The next day, it was clear those four women had a rigid routine. In the morning, Mandodari would wake up first, talk a bit to Zero and jump in the washing room. Then it would be Ishani, then Yashoda, and finally himself and Uttara.
While Uttara would help the armless reploid, she would let him bathe as much as his body would allow.
She was...it seemed the hell-raven had a better sense of what her son needed then Zero could imagine. She was still quick to hold the centennial reploid in her arms and on her lap at every opportunity, but if Mandodari had said was true, then the first time Uttara had seen Zero was when he was...practically dead.
The reploid in red had conceded that, if it had been X, Alouette or Pieroquet...and Ciel, Iris, and whoever had managed to worm their way in his stone-hard 'heart,' then Zero would probably be the same way… especially with X.
Zero would see the group of Gaudia-Vaishnavis worshipping the Lord in the form of a sacred rock, then they would offer a ghee lamp to Yashoda-Damodara, singing a sacred song by the name of Damodara ashtakam. Or the eight verses of praise to He whose belly was tied.
Now, Zero had done some research about God and how to worship Him. And it always seemed to be with awe and reverence to His awesome power...and a good amount of fear.
Not with the Hare Krishnas, it seems, since they were praising an embarrassing childhood event in which Krishna, the supreme personality of Godhead, as a baby, no less, had been caught being naughty by his mother. His crime? He had broken the yogurt pot his mother (Yashoda) was churning into butter for her growing boy, then he had stolen more butter from pots hung on the rafter and, once his belly was full, processed to feed the rhesus monkeys that plagued the place even. More. Butter.
His thievery was caught by his mother, who, carrying a stick, began to run after the baby God. And astonishingly enough, she could not catch the butter-filled child since, even as a presently plump and small baby (three years old), Krishna was still God.
But... God had a well-Guarded secret, and this secret was a weakness that His mother, Yashoda and all the Vraja-vasis used on him with their every breath and thought.
Love.
And thus, God was conquered by the love and devotion of his servant. Meaning, Mother Yashoda managed to catch the uncatchable and bind the unbindable by the ropes of her pure love devoid of awe and reverence.
And thus, As Yashoda Devi-Dasi had explained to the replica of her deceased son, in the sacred month of Kartika, they give a lamp to Yashoda-Damodara...
And by this act, hope to also receive the blessing of the mother of God also to be able to bind Sri-Krishna with the rope of their love.
(There was more to the story...the Damodara-Lila. But for the sake of this Narration, the author has chosen not to include it now.)
After the ceremony called a Mangala Arati...and worshipping a sacred basil plant, Mandodari would take Zero for a Japa-walk.
Well...first she would take her pre-breakfast from the doorkeeper.
It was fresh curd, some blanched almonds and always a sweet of two. And grapes and pomegranates...
Those used to be instinct...as were jack-fruits, papaya, mangoes and...
X would love to sample them...he was able to dissect the chemical make-up of some food items and imagine how they would taste.
After that, the walk would start...Mandodari would chant on her beads, and Zero would follow her like a dog. She would take the quiet roads away from the oodles of Pilgrim pouring in from other countries like Africa, China, Russia, other parts of Europe and...
He had never seen so many different types of humans in his life...and the very few he had met were all white.
Even the reploids were based on your average caucasian human. Pale skin, blue or green eyes, dark or blond hair...
Actually, most humans he had met...the young one mostly had blond hair and blue eyes...There was Neige, who was a redhead but...beyond that...
Right now, though, he truly saw the international scene...and once again, he wished for X to be there and see it.
As with everything in Vrindavan.
Zero and the saintly woman would walk for two and a half hours at a steady pace. Sometimes, Mandodari would comment on their location, telling Zero more about what Krishna did in a certain spot before resuming her trek, mostly keeping quiet...meaning reciting the Maha-mantra loud enough for those in her close vicinity to hear her.
It seemed Mandodari had three dialogue options; none, a bit...and a verbal tsunami.
Some people would stop her to touch her feet for some reason...and by the third now, Zero realized that this woman was...important to the Vraja-Vasis and the Vaishnavas.
She was a healer and a sort of spiritual teacher...but mostly, someone could use energy to restore the sick...just like a cyber-elf.
But unlike a cyber-elf, Mandodari didn't die to save others.
Many people would give her gifts like sweets, clothing, more money, shoes, more money, more sweets, garlands, flowers...
Money and sweets.
Mandodari would give whatever money she had to Zero, for he was the one carrying Mandodari's bags. Same as the food they would give her.
Zero had been adamant he would carry it after he had calculated the weight of the offering to be detrimental to Mandodari's locomotion. And thus had demanded to be her bearer.
They would ask for blessings, and some would ask to be initiated by her. To those, Swamini Mandodari would refer them to Sanat-Kumara Swami, another Canadian-born Vaishnava.
Then her trek stopped at this marble temple, the compound always filled with international pilgrims. There, they listened to the recitation of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the tenth Canto.
It was a class on the Damodara pastime. In this particular one, the class giver had talked about how the two inches Mother Yashoda's rope lacked represented the devotee's determination and the lord's mercy.
For the conditioned soul, returning to God is fraught with obstacles, starting with one's uncontrollable mind and senses. But by practicing Bhakti-Yoga to the best of their ability, then the lord, as per his own sweet will, would bestow his causeless mercy unto the Sadhaka.
At the end of the class, the speaker had picked Madodari from the colourful crowd, praising her positional knowledge and asking her for her realization about this particular part of the pastime.
Mandodari had then touched the ground with her forehead and praised her Guru-deva and the illustrious assembly before she poured the nectar of her words in everyone's ears.
"Basically, success in Krishna-Consciousness is partly by one's effort. Like...give or take one percent. It's not what you give, the austerity you can perform, or how much you give; it's the mood and the sincerity in which you serve him that makes Him more favourable." She explained.
"Basically, Krishna already owns everything, even us. And he's atmarama. Or self-satisfied. He doesn't need anything...and trust me, even the most luxurious of stuff we can give him, like lotus silk garment...well, Goloka-Vrindavan has unlimitedly better."
