With an inert Sigma in tow, Zero lumbered through the halls, metal joints aching from the strain of carrying the larger Reploid for so long. His mind was not so much on the pain, though, as it was on the thoughts that ricocheted off one another like meteors in his head, some being dissolved, and others amplified as he rationalized away each of his suspicions. The one notion that prevailed was not felt so much in his mind as it was as a sinking feeling that constricted his stomach – that he was being framed.

I can see it now, he thought with a smirk. As soon as he comes to, he'll have it all figured out… "He chased me down to the construction and tried to bury me!" Damn good thing I didn't file that complaint, at least he can't plant a motive…

Zero felt his legs give way beneath him; the fatigue had become much worse than he'd realized. He needed to stop and recharge for a bit; no one would notice a paranoid Reploid and his wounded charge in the abandoned hall. Setting Sigma down beside him, he slumped heavily against a wall, crossed his arms over his knees, and buried his head in them, wondering at what was to come.

He stayed lost to the world a while like that, unable to wrench his mind from its musings to the situation at hand. At least his energy unit was fast at work while he was idle, recharging his depleted cells and washing away the ache of his current trials. He didn't want to spend more time than was necessary just sitting around, but there was no danger in it, as everyone from Commander to civilian worker in the HQ was attending the inauguration. That would mean there was no one to attend to Sigma, either, but Zero would make do… somehow.

With his systems replenished, Zero lifted his head, with eyes still closed, to rest against the wall, and tilted it to the side to look at Sigma. But when he opened his eyes, the spot where he'd lain down his comrade was now vacant of all but a smear of fresh, green liquid. Zero blinked hard in his newfound alarm, as though the action would materialize Sigma into view, and jumped to his feet in one swift, solid motion.

Where the hell did he go?

Sigma hadn't gone far. In fact, as it now dawned upon Zero a moment too late, his plan was never one of idle treachery, weaving lies and ruining his reputation. He smiled wryly at his lapse in judgment, as might a man newly enlightened to the errors of his ways smile in the face of death.

Who Sigma could not turn, he would seek to destroy through more concrete means…

Zero didn't bother to turn around. The blaster jabbed into his back told him it would be unwise to make a move. But he didn't raise his arms, either, since surrender would be a useless gesture. The identity of his assailant, although his face was hidden to him, was no mystery, and Zero knew he would accept nothing short of his destruction.

"It seems like I misjudged you," Zero chuckled despondently, betraying the tension he felt within. "You knew I was listening that night in my room, didn't you?"

"Mmmhmmm," came a knowing reply, inflected in that sinister voice sounding nothing like his partner's, from what Zero was sure was a menacing grin. "And it couldn't be a more perfect day for me to enact the final stage of my plan. I knew it would be impossible to win your sympathies no matter what I did, Zero, as much as I knew I could never win you over with my true intentions."

Sigma took Zero by the shoulder with his free hand and roughly motioned him forward with the other, still planted firmly in the small of his back. Zero begrudgingly obliged, and kept pace with Sigma as he continued his insane diatribe.

"And what's more, I knew I could never best Maverick Hunter's brightest star in combat. But I read you very well, Zero – you're the pensive type, and when you're pensive, you're much less alert. You really shouldn't let down your defenses to daydream, you know, especially when the enemy is at your side, even if that enemy seems harmless."

"Right, right… it was foolish of me," Zero interjected, despite possessing the knowledge that a madman doesn't enjoy being interrupted. He hoped that by being agreeable he could spare himself having to hear more… and maybe stall Sigma a while.

"But why don't we stop for a while, and take a look at that nasty cut of yours? You can't do much in the state you're in." Wherever they were headed, Zero would rather a straight fight than to see other people or Reploids get hurt.

"Hahah, you can drop the charade, partner," Sigma chortled heartily. "I can see you're very worried about where this is heading… so I'll save you the suspense and let you be the first to know my secret plan."

Sigma's alter-ego grew gleeful at the prospect of unveiling his plot to his powerless captive, and Zero used the emotion to subtly slow his pace, hoping to weaken Sigma as the power fluid trickled from his gaping wound onto the floor. The fervour with which the words barrelled forth from Sigma showed no signs of weakening, but Zero knew the power of mind over matter all too well.

"I'm really still finalizing just how I'm going to pull it off," Sigma confided coolly, "but you're going to be my hostage. We're going to go to the ceremony, all right – and I'll demand to be made Commander, if anyone cares about your stinking shell." He giggled, freeing Zero's shoulder of his grip. "If somehow you can't convince them, the Mavericks I've scattered into the crowd will."

Zero felt the familiar tightness in his gut form a momentary stranglehold on his senses. A fiery retort rose to his tongue, but he quelled it. He mustn't let his emotions get the better of his judgment, not a second time.

"You have Mavericks at the ceremony? I think you should call them off. You're really in bad shape, and I don't think we're going to make it to there." Zero turned his head just enough to catch Sigma in his peripheral vision, clutching his stomach with a plasma-covered hand. Beneath his confident expression, he looked visibly pained. "What are they going to do when you don't show up?"

Zero was regretting the words before the last had left his mouth. He could see that Sigma, unable to answer rationally, was losing his cool. "Shut up! I'm in charge here. This plan won't fail. You're the failure up to this point! Just look at you, the mighty Zero, a hostage. MY hostage. Remember your place, and stop looking at me!" Sigma gave an angry nudge of his blaster, the stab of pain making Zero wince.

"Okay, I'm sorry." Zero, master negotiator, they would call him. Never propose scenarios for which your captor hasn't accounted. He made a face of disgust at his own ineptitude.

There were no further exchanges made between the two, their footsteps the lone sound in the empty halls, except for the sound of Sigma's breathing, which became ever hoarser and more laboured. They passed the infirmary, the cafeteria, the Command Center and the rest of the technical nervous system of Maverick Hunter; on and on they went until the cheers of a crowd came into earshot, then the large spiral staircases leading to the auditorium's balcony into sight not long after.

The knot twisted and turned in Zero's gut. Do or die time.