Between Friends
By Simon Woodington
Previously: Douglas and Alia appear to have no progress in diagnostic procedure, though X and Zero succeed handily in reasoning with their 'restless' human counterparts literally digging for their futures...
Episode Five
There were times he could scarcely remember where he was. Since awakening his thoughts had been in turmoil; disorganized, fleeting, occurring as if of a routine beyond his control. Auto-Repair listed no masked PIDs, and it had become abundantly clear that Alia was none the wiser.
She was always attuned to his condition, even when Zero's infection had caused a temporary bout of worry and fear to mar his confidence and stability while Zero had been 'dead', purging Nightmare from his systems and recuperating from their battle with Sigma – or so Zero had recently explained. They had spoken – or at least – Alia had listened while X core dumped the source of his discontent and doubt upon her.
She had restored him to his previous status, and afforded him the stability of purpose that he had needed to 'defeat' Nightmare so that Zero could return. Without her confidence and selflessness, Zero would have in all probability still be purging Nightmare.
Why does she invest so many cycles in my welfare? He wondered. Consoling and reinforcing of X's viewpoints and directives seemed inconsequential to the recovery of Zero, but he was unsure if he could have surmounted these doubts without her. I'm doddling, he thought listlessly. Eventually the matter tottered up and leveraged the club of logic at the back of his head. His head jolted forward as if from the impact. Of course! Why else? She does care! But...
X and Zero had departed the digger encampment by foot, since their destination, Miner's Foot, was only minutes away and shielded by the unusual minerals that blocked their targeting transmitters. They could not teleport directly to the site, though it worried X, that they might actually begin to talk with some measure of seriousness.
Miner's Valley was enshrouded by enormous mountains peppered with patches of white and gray, lethal combinations of soot and metallic powder scattered by the explosion of the colony several years ago. They could not yet spy their destination, but were assured by quick readings that only two small hills and twenty kilometers separated them. X frowned at the lack of trees, knowing the scene from having battled in this valley in the past while seeking out Sting Chameleon.
Deluded Maverick! There was no convincing him, X sighed, recalling the joy of Dr. Light's protective armor, discovered just before his encounter with the lightening fast warrior. The battle had left X with minimal damage, while the sparking corpse of Sting's shell at littered the landscape. What a waste! He glanced at his silent companion, and nodded. A waste, yes, but I have fought for the right reasons, and as Alia has told me, is there not comfort in that?
"Zero, have you noticed Alia asking the Hunters about... things?" he began rather lamely, having the apparent emotional maturity of a ten year old. Zero swung his head away from an interestingly shaped cloud and regarded X suspiciously.
"What things?"
"Psychological things," X replied after a momentary hesitation.
"No. Portense does that, but only when she suspects unusual fragmentation or process breakdown. What does that have to do with Alia? Is she expanding her responsibilities?"
"Maybe." X lied, knowing that she had no use for the strategic information of the Mavericks and their ilk.
"She talks to you?" Zero pried, suddenly curious. "Are you sure you do not 'need a woman' as Coil suggests?"
"I... said no such thing!" X denied, exposing his ulterior motive abruptly, though it had not enjoyed the protection of tact to begin with.
"So that is it!" Zero grinned, before faltering and adding: "... isn't it?"
"Aiya..." X groaned softly. "Do you recall when we were ambushed by Sigma? When you said that Mavericks and Hunters 'just exist'?"
"Yes, I do remember," Zero nodded emphatically.
"That we can 'feel' each other – a trace beyond measure? Zero, I feel Alia. When I do, it lessens my doubt and anger. The evils of the past cease to have such a high priority in my list of objectives."
"I do not understand. Why is it important to remember them, X? I store them away, unless there is critical data contained therein," Zero stated, a slightly pained expression coloring his face.
Why does he feel so much remorse? We have both deleted so many, and yet I do not regret so much as he seems to. Is it true?
"Do you regret the past, Zero?"
His eyes flew open, a lighted sharpness in them.
"No. What can I tell you but that I fear my origin, and what it may mean for our future. Yours is untainted, X... I do not have the luxury of that certainty."
"I believe that I love Alia," X ejected, his only answer to Zero's spinning vortex of sorrow. "I am sure that her preservation processes somehow include me, though I do not know why."
"Believe, X, or know?" Zero fired in reply, turning and stopping in front of X. "Would you die for those words, also?"
X churned inside with these questions, a new discomfort he knew must be abated by ... experiences he did not have yet. In an instant, he reviewed their conversation, as they continued along the gravel path, and a question surfaced:
"Do you want a woman?"
"I do..." he sighed, but did not finish. X did not push to ask, either, sense a great void of despondency in the warrior.
-
It was foolhardy, she soon realized, to believe it was her cajoling and encouragement that had brought the psychologically fragile Reploid from her coma, but not entirely untrue. Alia drew her chair over to the diagnostic pad and sat, eight-six percent of her CPU cycles unoccupied – an exceedingly uncommon state, and for Alia, about as white as that canvas would ever become.