"So! What does Krishna want? He wants our love, Bhakti!" She raised a round and supple finger. "' If one offers to Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even water, I delightfully partake of that article offered with love by My devotee in pure consciousness.' That's what Krishna said in the Bhagavad-Gita. And he means it. Like...not just Krishna but Rama also. I mean, I'm sure most of you have heard the pastime of the spider and the Lord, right? You know, the one where the spider wanted to help but...alright, you know what, I know someone who had no idea what I'm talking about... Basically-"
And thus, Mandodari began to tell the story about how lord Ramachandra, another form of Krishna, had built the Bridge to Lanka out of floating stones just to save his dear wife, Sita devi. Sri-Hanuman-Ji. An intelligent Monkey with Mystic power and the ability to change size would carry mountains to build the legendary bridge. During one of his trips, the amazing Vanara's noticed a small spider (of a tiny squirrel) Throwing pinch worths of sand and minuscule pebbles in the ocean.
Obviously, this was not very impressive...or very helpful. And Zero had been of Hanuman's mind, the spider had better get out of the way and let the big guys do their jobs.
And then...Sri-Rama, the personality of Godhead, began scolding Hanuman...and Zero by extension, through Mandodari.
"Hanuman! Who told you to judge the service of others?" Mandodari got to her feet, her hands on her broad hips as she acted the Part of God. " You may see the service of Spider Prabhu as small. But know this, oh Dasye! For me, there is no small service! So you go and do your duty with the ability I have given you, and let My little arachnid friend serve me with his amazing amount of Bhakti. Now scram!"
Despite himself, Zero Nodded, his mouth agape and his eyes wide open.
They had been in this position ever since he had walked into the temple compound. He had never seen a place so...beautiful and open.
And of course, the absolutely down-to-earth Description of the Supreme Personality of Godhead given by Mandodari.
God… Krishna was the source of everything, and he had said, in the bible, that he had made Humans in his image.
Meaning that to understand God at his most perfect form, you had to see and treat him as a human.
And humans... perfect humans would marvel and melt if they saw their children tottering to them with a very badly done portrait. For it was not the quality (well... it did help if you put the effort.) but the love put into it.
It was...
Logical, sweet and... human.
After the amazing class, he had been told by Mandodari to explore to his heart's content. He had wanted to go to Srila-Prabhupada samadhi and his house, the place where he left his body over...seventy years ago, just a few days shy of the Govardhana Puja.
She had told Zero that all who practiced Bhakti-yoga were eternally indebted to Srila-Prabhupada, the founder acharya.
After that, he wandered around, looking at the amazing compound. Unable to see the tomb or the house due to renovations. Zero saw...
He saw him again.
X ran here and there as he looked at the bookstores, the stunning deities of Gaura-Nitai carved in white marble, Krishna-Balaram in black and white and Radha-Shyamasundar, the delicate stone carving and Prabhupada's house.
X loved it here; the Cyber-elf face was bright and torment-free. He identified the three in the marble courtyard as a Tamala tree, well known for its pitch-black bark and orange fruits.
Then...he went to grab Zero's hands...probably to drag him to see something else. Maybe Prabhupada's garden?
But the next moment...he was gone. Only a whisper was left.
Traitor.
...
Yes... Zero was a traitor; how did he dare not suffer the same faith as others and be free?
He was a Traitor...
He had betrayed them all... X first and foremost.
Thankfully, Mandodari had noticed his sorrow and had dragged him to the Srimad-Bhagavatam class where he was still seated.
"So, we may not be like Mother Yashoda regarding love or devotion. I mean, who are we? We're just the bottom of the barrel in terms of virtues; we're eternally conditioned, everything we do is covered with some fault, and we're not that intelligent...well, I'm not that intelligent. You guys are destroying Einstein just by sitting here." She praised the assembled devotees, and Zero felt his heart squeeze.
'No...I'm just a machine...you're the one who dragged me here.' Zero thought. Trying to drown out X's accusations, still ringing in his mind.
"Now...what we have to do now is not to try to be as good as Yashoma-Mayi 'cause it ain't gonna happen. Just like we can't be just like Srila-Prabhupada, Nanda-baba, or Srimati Radharani in terms of Bhakti. So what do we do to tie Krishna? Where do we have to put our sincere effort?"
"In serving them by serving their servants. Like what Srila-Prabhupada said, if you love me, love my dog."
"Basically, what I'm trying to say is, serve the servant, serve the Guru, don't try to serve Krishna directly yet, go through his herald first." She finished with a broad, beatific smile. "and by serving his Servant's servant, you are guaranteed to tie the Lord with the Ropes of devotion just like Yashoda did!"
Zero had never seen anyone smile like this, it was...it glowed from inside out, it was a smile so big, so bright...it practically knocked him down with a wave of bliss. Shutting up X and the venom that never ceased to flow from his once delightful lips.
There was a round of applause, and Mandodari made a comical gesture toward the original class giver and to a huge framed painting depicting an old man with copper-like skin that glowed in his saffron robes.
The session ended; some people went to the original speaker while some others, those that resembled Americans, flocked around her.
She spoke to a short, middle age woman and a few others, and hugs were exchanged. A sense of melancholy tried to mar the scene, but Mandodari's words about how all were going at the same place quelled it quite efficiently.
For his part, Zero stayed away from the rest. His proximity sensors are still trying to figure out how to act with so many humans around.
For Omega, the morning was not that different from Zero, save for location and those he was with.
First of all, he was staying at Mukhara's (Mundane) hermitage deep in a perma-culture forest.
The 'mad' reploid had never seen so much unscorched greenery in his life. So much life, smell, sound and...
'Why did Weil want me to destroy everything? It's so beautiful!' He thought as he inspected the area around a tributary of the Jalangi river. 'Wow...everything's so green...ah! Oh wow! Is that a bug? It's too squishy!' He thought as he gently poked a sleeping caterpillar.
