THE TENTH DISK
By blackhart
copyright MM Abacus Fiction, revised 6/26/2001
Chapter Nine
Zero
I waited for the blast to overtake my body. I had been killed several
years ago by Vile, but X had brought me back from the grave. My life flashed
before my eyes in barely recognizable scenes: I spotted Iris, the real Iris, her
brother Colonel Kenissa, and I spotted X. My friend, I'm sorry it ended this
way. Don't blame yourself, I thought.
After ten seconds, I got impatient. What was keeping that blast? If
my end was going to be this dramatic, I wanted to die quickly. As I opened
my eyes, I saw Sigma, fallen to one knee, my Z-Saber stuck in the spot on his
chest which had been ripped open before, back at Delta's. He used what
seemed like his last bit of strength to pull the blade free and stick in the
grass next to my head.
I managed to get up, Sigma still making no reaction except the
occasional grunt. He held his gun arm tightly; I realized his cannon must have
malfunctioned when he got hit. Thinking for just a second, I ran over to the
bushes where my saber had flown just moments ago. Crouched there in a
state of shock, I found Iris. As soon as she saw me, our eyes met and she
cuddled up next to me, her eyes freely flowing with tears. "Teleported here,
eh?" I whispered.
She nodded against my chest. "I heard you two leave from HQ and I
knew something was wrong. When I found your saber here, I threw it at him,
and--"
I hugged her to me. "You'll be okay. Just in a little bit of shock from
having to fight again, that's all. Wait here. I'll be right back."
Walking over to where Sigma now had fallen off his knees and onto
his back, I delicately wedged my cannon underneath his chin, charging a shot.
"This is always the way I've wanted to see you, Sigma, bent over and leaving
your fate at my mercies." I narrowed my eyes angrily. "Unfortunately, I
never thought you would be in X's body."
He opened his eyes, looked up, still quiet, then he mouthed
something: "Zero, it's X."
My frown disappeared instantly. I looked deeply into his eyes again.
No trace of that cold blue was there, no iota of ruthlessness or cruelty. He
was X again.
I dropped to my knees, throwing my arms around my friend. "I've
missed you, man."
He half-wheezed a laugh, saying faintly, "Missed me too, Zero."
"Listen, you gotta get back to medbay. Can you `port?"
"I think so. You get Iris, I'll be okay."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Just go. Your girl's waiting for you, Zero. Don't keep her too
long," he smiled, as blue light enveloped him.
As his form dissipated, I walked back to where Iris stood, holding her
head in her hands. "I feel dirty, going back to the fight, Zero," she said.
I let her put her head on my chest as I consoled her. "It's all right," I
said. "I felt the same way, when I first went back into fighting. It's normal."
She cried quietly for a second, then I put a finger under her chin and
raised it to look up at my eyes. She said nine words simply, and with a kind
and hopeful tone: "At least this time, I picked the right side."
I smiled. "Do you want to go back into the fight for real? I can get
Dr. Cain to upgrade your attack systems, if you want."
"Would you?" she asked desiringly. "If it would help destroy Sigma, I
want to go back into this fight."
She stared into my eyes expectantly, as if trying to search for
something there. Something, maybe, I wasn't telling her. When she found
nothing, she lowered her head again.
"Will I ever find true peace for myself, Zero? I feel as if I can't live
with myself, because I've been a Maverick. Did you feel that way?"
I nodded, remembering my past. "Yeah. I've felt that way, still do
sometimes. For me, just coming here and thinking about it helps me, but I
don't know about you."
She lifted her head again, looking into my eyes even more deeply
than before. It all happened more quickly this time. Our faces moved closer
together, and we kissed. I closed my eyes, sighing silently. It was all too
perfect.
When we drew away, she hugged me tightly and whispered, "I think
just being here with you helps me overcome my memories, Zero."
I hugged her back. "Who am I to argue?" With a command of my will,
we began teleporting back to HQ, still holding each other tightly.
* * *
I checked in with X, after waiting the customary hour for natural
healing processes to begin. I didn't want to have a conversation with X and
still have him be sore, so easy to rub the wrong way.