She leaned forward, looking troubled at the motionless girl, running several threads of probable self-intelligent speeches before abandoning them altogether.
It would be best if I opened my heart to her, she realized.
"It is not the equivalent of a friendship, Roll, to love someone. At least it does not have those functions. Gate was my friend prior to you, and he had no romantic feelings for anyone. So I have learned to separate the professional and the personal, which I feel for X.
"He has not registered awareness of my lateral processes, based on his well being, perhaps because I have done that – maintained my habit. The process has saved me much social embarrassment, so I have added to successive versions and installed it as a daemon.
"I do not lose myself to him by dedicating unnecessary resources. To do so would mean that I would be useless to Unity. So many Reploids count on me, you see, so I must reserve myself. I have considered many options, but have come to the conclusion that any alterations in my code or processes would detract from what appeals to X. Unlike most Reploids he is charmed by more than my design. There is an intellectual, even collected aspect he must surely appreciate."
"X is a force of nature. He is driven by moral strength and a respect for life, even of that he destroys. You balance him, and no one else can do that," Roll murmured, raising her head so that her eyes could be seen half-open behind her knees. "Your design is just the way you got his attention. You were what kept it. That isn't an advantage I have."
Alia squinted at Roll for a moment, then said:
"He worships the ground you walk on – he adores you," Alia stated in measured tones. "He loves nothing – you are the first, and I daresay the only Reploid he will ever love."
Roll's face tightened, and in an abrupt spinning leap, she dashed away from Alia, swinging her left arm in a short arc, from which a white energy blade extended, cutting into a panel and shorting several display screens. Alia gave a short cry, scrambling to the other side of the room so that there was plenty of room between them.
"What are you doing Roll?!"
Roll's eyes narrowed, an icy coldness in her features halting Alia in her tracks. Stunned and confused, she barely noticed the blade entering her torso just under her power core, their eyes fixed like the unwavering movement of destiny.
"That was what I wanted to hear," Roll hissed, stock still, supporting the limp weight of the Reploid who had named her 'friend'. She shut off the wrist blade and shoved Alia into a console, sparks and lights flickering and dancing amongst crumpled steel-gray metal and viewer Active-Ion Glass.
Immobilized but functional, Alia stared in mute horror as Roll systematically set about corrupting X's armors. First the Nova, then what remained of the Terra, then... a shimmer and wink of light caught Roll's attention.
The Falcon! X downloaded the Falcon! Alia thought triumphantly, hope soaring in her battered frame. Then, to her dismay and pique, so did Roll. She approached once again, glaring with contempt at the weaker Reploid.
"Such emotional dependency... a waste and a pity!"
She cursed internally, external audio disabled.
"This isn't about you. It isn't about self-will. Roll doesn't hate you... Oh," she smiled darkly. "Isn't that interesting! Don't you know me? I don't believe you would! Or is it that your systems are too preoccupied with your survival?"
I am more resourceful than you know, she growled just at the edge of Roll's public transmission frequencies. There! I have it!
Alia lurched forward, holding her hand up and dragging it down as if through mud. The Saber she activated, nonetheless, just narrowly missed Roll as she feinted.
"You!" Roll cried, startled. "How!?"
Alia limped towards her, one hands over her stomach, an awkward grin where the rancor of betrayal might have been.
It's my design, Tron, she replied. I could not detect what you were, or know your capabilities, but I found your name and that was sufficient.
Tron moved nor spoke, processing slowly her next action. Alia was already many steps ahead of her unoptimized pipeline.
You've exposed yourself – not part of your plan. Whatever your goals are, they have been jeapordized by this undisciplined attack!
"Damn. You're right," she cursed, the lag between them painfully event.
She must only have access to a portion of Roll's resources! Roll is as fast as I am, but this poorly coded routine cannot match me! Alia observed with interested. Slowly she felt the leash slip out of her fingers as the overall objective of Ronne came into question. Nonetheless she laid down her hand:
You cannot match X and Zero in combat. Your modus operandi is subterfuge, now null. Damaged as I am you will not win. You have been defeated, Tron. Surrender, and I will-
"Never!" Tron shrieked, powering up an energy shield which she used to send Alia sprawling. Darting forward, she severed Alia's weapon wielding arm and power dashed through the breezeway, taking full advantage of the Falcon's flight and protective energy barrier.
The dozen Hunters on alert either fled, or fired parting shots at the indestructible in-flight Reploid. Sigmas arrived at the landing bat just as her glowing figure became a dot on the horizon.
"Send a warning to X. If that is her objective, they will have only a short time!" he commanded sharply at the nearest Hunter, who stumbled over himself in compliance. "Someone get Doctor Silvane! On the double! Move!"