The green worm, surprised by the potential predator, practically jumped off the leaf it was on and disappeared in the underbrush.
"Ah! No! Come back! I don't want to hurt you!" he yelped as he caught his find before it could hit the ground. The worm thing desperately wriggled out of his hand...only to be caught again.
If not for the ribbon, Omega would've killed the poor silkworm five times over.
"Oi! Omega? What are you doing?" Karuna yelled at the red death from inside the Jalangi, once again, Yavata was with him, and both were bathing in the river.
"I found a...ah...a soft, green and black, leaf-eating maggot...could that be a caterpillar?" he asked. Having read that some birds would eat them...
"Yeah, that's a caterpillar. Now please leave the poor thing before you kill it." Karuna-Sindhu ordered, and Omega complied. Besides, the caterpillar looked ragged and weak...
Kind of like Zero, to be honest.
Omega gently put the fancy maggot on the same leaf he had found him on and apologized for disturbing him. Knowing from Karuna and Mukhara that, no matter the form or the shape of the body, the soul that was in was one...
They were all brothers and sisters, which meant that they should not hurt or kill one another.
(Unless they were an actual danger to others and Killing was the only viable option. Boring, but understandable.)
And...not Killing felt nice since it meant that Omega would meet nice and interesting people and things.
He likes new things...and he wants interesting people.
Speaking of which, he returned to Yavata and Karuna, currently bathing beside the Jalangi on a sort of stair-like dock made of concrete. Omega playfully jumped down its stairs and landed beside the soaked Yavata.
Karuna-Sindhu may have this awesome scar on his chest, but Yavata, the quiet, sort of not really a blip on the radar type of guy?
Oh, his body was positively riddled with them. They ranged from cuts, healed over missing chunks of flesh, to third-degree burns and numerous bites.
Oh, and he had some intricate tattoos like a conch, an orated club, a lotus and a...
What was Zero's shield name again? Right, a boomerang shield.
There was also the mark of a flute, a veena, a peacock feather and quite a few Sanskrit prayers. And this was on Yavata's front.
Covering his back was the entire Bhagavad-Gita and the lotus feet of Mahaprabhu with the thirty-two marks that were present at the bottom of those soles.
But what had caught Omega's were the scars on his shoulders, thighs and neck...
He had been dismembered!
And yet...he still lived.
Omega had thought Yavata was the weakling of the group, for the man was extremely delicate and quiet. And his only source of power was the two pseudo-elves in his head.
He had been wrong...nobody he knew, save for a few rare reploids, could survive being cut to pieces.
Omega's respect for the pretty blue-haired boy went up quite a few notches...and he wondered if...maybe...Yavata would give him a fight sometime.
If his epic duel with Karuna-Sindhu, the son of the sleeping terror, was anything to go by, then it was clear he would have fun facing Yavata.
"Oma? Could you please stop staring at my brother like he's your next meal?" Karuna piped up as he wiped his body with a towel. "I'm the creepy one around here, not you."
Omega huffed as he took his bucket and oil. The reploid had already bathed, jumping into the jalangi as he cycled her water through all of his vents, clearing them out from the dust he had gathered in the week he had been lurking in New Delhi with his dying twin.
He wondered how he was doing at the moment. He had been supposed to talk to him for the last two days...
But, as Omega had realized. The walking apocalypse had no idea what to say to Zero...
He missed him, he was and was still worried about him and...
And who was Uttara? She looked nice, and this Mandodari! Was she even human? Were humans this ugly-cute?
And...how was Zero dealing with this? Last he saw his twin; he had been peacefully sleeping on the lap of a huge human with wings and a core.
No, he knew she was not a reploid; reploids didn't have feathers.
No humans would have feathers, also.
And...was he better about...X? Would he be able to move on?
Omega...had no one he cared for, saved for Copy-X. But otherwise...
otherwise, he never was that close with anyone. X and Zero...from what he had heard, were practically a single being with two bodies.
Now one of those bodies was gone, and only Zero was left...And Omega was...he was worried about his twin. For he had the feeling X's disappearance was the reason why Zero was so...dead inside, for lack of a better word.
"Omega...are you alright?" Karuna asked. "You're worried about Zero, aren't you?"
Omega looked at Karuna and Yavata...and he did something he never knew he ever would do.
He sighed.
"yeah...I don't know him much, but...I care about him." he admitted.
To care about someone's well-being holds the greatest pleasure and pain...especially if that person used to be considered an enemy turned...messed up.
Some doubt assailed him... if...what if Zero would be back at hating him? Would they fight? Would he try to kill omega?
Omega wouldn't mind fighting with Zero like he did with Karuna. The spell card rules meant he could go all out, removing all limitations as they tore into one another, not caring about the pain and death!
It was violent; it was gruesome, and it was glorious bloodshed without having to clean up afterwards.
Really, after the utter destruction, he had rained upon the plant, showing him why he was called Omega Zero, End Nill! Said reploid's mood had improved dramatically. Not killing was nice, but indulging in his blood lust without killing anyone and destroying the beauty of the earth was even better. Not only that, but Karuna had bestowed upon Omega he Battle title.
Omega, the end bringer.
And how Karuna was the awakened and fabulous terror...whatever it meant.
He had heard from the overpowered weed that Yavata's battle title was The Messianic Fool. And his Mother was the True Administrator. He had also given the title of Radha...who had just Laid a clutch of Eggs as Hell's Traffic Accident; her husband was the embodiment of the divine Father, Yashoda was the pure wrath of a bereaved mother personified, Ishani was the second coming, Uttara was the troublesome hell sun, and Mandodari was...
Just Mandodari...
Idly, he wondered what battle Title Zero could have...
If...Zero could fight again, that is.
Without thinking much, Omega picked up everyone's stuff from the sand-covered bathing stairs and began shaking the dust off their towels as efficiently as possible.
It was also a wonderful way to shake his stress out, just violently flapping the fabric around until no dust remained. Not even the dry skin. It also made some very funny sounds that echoed across the fast-flowing Jalangi river.