Walking through the automatic door, I addressed him quietly: "Hey
buddy. How are ya?"
He groaned a little bit, sitting up. "A little sore, but all right. If
Sigma ever infests me again, just kill me, will ya? My achin' everything..."
I laughed. It was good to have my friend back.
"So how's Iris? She seemed a little shook-up when I left."
"Oh, she's alright," I said. "Just a little scared about fighting again,
that's all."
"I guess that's natural," he nodded understandingly. "Check my
monitor, will ya? See how I look on the inside."
I gave him a thumbs-up, sauntering over to check the vitals monitor.
The Sigma virus had been drained almost completely from his system; when
Sigs had left X's body, he'd left a big residual chunk of himself behind. Dr.
Cain insisted that it all be drained before X was allowed to fight again. I
couldn't blame him.
"Healing processes are nearly complete," I remarked. "Your sigmae
mavericus count is at about 5%, thank goodness."
"We weren't sure all of it would go away," X remembered. "Like you."
I nodded. "There's still some part of the virus in me. For now, it's
dormant, but it'll come back to life again soon, I think. What it'll do, I don't
know."
"You're stronger than that," X said. "You won't let one little chunk of
it take you over."
I nodded halfway. "Dr. Cain says there's something about me that
actually makes the virus part of me and the Reploid part sort of symbiotic.
There's still some sort of weird link between me and Sigs."
"Oh, meant to ask you earlier: what happened to Zerrin and the
others that fired on me?"
I laughed. "Seeing if justice was properly given, X?" With a smile and
a nod, I continued: "They're doing work now for no pay. They're--ahem--
'collaborating' to send you on a vacation, anywhere you want within reason,
after all this junk is over."
"Meaning...?"
"Cain's taking their paychecks and using the money to send you
somewhere."
"Good enough. Lemme get some rest and take something for my
back, will ya?"
I handed him a bottle of aspirin from a table on the wall of the room,
bringing a glass of water with it. "Sleep well, buddy," I said. "Hope you feel
better soon."
He took two pills and drank some of the water, then adjusted his
position on the bed and dropped back onto his pillow. Closing his eyes, he
drew the sheets up around his shoulders. I smiled. "Lights," I commanded.
The room grew darker instantly, and I walked out of the room.
Walking into the hall, I had momentarily forgotten what it was I
wanted to do. I remembered a second later, and turned to walk to the holo-
simulator. Chakra, a fellow Hunter, nearly fell over as I ran into him.
"Chakra! Sorry, man," I apologized as he steadied himself. "Didn't
hear you behind me."
"That became quite apparent to me when you ran into me,
Commander. Listen, you showing up at the briefing for the raid on Epsilon's
fortress later?"
"Have to," I said. "I'm the commander of my own unit. It'd look bad
if I skipped out on everybody else. I think you're sounding a tad
insubordinate."
"Sorry sir, didn't mean it..."
I smiled. "I'm kidding, Chakra. I do that. Yes, I'll be at the briefing."
He smiled, nodded. "Good. I need to discuss something with you."
"What is it? I've got time now."
"Well, I just didn't want to..."
"Nonsense," I said. "You wouldn't be bothering me at all."
"Alright," he said. "The raid on Delta's...who organized it?"
I bit my lip. "Uhm...as far as I know, Argyle did."
"Oh, all right. I just needed to know who to thank for
X's...accident..."
"You think Argyle set Delta up to die?"
"Could be, Commander. I'm not at all sure, however. Don't go
spreading anything around."
"I won't," I noted. "I definitely don't start rumors."
"Thank you sir," he said, saluting, turning to walk off.
I stopped him. "Oh, and Chakra?"
He turned. "Sir?"
"How much vacation do I owe you now?"
He smiled. I had owed him months of paid vacation, but had never
gotten around to dealing with it because of Sigma's frequent attacks. "Six
months, by my last count, sir," he said.
"After this, I'll let you take some leave. I'll organize a vacation for
you, wherever you want."
"That's very generous of you, sir," he nodded. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," I waved a hand. "Now go ahead, do whatever it is
you tech guys do in your spare time."
