters herein copyright their respective owners.
4th Author's Note (added 8 May, 2001, 11.36 PM, PST)
Like I said, few and far between. It took a while, but I finally got the guts to but my proverbial pen to paper once more and tack on yet another chapter to my humble little story. Don't even ask about chapter five, but rest assured, it's always on my back burner.
chapter four
"ring-ring!" X was wandering around in the park, wondering what he would do with his new found freedom, and was startled by the sudden chirping of the phone in his pocket. Only one person knew his private number.
"Shit!" He damned the luck that made him forget what he had in his pocket. "Even if it was him, there's nothing he could say..."
X let it ring, hoping that the caller would give up. Maybe it was just a telemarketer, or a wrong number. But the ringing continued, unabated.
"Rrgh!" X clenched his teeth, tore the phone out of his pocket, punched a button, and stuck it to his face. "What do you want?"
"X!" Zero almost dropped the phone in surprise. "X! Where the hell have you been?!"
"Thinking."
"You're not still on that whole 'monster' thing, are you?"
"It wasn't just a damn 'thing', you know."
Zero kicked himself. He was trying to get X to come back, not piss him off. "I know."
"You know what's funny?"
"What?"
"That you help and save humans for years, and at the end of the day, you're just another bucket of bolts with a gun to them."
"You know that's not true."
"Do I? Tell me, how'd Dr. Cain take my unscheduled leave?"
Zero grimaced. X knew Cain as well as he did, and knew quite well how he would react in a situation like this.
"...not well."
"He wasn't concerned with my well being, was he?"
"Not in so many words..."
"He wasn't concerned with my feelings, was he?"
"Well, he didn't say..."
"He wasn't concerned with me in any capacity other than a weapon, was he?"
"X, you and I both know..."
"Yes! You and I do both know that we're second class citizens to him. You and I both know that he'd rather have a reploid cleaning the floors than a human. You and I both know that he took Dr. Light's technology and used it for financial gain."
"Well, there was no way he could have known..."
"Bull. I was buried in the ground with big red warnings for 30 years for a reason, you know."
"X! If he would have known, then he would have-"
"What? Left me there? To lie buried forever?"
Zero couldn't fathom a reply to this. He was trapped in a corner. He waited for what X had to say next.
"You and I are both the same, Zero. We both have feelings, wants, desires..."
"Yeah..." Zero wasn't used to not being in control of a conversation, so he just followed where X led him, hoping for some concrete answers.
"Unfortunately, as reploids, parameters, functions, and obligations are all that matters. And I for one am sick of it."
"And what are you going to do about it, X?" Zero was getting angry with the runaround his friend was giving him. "What the HELL are you going to do about it?"
"I'm going to stop fighting. To hell with my 'purpose.' I was designed to be as human as any other human, not to be a gun with legs."
Zero was certainly in no position to tell X to get his ass back to HQ, but he certainly wasn't going to be dragged along like this, so he struggled for a plan of attack, sending the conversation in another, hopefully more fruitful direction. "Dr. Cain told me to find you and bring you back. He didn't say you had to be willing to come back."
"Is that a threat, Zero?"
"Take it as you will, I've been given orders to get you back here."
"And then what?"
"...I-I don't know. It's up to Cain. I've just been told to-" Zero was shaken. He had to threaten his best friend? What was going on?
"Fuck Cain. And fuck you too if you're going to be his puppet."
Zero was as stunned as he was from X's punch in the face. The silence was deafening.
"Are you going to leave me alone?"
"X, you know I-"
"Are you?"
Zero, for the first time he could remember, didn't have the answer he needed. He felt a sting in his lip, and blurted out:
"...it still hurts, you know. My face."
"-click." The line went dead.
"DAMN IT!" Zero threw the phone at the wall, and it shattered into pieces.
He sat upon the bed, put his face into his hands and began to cry.
"X.." Zero wished with all his being that X could hear him. "X... I'm... I-"
The door burst off its hinges, and a swarm of security repolids seized the fallen hunter.
"What the hell?!" Zero struggled, but he was without his blaster, armor, or saber, and wouldn't be able to get very far if he succeeded. He stood still.
Dr. Cain hobbled in. "We've been listening to your little convo with X, Zero."
Zero yelled at himself in his mind for not checking for bugs and taps. In a situation this serious, Cain would look for any leads he could, and he knew full well how close he and X were, and the likely chance they had a way to communicate 'off the record.'
"Ignoring the fact that you LIED to be saying you couldn't contact X..."
Zero couldn't deny this, but he didn't intend to lie. Not completely, anyway.
"...You've had unauthorized contact with a Maverick, and that is completely unacceptable."
Zero looked up angrily and attempted to charge the hunched figure, only to be slammed against the wall by his captors. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'MAVERICK?'"
"Upon listening to X's responses, the security commission and I have come to the conclusion that he has been somehow infected with an advanced type of the Maverick virus."
Zero's mind spun with the possibility.
"X did attack me, but it was just a punch... X did speak as Mavericks often did about Reploids and humans, but he had good reason... X was refusing to fight for the hunters, but he didn't say he was against us... How could he... Where might have... When did... Why..." Thoughts upon thoughts pounded upon his psyche.
"Your silence indicates I'm understood." The doctor bridged his fingers. "Now then, we have much to plan and discuss. Come." He signaled the security to bring Zero.
"Plan what?" He veinly struggled against the robots. This was getting a bit too familiar.
Cain left without a word, proceeding into his office, a distressed Zero in involuntary tow.
The door slammed shut, and left them in a sparsely furnished, dimly lit room.