"Omega...you done now?" Karuna-Sindhu asked with a grateful smile. "Also...you didn't need to do that, man. Yavata and I were about to wash them."
"ah... I just...wanted to do something," he admitted.
He also needed to get some agro out; this morning, he had thought he would have the chance to see Zero again...but Mukhara's phone was used to call another person, her god sister, the hells' traffic accident.
Apparently, Mukhara had a God sister who was a cat...she and her human husband had procreated. And both wanted to show the result to the Kazami...
Also, on a completely unrelated subject matter, Omega would kill to be able to see some baby cat now. also, Wakapedia had not mentioned that cat's where egg bering marsupials at all.
the more you know~.
But to top, the frustration up was also the fact that today, Yavata, Karuna-Sindhu and their mother would bring omega to the Temple of Vedic planetarium. Where the largest and most beautiful deity of Pancha-tatva was worshipped along with Radha-Madhava and their eight gopi-girlfriends. Oh, and Narashima-deva.
Mukhara showed the world's most dangerous reploid some pictures of them. Pancha-tatva was amazing. The eight Gopis looked about to melt out of love for the Divine couple and Narashimadeva...
Omega never thought it would be possible, but he knew what love, at first sight, felt like.
The Angry Lord of Mayapur was dark, and snarling, his red eyes searching for demons to slay, his mouth was wide and filled with sharp teeth, his beautiful nails shamed his own sabre, six powerful weapons adorned his four mighty arms and...
Oh, he was so angry, about to pounce on his enemy like Hiranyakasipu to rip their guts out and fashion a pretty garland out of the bloody mess their innards made.
Sure, he had first seen him in New-delhi as he ripped apart Prahlad's father, a demon. and wore his innard as a pretty garland on his neck, But...he was not as charming as the murti in Mayapur.
And he would meet him in a few hours...they just had to finish bathing.
They were already done.
"Alright, your towels are clean. Is your mother ready?" Omega asked as he jumped on the balls of his feet, more than ready to leave the Jalangi and hop in the awaiting toto.
Karuna-Sindhu laughed. "Alright, alright, we're going. I also don't wanna miss Mangal-Arathi either." And with that, the trio left the bathing stairs to reach where Mukhara was waiting for them, her right hand in her Japa-Bag.
"Ah, beta...Omega-Prabhu." Mukhara folded her palms as she pushed herself away from the electronic tri-porter. "I hope nothing bad happened while you bathed in Mother Ganga's waves."
"No, mom, nothing like that," Kripa answered the limbless woman.
So Yavata had been cut to pieces, Karuna had his heart ripped out and Mukhara's limbs had been eaten by demons.
Friendly demons.
'And I blew up often.' Omega thought he felt at home with them.
The little family sat in the toto, and Mukhara's driver, a Muslim man, drove to the huge temple of the Vedic planetarium.
They had shown him pictures...it was impressive for something made out of mud, brick and fancy amorphous stones. But in person...
It was intimidating, proclaiming the glories of God's supreme dominion over all to the world.
Including Omega.
Once they arrived closer to the huge building, the Kazami unloaded from the small and...flimsy conveyance and proceeded to walk to the temple. The whole structure was lit with numerous lights; he could see a pink sandstone window with marble cladding, three azure blue domes adorned with golden stars and ribbons with a chakra, a disk weapon sitting on top of them.
Omega calculated that the main one must be over thirty meters in diameter...maybe more.
At the front of the temple was a magnificent garden bordered by gentle light. It was filled with plants, and the individual garden cells was showcasing a pastime of Krishna in hand made mud diorama.
As they traverse the amazing garden to the immense temple, Omega tries to find the one in with Yashoda binding Krishna...and the one where baby Krishna broke the twin arjuna trees...and his killing of all those demons.
He had already seen the diorama where the Supreme Personality of Godhead had killed the crane demon Bakasura- tearing the demons in half like a blade of grass.
The waterfowl of unusual size was also scorched by Agni, beaten by Yamaraja, blasted by Indra's thunderbolt, and also suffered the wrath of other supper-powered demigods. And Omega had to give credit where it was due; he really looked the part.
Kinda like how Hiranyiakashupu's guts looked hyper-realistic in the New Delhi temple.
'Got to hand it to those Hare Krishna; they are not afraid to show gore.' Oh yeah, Krishna may be the sweet lord, but He would and could utterly destroy those demons.
Omega liked that.
He was then dragged to the temple's entrance, passing by a reflection pool and up a grand staircase.
The closer he came, the more...high, elevated...not in...
it was hard to explain; Omega had never experienced anything like this before. 'What the hell is this place?'
"This is Sri-Dham Mayapur, the whorl of the transcendental lotus that is Navadvipa," Mukhara explained as she floated beside the lagging Omega. Her two sons are already inside the precinct. "This is the chandrodaya mandir. Here, Pancha-Tattva, Radha-Madhava and Sri-Narashimhadeva bestow their causeless mercy to all."
"It doesn't feel like...like...Delhi..." Omega stuttered as he climbed the steps one by one. Not being used to scale anything in a dhoti.
Mukhara chuckled. "No...it's not like New-Delhi. We're actually in the spiritual world Omega, what you feel...this is Gauranga's Kripa-Shakti. Or the ineluctable power of his causeless mercy."
"Oh...he's...strong." Omega...stuttered. He had thought Karuna was powerful...but this?
Holy Crap! He felt so small and insignificant...
And then, suddenly, the pressures of God's presence lifted, and once again, Karuna, Mukhara, Yavata and every single human in the dam...in the holy place. (yes, even the old and the sick...and the animals and all the mosquitoes.) All became marked as critically potent...as in, Omega was but a flea...a maggot compared to them!
And then it was also gone, and Omega could've collapsed...if not for the fact that he didn't want to lose face in front of Mukhara again.
The amazing floating torso looked at the walking...very average reploid with a knowing smile. "So...they showed you, didn't they?"
"Yes...I'm...I feel so small and insignificant." Omega didn't like that...