He turned again, stopping halfway through the rotation. "You sure
there's nothing else you need, sir? Anything bothering you?"
I smiled. "Go ahead, Chakra. See you at the briefing."
"Sir," he grunted as he walked off.
I smiled. I liked Chakra. I'd put in a good word to Cain about him,
maybe get him to command a unit of tech engineers.
In any event, I made my way to the holo-simulator, drawing my saber
as I came in. "Computer, please run training program 4199," I commanded as
I entered.
"Acknowledged," the computer's female voice buzzed. "Loading
targets..."
I closed my eyes. Igniting the saber, I inhaled deeply, then exhaled.
This was gonna be fun. "Begin program," I said to the computer.
A target popped up to my left. Its face was that of Sigma's, with
his evil smirk. You captured his look almost perfectly, Cain, I thought. I
turned with the saber in one fluid motion, slicing it in half. The pieces fell to
the floor, then gently faded away. I couldn't let my guard down; another
target came from my left. I turned, sliced it. Every hit came in less than a
second, my efficiency rating no doubt higher than it had been two weeks ago,
when I last trained.
Our entire group has been through so much, I thought. And it's not
over yet. Whatever good luck charm is keeping us alive this long, keep
working, please!
As I sliced the final target of a 100-target series, I immediately
powered down the saber and stowed it in its scabbard with a bit of a flourish.
The computer buzzed. "Time: zero minutes, twenty-one point three-five
seconds. Efficiency rating: 98%. Targets hit: 100."
"Aww, I was robbed," I said, exiting the simulator. There would be
other training sessions, of course. I could get better and better.
I found X staggering a bit outside his room. "Hey, Zero. M'gonna go
grab a bite to eat with Roll. You and Iris wanna come?"
I shook my head. "Not hungry, but thanks anyway. Need some time
alone."
He lowered his head in defeat. "Can't charm you outta this one, I
suppose. We'll miss you at lunch, bud," he said, regaining his footing and
turning to walk off.
"And I you, X. Have fun!"
By blackhart
copyright MM Abacus Fiction, revised 6/26/2001
Chapter Nine
Zero
I waited for the blast to overtake my body. I had been killed several
years ago by Vile, but X had brought me back from the grave. My life flashed
before my eyes in barely recognizable scenes: I spotted Iris, the real Iris, her
brother Colonel Kenissa, and I spotted X. My friend, I'm sorry it ended this
way. Don't blame yourself, I thought.
After ten seconds, I got impatient. What was keeping that blast? If
my end was going to be this dramatic, I wanted to die quickly. As I opened
my eyes, I saw Sigma, fallen to one knee, my Z-Saber stuck in the spot on his
chest which had been ripped open before, back at Delta's. He used what
seemed like his last bit of strength to pull the blade free and stick in the
grass next to my head.
I managed to get up, Sigma still making no reaction except the
occasional grunt. He held his gun arm tightly; I realized his cannon must have
malfunctioned when he got hit. Thinking for just a second, I ran over to the
bushes where my saber had flown just moments ago. Crouched there in a
state of shock, I found Iris. As soon as she saw me, our eyes met and she
cuddled up next to me, her eyes freely flowing with tears. "Teleported here,
eh?" I whispered.
She nodded against my chest. "I heard you two leave from HQ and I
knew something was wrong. When I found your saber here, I threw it at him,
and--"
I hugged her to me. "You'll be okay. Just in a little bit of shock from
having to fight again, that's all. Wait here. I'll be right back."
Walking over to where Sigma now had fallen off his knees and onto
his back, I delicately wedged my cannon underneath his chin, charging a shot.
"This is always the way I've wanted to see you, Sigma, bent over and leaving
your fate at my mercies." I narrowed my eyes angrily. "Unfortunately, I
never thought you would be in X's body."
He opened his eyes, looked up, still quiet, then he mouthed
something: "Zero, it's X."
My frown disappeared instantly. I looked deeply into his eyes again.
No trace of that cold blue was there, no iota of ruthlessness or cruelty. He
was X again.