He didn't like feeling weak.
"Good...my son, know that this feeling of insignificance is the cheap price to pay for entering Mahaprabhu's parishad." Mukhara uttered as she slung an arm around Omega's shoulder, gently helping the deeply shaken reploid up the last set of stairs.
"Parishad?"
"His entourage." The platinette explained. Leading the god of destruction by the elephant column and into...another realm entirely.
All the walls were clad in white and grey marble, the floor was decorated with numerous intricate mosaics. The main hall was...Omega had thought only airship hangers could be that big...
He was wrong.
The main temple was...an acre big, and its domed ceiling was so...high...
and the...chandelier...spinning model of the universe hanging for the cavernous vault.
It was huge and would kill everyone were it to fall.
"It won't Fall, Omega, I promise," Mukhara assured him. "The team that built it made sure nothing short of the Tsar bomba could be able to make it fall...not that this particular bomb exists anymore," she informed the highly destructive reploid. "This chandelier is the biggest in the entire world, representing the entire universe as explained in the fifth Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. And as someone who has travelled up to Brahma-Loka, I can tell you that those great scholars are right on the money on this one."
"Really? so...that's how the universe looks like?" Omega asked as he craned his neck up as he tried to absorb as much information from the moving model as possible.
At the very bottom was a turtle, on the turtle was a multi-hooded snake...that also happened to be a man, that held the entire universe up as he spoke with four young boys...the rest of the structure was too esoteric for him to understand.
Mukhara grabbed his hands, pulling him further inside. Closer to the closed altar of the lord.
Filling the super extensive halls where quite a few devotees and pilgrims...Omega could count 392 people chanting their Japa and a few talking in whispered tones. He found Yavata speaking to another man, Yavata still at his side. Yavata wore all white...bed sheets exposing some of his scars and tattoos. And despite his dark skin, the blue-haired youth had a certain glow.
Beside Yavata was a very beautiful woman all in monochrome, and a pompadour wearing man whose skull could be seen through his head. They were all chanting on their beads, deeply engrossed in the holy name. The man...was dressed like everyone else save for his pompadours with a green strip in it.
The next moment, those two uncommon entities were gone from his vision.
Karuna-Sindhu noticed the still shaky reploid, and he got up immediately. "Yo, Oma! Ma, what Happened?" He addressed his mother.
"Oh, Omega...Sri-Chaitania Mahaprabhu and his temple decided to show Omega his position in the grand scheme of things." The quad explained as if this was a very common occurrence, and as far as Omega knew, it probably was.
"Oh...so Omega feels like the atomic particle of God? Like... insignificant and puny?" Karuna returned his attention to Omega.
And Omega...Nodded.
Yes...at this moment, he felt quite small...
and this feeling of punity was made a thousand times stronger when the curtains opened, revealing the awesome and jaw-droppingly beautiful form of the nine feet tall deity form of Pancha-Tattva.
Needless to say, Omega hit the floor with sincere devotion this time.
"Wow, Zero...I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life." X addressed his best friend, still glitching and his voice warbling, looking more like a ghost than Cyber-Elf X. "Radha-Syamasundara..."
For his part, Zero stubbornly looked at Krishna's lotus feet. Unwilling to give this illusion any attention.
"I can't believe God's a fifteen-year-old cowboy...who's girlfriends a milkmaid." The false X continued. "humans are amazing to be willing to give such a nebulous concept as God a supermundane form… and girlfriends. Silly, isn't it? But Humans are creatures of beauty, so obliviously, they would make this… concept pretty, don't you think?"
Zero clamped his lips tight. While Krishna was absolutely stunning, the red...black reploid would readily admit that he found Radha more attractive.
No, not like that...He had no taste for the female form. But Sri-Radha...
She was the feminine form of God, the yin to Krishna's yang, the golden Sun to Krishna's dark moon.
The full moon to Krishna's dark new moon...
Radha was Krishna-Bhakti personified; she was pure love and bliss given a form and the divine potency of the supreme potent.
Without this seemingly delicate young girl, Krishna, the supreme personality of Godhead, was absolutely nothing..and nothing would exist without her. And yet, This Srimati-Radharani would be, was, is and always will be ready to lose all of her fame as a chaste woman and rot in the deepest, stinkiest, vilest pit of hell for all eternity if it meant her Krishna was Happy.
Zero could share Her sentiment...Oh, he could share it on a visceral level.
At least, that was what Mandodari had told Zero when the red failure had asked her about who was the woman beside Krishna. He knew there must be more to Her, but for now, the Saintly woman had Told Zero that he needed more time to chant and serve before she could reveal him anymore.
Zero had found a way to recite despite his lack of arms, his Nanite hair once again proving quite useful.
He was still holding the beads Mandodari had given him. A simple Tulasi rosary that the red Android would use to stay grounded in reality while the heartbreaking illusion of his departed Partner spoke to him.
'I need to contact Phalguni.' Zero realized after the blue illusion faded away. Leaving him with the powdered remains of a broken heart. Then he belatedly realized Phalguni must be as real as X at the moment.
He returned his glance to Radha-Shyamasundara. 'Ah...Say, would you mind...helping me again?' Zero asked the Supreme Personality of Godhead and his eternal consort. And as for an answer, they dropped the flowers they were holding.
Zero pursed his lips and inclined his head.
"Zero?" Uttara spoke, and the red failure turned around -careful not to show his back to the Murti-. There, he saw the hell-raven looming above all the pilgrims. She wore a forest green Sari over a withe blouse, and her wings were nowhere to be seen. Her hair was braided; she wore a Ų on her forehead and nose, and...no one seemed worried that a walking supernova was in the middle of the crowded courtyard. Beside her was Yashoda, still wearing white.
The regal Lunarian...or was it a Rahulien had explained to the red reploid how wearing white was the mark of either a death in the family...or widowhood.
She was a widow; she simply could not part with her hair yet.