I dropped to my knees, throwing my arms around my friend. "I've
missed you, man."
He half-wheezed a laugh, saying faintly, "Missed me too, Zero."
"Listen, you gotta get back to medbay. Can you `port?"
"I think so. You get Iris, I'll be okay."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Just go. Your girl's waiting for you, Zero. Don't keep her too
long," he smiled, as blue light enveloped him.
As his form dissipated, I walked back to where Iris stood, holding her
head in her hands. "I feel dirty, going back to the fight, Zero," she said.
I let her put her head on my chest as I consoled her. "It's all right," I
said. "I felt the same way, when I first went back into fighting. It's normal."
She cried quietly for a second, then I put a finger under her chin and
raised it to look up at my eyes. She said nine words simply, and with a kind
and hopeful tone: "At least this time, I picked the right side."
I smiled. "Do you want to go back into the fight for real? I can get
Dr. Cain to upgrade your attack systems, if you want."
"Would you?" she asked desiringly. "If it would help destroy Sigma, I
want to go back into this fight."
She stared into my eyes expectantly, as if trying to search for
something there. Something, maybe, I wasn't telling her. When she found
nothing, she lowered her head again.
"Will I ever find true peace for myself, Zero? I feel as if I can't live
with myself, because I've been a Maverick. Did you feel that way?"
I nodded, remembering my past. "Yeah. I've felt that way, still do
sometimes. For me, just coming here and thinking about it helps me, but I
don't know about you."
She lifted her head again, looking into my eyes even more deeply
than before. It all happened more quickly this time. Our faces moved closer
together, and we kissed. I closed my eyes, sighing silently. It was all too
perfect.
When we drew away, she hugged me tightly and whispered, "I think
just being here with you helps me overcome my memories, Zero."
I hugged her back. "Who am I to argue?" With a command of my will,
we began teleporting back to HQ, still holding each other tightly.
* * *
I checked in with X, after waiting the customary hour for natural
healing processes to begin. I didn't want to have a conversation with X and
still have him be sore, so easy to rub the wrong way.
Walking through the automatic door, I addressed him quietly: "Hey
buddy. How are ya?"
He groaned a little bit, sitting up. "A little sore, but all right. If
Sigma ever infests me again, just kill me, will ya? My achin' everything..."
I laughed. It was good to have my friend back.
"So how's Iris? She seemed a little shook-up when I left."
"Oh, she's alright," I said. "Just a little scared about fighting again,
that's all."
"I guess that's natural," he nodded understandingly. "Check my
monitor, will ya? See how I look on the inside."
I gave him a thumbs-up, sauntering over to check the vitals monitor.
The Sigma virus had been drained almost completely from his system; when
Sigs had left X's body, he'd left a big residual chunk of himself behind. Dr.
Cain insisted that it all be drained before X was allowed to fight again. I
couldn't blame him.
"Healing processes are nearly complete," I remarked. "Your sigmae
mavericus count is at about 5%, thank goodness."
"We weren't sure all of it would go away," X remembered. "Like you."
I nodded. "There's still some part of the virus in me. For now, it's
dormant, but it'll come back to life again soon, I think. What it'll do, I don't
know."
"You're stronger than that," X said. "You won't let one little chunk of
it take you over."
I nodded halfway. "Dr. Cain says there's something about me that
actually makes the virus part of me and the Reploid part sort of symbiotic.
There's still some sort of weird link between me and Sigs."
"Oh, meant to ask you earlier: what happened to Zerrin and the
others that fired on me?"
I laughed. "Seeing if justice was properly given, X?" With a smile and
a nod, I continued: "They're doing work now for no pay. They're--ahem--
'collaborating' to send you on a vacation, anywhere you want within reason,
after all this junk is over."
"Meaning...?"
"Cain's taking their paychecks and using the money to send you
somewhere."
"Good enough. Lemme get some rest and take something for my
back, will ya?"
I handed him a bottle of aspirin from a table on the wall of the room,
bringing a glass of water with it. "Sleep well, buddy," I said. "Hope you feel
better soon."