Ishani was...not widowed, but her husband had left her. And it was only due to her Guru's order that she hadn't shaved, saying she needed all the sun protection she could get. Nanda-Rani was with them, and a man, an Indian much shorter than his wife, trailed behind. His dark-grey tilaka was almost lost in his dark skin.
"Zero, there you are. Oh, Sorry, I'm gonna do my Dandavats." Uttara wasted no time...falling in front of the lord and his consort. This action was repeated three times in front of Guara-Nitai, Krishna-Balaram and finally, Radha-Shyamasundara.
Then, not wanting to embarrass himself further in front of God. (no use denying it after all that had happened.) After that, Uttara sprinkled on the reploid's head a few drops of Charanamrta, unwilling to test how his fuel system would tolerate having milk, yogurt, honey, sugar and ghee gumming it up. Then she hugged and led him away from the altar and to a shaded area close to the Govinda restaurant. Mandodari was already sitting on a grass mat in front of her, with quite a few grass boxes of food. The plump woman in blue beckoned everyone to sit around.
The small group joined her and, saying their prayers, began to honour Prasadam.
It was sacred foodstuff offered to Krishna, grown and prepared with love by His sevaka's.
It...Looked delicious, even to Zero.
As a reploid or...an android, to be honest, food was not something he was attracted to. His system simply was not made to handle organic matter...and to be honest, why would one eat when it would require a complete hardware wash? Something that was both time-consuming and highly unpleasant?
But this food! This food in biodegradable containers, without meat and eaten with one's hand... and offered to a statue of God...was about as attractive as a premium grade can of Energen.
He started at it...it looked like a normal, white sponge-like preparation Mandodari seemed to appreciate. An Idly...
Zero swallowed thickly, cursing his creator...no not, Krishna, Wily, for not giving him the hardware required to eat...and himself, by extension, for having acted in such a way that he was now stuck in a body unable to eat.
Oh...what would he give right now to be a mere human with all the flaws that came with this type of body?
"Oh, Ananta, are you-"
"No!" Zero vehemently denied. He had no hunger... Those women were already giving so much of their time for a lost cause; he didn't want to burden them any further.
That night...at the vehement request and insistence of Uttara, Zero had to bow and enter sleep mode. The mothering bird had reminded her...son that, even though he was in a machine body, everyone, save a few fortunate souls, needed to rest.
They had all agreed, and no, Zero could not try to stave it off...he had to sleep and...
They were right; he needed to clean up his disks, delete some files and defrag.
He… hated defragging. Maybe it had been pleasant, an infinity ago… but now.
Oh, it was just the worst.
But… there was nothing much he could do, he had to face his demons again, and again, and again.
He never gained any respite, not even in sleep.
They had given him the couch..now his bed. And, after Uttara had rigged the metal that formed his couch to generate the same radiation a charging pod would. (she had magic and the power over atoms, she could do that, apparently.) Zero had drifted off to sleep.
And then...His nightmare began.
He was standing in the storehouse; team Gemma was strewn all across the place...Zero walked out of the containment unit; at his feet, the bodies of the resistance members, headed by Ciel, lay at his feet.
He walked through the sea of corpses. Looking...seeking...
He wanted X...He wanted his X... maybe Mama could help him find his X.
He tripped, and his little hands were covered with blood...he was scared, he was confused, he was crying.
"Is this what's left of Zero? The war machine that bested me out? The one who planted the seed of the glorious maverick upheaval in me." Sigma spat...his voice like a cold dagger to Zero's Audio.
Zero turned around and faced the devil himself, his gruesome grin scarring the little reploid.
He ran for his life, tripping on the bones and broken limbs of those who used to be his friends. "No...Leave me alone...I want to sleep!" Little Zero protested as he crawled over the bisected body of Iris.
"Oh, but Zero, don't you know? There's no rest for the wicked." Sigma sneered as he stomped the ground, sending a tsunami of blood and body parts.
When Zero managed to catch onto something, he realized with horror that it was the mangled remains of Iris. She opened her solid red eyes and began to speak like a mechanical doll.
"you promised me you would hurt anyone," she said. "But you managed to destroy X, the one you chose over me. But I guess that's just who you are. Isn't it, Zero?"
Zero turned around and ran, calling out to his mothers as he jumped from the severed head to the next. And then, from the abyss of his sins, Vile emerges. His helmet had sprouted teeth; it was not a visor; it was his mouth.
"Ah aha aha!" He laughed from the top of his ill-gathered ride armour."'Oh, my son! Oh, my, darling!" The mad reploid imitated Uttara. "And I thought X was the weakling slowing you down. Glad I was wrong...makes me feel less bad about killing yet another over-glorified fraud, a fag, no less."
Rage boiled his blood-oil, and Zero lunged at the monstrous Vava, aiming for his throat. The purple and green reploid didn't even move when Zero began to rip his head apart.
'Now...bet you're gonna be calling Uttara mama from now on.' Vile mocked. 'You're into big birds now...a MILF no less...guess that's a bit better than an old, obsolete system...' The head spoke, separated from his body and yet still active.
Zero began to look again for his mama...and for his X, for Mandodari and...X...
He wanted X...
'Zero...it's me, X...' He heard his best friend speak. And zero was not a child anymore; he was a fresh youth. A war veteran whose heart longed to be with his departed life.
He was standing in a desert, the body parts of those he cared about strewn all over the place. And in the middle stood X, his eyes dead.
"I'm happy you moved on...you deserve better than me..." he spoke without moving, without emotion.
'X...please!' Zero tried to reach...his very life. His reason to live.
X kept his empty smile.'You're about to start a new life now...you won't have to be dragged by my mistakes anymore.'
'X' Zero walked forward, trying to reach his X.
'You will see a world filled with life, free from the maverick war...you can be whatever you want now Zero...even a worshipper of a Hindu god...not gonna stop you now my friend...not that I can anymore.'
Zero felt his newly refurbished core twist itself...never managing to reach his...his...
He loved him, he knew. He knew that what they had was beyond friendship...but he didn't want to put a word on it.
But he desperately wanted it back.