He took two pills and drank some of the water, then adjusted his
position on the bed and dropped back onto his pillow. Closing his eyes, he
drew the sheets up around his shoulders. I smiled. "Lights," I commanded.
The room grew darker instantly, and I walked out of the room.
Walking into the hall, I had momentarily forgotten what it was I
wanted to do. I remembered a second later, and turned to walk to the holo-
simulator. Chakra, a fellow Hunter, nearly fell over as I ran into him.
"Chakra! Sorry, man," I apologized as he steadied himself. "Didn't
hear you behind me."
"That became quite apparent to me when you ran into me,
Commander. Listen, you showing up at the briefing for the raid on Epsilon's
fortress later?"
"Have to," I said. "I'm the commander of my own unit. It'd look bad
if I skipped out on everybody else. I think you're sounding a tad
insubordinate."
"Sorry sir, didn't mean it..."
I smiled. "I'm kidding, Chakra. I do that. Yes, I'll be at the briefing."
He smiled, nodded. "Good. I need to discuss something with you."
"What is it? I've got time now."
"Well, I just didn't want to..."
"Nonsense," I said. "You wouldn't be bothering me at all."
"Alright," he said. "The raid on Delta's...who organized it?"
I bit my lip. "Uhm...as far as I know, Argyle did."
"Oh, all right. I just needed to know who to thank for
X's...accident..."
"You think Argyle set Delta up to die?"
"Could be, Commander. I'm not at all sure, however. Don't go
spreading anything around."
"I won't," I noted. "I definitely don't start rumors."
"Thank you sir," he said, saluting, turning to walk off.
I stopped him. "Oh, and Chakra?"
He turned. "Sir?"
"How much vacation do I owe you now?"
He smiled. I had owed him months of paid vacation, but had never
gotten around to dealing with it because of Sigma's frequent attacks. "Six
months, by my last count, sir," he said.
"After this, I'll let you take some leave. I'll organize a vacation for
you, wherever you want."
"That's very generous of you, sir," he nodded. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," I waved a hand. "Now go ahead, do whatever it is
you tech guys do in your spare time."
He turned again, stopping halfway through the rotation. "You sure
there's nothing else you need, sir? Anything bothering you?"
I smiled. "Go ahead, Chakra. See you at the briefing."
"Sir," he grunted as he walked off.
I smiled. I liked Chakra. I'd put in a good word to Cain about him,
maybe get him to command a unit of tech engineers.
In any event, I made my way to the holo-simulator, drawing my saber
as I came in. "Computer, please run training program 4199," I commanded as
I entered.
"Acknowledged," the computer's female voice buzzed. "Loading
targets..."
I closed my eyes. Igniting the saber, I inhaled deeply, then exhaled.
This was gonna be fun. "Begin program," I said to the computer.
A target popped up to my left. Its face was that of Sigma's, with
his evil smirk. You captured his look almost perfectly, Cain, I thought. I
turned with the saber in one fluid motion, slicing it in half. The pieces fell to
the floor, then gently faded away. I couldn't let my guard down; another
target came from my left. I turned, sliced it. Every hit came in less than a
second, my efficiency rating no doubt higher than it had been two weeks ago,
when I last trained.
Our entire group has been through so much, I thought. And it's not
over yet. Whatever good luck charm is keeping us alive this long, keep
working, please!
As I sliced the final target of a 100-target series, I immediately
powered down the saber and stowed it in its scabbard with a bit of a flourish.
The computer buzzed. "Time: zero minutes, twenty-one point three-five
seconds. Efficiency rating: 98%. Targets hit: 100."
"Aww, I was robbed," I said, exiting the simulator. There would be
other training sessions, of course. I could get better and better.
I found X staggering a bit outside his room. "Hey, Zero. M'gonna go
grab a bite to eat with Roll. You and Iris wanna come?"
I shook my head. "Not hungry, but thanks anyway. Need some time
alone."
He lowered his head in defeat. "Can't charm you outta this one, I
suppose. We'll miss you at lunch, bud," he said, regaining his footing and
turning to walk off.
"And I you, X. Have fun!"