"You are free...you can forget me right now...the no named B-rank...'
" I never agreed to go up to a...or even S because it didn't feel fair to others..."
'Please...X...stop!'
"I had you... and you...you were so naive that you thought I loved you...maybe I did.'
"X..." Zero screamed in Agony in his dream. And then...he met with a sight that froze whatever was in his lines.
"...No...No...it wasn't love...I just saw you as a tool to use." X turned into Sigma. "You are so easy to control, Zero...I just had to hold your hand, a lingering touch here, a kiss there, some heartfelt declaration here and there...You killed for me...and you died for me also."
"It's so funny, you know...the amount of time you died for a sky flower...my Sky-Flower." X pulled from the ground two dolls, Ciel and Iris... "And now." The threesome spoke. "Kill for me again."
Zero got up...he had to get away! Irrational fear flooded his integrated circuits; Zero couldn't help himself. He could see blood pooling around Mandodari's cold body, and his hands dripped with the sacred fluid.
"Look Zero...you did it again!" The ghostly X smiled as he gestured at the cooling body of Mandodari, Zero's blade stuck in her back.
X smirked, a gruesome sight to a face so young and beautiful.
"You killed again...a human this time...a human that looks like me...is this how you show love Zero? By killing?"
"No...No!" Zero wasn't sure if he spoke...the only thing he could do was to stare in pure horror at the crime he had perpetrated. 'Mandodari...Mandodari... How could you X...that's...that's not you...IT CAN'T BE YOU!' He screamed in the confine of his mind.
X's smile grew wider."You were many things to me, Zero...you taught me so much...you taught me how to charge forward without thinking of the consequences; you showed me how to kill and to be the machine I was meant to be... you were my reason to fight...to live, you know?" He spoke as if he didn't hear Zero."You were a teacher...A friend...a partner...a brother in arm...a lover."
"But in truth... you never saw me as anything more than a plaything. didn't you?...something you could destroy at your whims...'
"I saw you the same...the very same...my puppet, my willing murder machine...my weapon...lovely...lovely weapon." He grinned as he moved ever so closer to Zero. "Now that you have killed again...what will you do, oh sweet murderer? How will you show your love to others if you get caught in the act?" He purred in a parody of affection.
Zero muted his voice chip as he managed to roll to his feet, shakily making his way to the door.
"That's right, Zero...you need to leave this place. It is the only way you may keep them all safe." X whispered to the red failures audio. "You always bring ruins...death and destruction always trail behind you..."
Zero managed to fumble with the lock and emerged in the pitch-black hallway. His feet somehow found the stairs without falling.
" You destroyed me, Zero...with the war, the Eurasia crash...your tardiness...and now...you killed Mandodari, and you killed Uttara... Ishani...Yashoda..."
'just as your Creator wanted.'
he missed the last stairs, he wanted to get away,,, something told him he had to get out... he managed to land on his feet and ran as fast as he could in the soothing moonlight. Trying to run away from those voices...for the shame he thought had given up cycles ago.
And he wanted to escape...to keep those saintly women safe from his terrible luck.
"Look at you...running away from the truth...you won't find a reploid lab here...you won't be able to sleep it off...only death can free you from your sin.
He didn't know where to go in the winding cobbled streets of Vraja...he scared dogs, hogs and monkeys as he tried to run from his past mistakes.
'You're running away again...like when you boarded the shuttle.' X spoke in a seemingly kind voice that hid a staggering amount of vitriol. "Like when you surrendered your body... like when you faked your amnesia...and how you killed Omega, the real you...what you really are...a killer...an emotionless weapon."
He ran..not even bothering to recalibrate his eyes. But X knew where he would be...the ghost of his past would not let him be...
'...I know you from the inside out. I've seen you at your best...but mostly your worst." X renewed his offensive. "Zero...your nature is to destroy...and nothing else."
"If you see an enemy...even someone whom you thought a dear friend, what to say of a lover, you don't hesitate...you will destroy him. And this is why you can't see yourself as a hero." The Ghost of X taunted...Zero could almost see him looming in an empty alleyway, in a broken window, right behind him!
Zero ran...he had no idea where he would go; the reploid just knew he had to run.
It was a myth that he was without fear. He would fear what could destroy him...
He used to fear fighting the four guardians at once before he remembered his centuries of wars. He feared X and what he sometimes became. He feared Weil and all that he represented...he feared when coming face to face with Omega in his armour.
Only fools are truly fearless...and while Zero had his moment, he knew when it was time to run.
He burst out of the bucolic village and into the wilderness. To his right was the small hill, and to his left was a desert with a few gnarly trees...and he ran, and ran...and ran...
"Look, Zero...a desert...this place used to be a beautiful forest lush with trees and the song of birds; you rotten luck has already transformed this beautiful place into a wasteland." The ghost of X chuckled. And for some inexplicable reason, Zero turned to the sparse forest, ruining in the darkness of the night...
And then...when it felt that he had left civilization, where the rays of the waning moon could not reach him anymore...he tripped and fell on the rocky, unforgiving ground. His recovering gyroscope was unable to find up from down.
It was silent...save for Zero's overtaxed cooling systems. He was shaking; the fear he felt was beyond irrational; it was just a memory, just a nightmare...nothing more...
"Just a nightmare?" he heard X again...and Zero couldn't move; he was stuck staring at the darkness of the night, on his back and as helpless as a turtle. Something heavy sat on his chest as if the Govardhana hill had elected to sit there. "Oh, Zero...It's not a nightmare. It's very real." X spoke from on top of him.
He could feel...he could feel a cold presence lean close to his face...he could see his X, his eyes hollow, staring right at him. "Zero...do you love me?" He asked. "I love you...do you love me back?"
If he could, Zero would be crying at the moment, and he would be nodding vigorously. But in the back of his mind, the one that was still rational, who had made Zero survive the worst of scenarios, knew that this was not X.
"You do...don't you." Not X asked, fogging Zero's thought process with his vile presence.
"X..." his voice glitched.
"Yes...keep calling my name...I'm your only reason to live, the only reason why you have some worth." The apparition began to caress Zero's face. His breath smelled of death, and his presence was dubious at best. "Now, My love...I want you...I want your body so badly..." He growled, his voice distorting...
Was it really X? No, X never spoke like that, X...as a Cyber entity looked holy and even more sacred than usual. This...thing above him...caressing his lips with his thumb with a look of hunger was...it was...
If Zero could vomit, he would.
"Now...will you give your body up to me?" The...thing asked, still running his thumb to Zero's mouth, making him shudder. "Please...Please Zero...I want to... I want it...please give it to me...to your X."
Zero opened his mouth to yell at the creature; without arms, he would not be able to throw the imposter off...
The ghost gave a weird smirk as he slid his fingers into the red android's mouth...one two...four, ten...
His entire hands...
"Oh..." the bodiless being moaned sensually. "You feel great...Ï̵̧̫͎͍̪͑̋̑͝ ̴͇̰̺̥̋̓̀̈́̎͜c̴̙̱͔̼̏̓̈́̒̋͜ȃ̷͉̹͔͈̿̄̈̄͜n̸̘̝͚͍͎͗̔̋͌͂'̴̜̰̱͖̗̈́̏͒́͝t̶̡̛̲̬̻͚̀̾͘͝ ̸̨̞̗̭͍͂̒̈́́͋w̵̛͙̳̰͐̄͂͝ͅͅa̸̫͓̯̋̔͗͛̾͜ͅì̷̻͈̞̰̪́̓̋̕t̵͖̞̟͙̀̑̉͋͋ͅ ̸̫͇͍̭͔̏̔̅̈́͠t̶̡̼͇̭̺͌͂̓̔̓o̵̢̻̟̼͇͒͊́̑̒ ̸̥͎̠͈̺̍͗̈́̃̚b̶̡͕̙̭̫̎͊͋̏͝e̷̳̣̥̳̒̔̈́͠͝ͅ ̶̤̗͇̠̑̓̿̈́̏ͅi̶͙͍̫̠̗͒͂͊́̚n̷̨̪̥̯̥͆̔̈̑̀.̷̙̰̮̬̦̐͊͊̍̏.̷̭̹͍̙̞͛̐̑͋͝.̶̴̫͈̬͍̱̲͓͔̺͐̍̏͌̐͋̒́̕͠ͅ" and with those words...the creature entered him fully... Robbing Zero of his ability to move and scream, for his body was not his anymore.
He stayed staring at the trees above him...he could not move...and something slimy, cold and dead had...it had...
He could not move...
he could not move...
in his helpless state...Zero began to pray, to call...
'Oh, Radha...Radha, Radha...Manda...Mandodari...Mandodari...' What else could he do but pray?
He heard some noise... "Oh boy...are you okay there, sweetheart?" a man cooed.
Zero could not even move his eyes.
"You know, if I were you, I wouldn't be streaking here...or wear a white undi over...oh?" the man paused. "Oh, you...uh...you're not human," he observed as he ran his flashlight over the still unmoving zero. "You're a robot!"
Yes...yes, he was a robot...a robot that had a ghost in his shell...another presence...and an intruder.
He felt his body move against his own volition; it sat up...but this was the extent that the ghost used Zero's body.
He may not be this body...but it didn't mean that he was OK with sharing it with a ghost, especially not one who had the cables to desecrate X's memories like that.
"hmm..." the man hummed. And then he came into view. "well...I can feel two souls in your body...and you were running away..." the sound of footsteps came closer until the man came into view.
Now...Zero was used to gruesome sights, corpses of reploids...but this...
It was a cartoon skeleton...wearing a blue hoodie over what was clearly Vaishnava wear. The golden grey tilaka on his forehead glowed with benevolence, and the numerous Tulasi neck beads adorning his neck proclaimed him as much.
Suddenly, Zero's body began to laugh. It was a rough, demoniac sound that emanated from a place between the first and the last stratum of hell...right between Weil's cackling and Sigma's howls.
Kind of like Omega's laughter...when maddened.
No...it was not nice...and that was not how his voice chip should be used.
"SanATana Prabhu-JI!" the demon spoke. "Look WhaT I HAVE found!...I HavE A Body, YOuR TrICk WoN'T WORk oN mE! I-"
"OK, buddy...I think you've had enough." The skeleton, Santana spoke as if this was the most mundane thing in the world. "Joy Ride's over pal." With that, he put a bony hand on Zero's forehead, right on the gem.
He managed to shudder...bones should not move by themselves! The red failure could only count his blessing that no flesh remained on Sanatana's sun-bleached bones.
He could feel the ghost shudder and something...snapping into place.
"Got ya now, pal...Don't worry, Kasyapa; you'll be back home soon enough. You just need to listen to your best buddy San; he'll send you home in a jiffy.'' The skeleton spoke gently as he put one knee to the ground and smeared some dust onto Zero's head.
Suddenly, he felt...he felt better.
"Alright..." Sanatana cleared his throat...something he didn't have. And then he began to recite to the curiously quiet evil spirit.
Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare,
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare!
And then...the evil spirit was gone. The weight and the claws in his mind had dissipated like fog in the morning. Light, Bliss and...and protective love flooded his frame, chasing away whatever damage the evil spirit could have done.
He felt as if...as if some being greater than the universe had spontaneously elected to give Zero a protective hug...
'Is it...is this...what it feels like to be protected?' Zero wondered. Never once in his life had he felt so...safe!
Not with Sigma...nor with Cain...not with X as his guardian angel... Zero would always be the one who would protect those weaker than him...
This same feeling he realized he felt it with the saintly woman who had taken care of him too...
He felt himself get lifted off the ground, the skeleton; Sanatana's hands were glowing bluish. "C'mon R.O.B. Uncle Sam got a cuppa milk with your name on it." He grinned wider...as a skeleton would, obliviously. Before being unceremoniously carried to Sanatana's abode...
Whatever that was.