X sighed, looking over the reports on the newest rookies. It was something he only did in his spare time, when he was bored, since they were actually under the command of Vosk, the recruit Commander. But it was always good to know a bit about the future Hunters.
Especially since the fighting had been so bad lately. X wasn't sure what had triggered the upswing, but it had been escalating for six months. They'd need to hurry these kids through training and get them in fighting mode.
X blinked in surprise as he noticed three reports that had been coded. Well, they were all coded, but most of the codes were either satisfactory or rejected. It was unusual to see a rookie getting a proficiency level code from his entrance exams. And so many from one small class was doubly unusual. He pulled them out.
The first made him frown. Very proficient... and with troubling personality notes. The code was more a note to keep an eye on him than anything.
The next made X smile. A rookie who already had basic Hunter proficiency, and seemed to be a very quick learner. He'd do well, and would probably make a good member of his squad, or Zero's. The personality profile seemed to indicate someone who'd be a pleasure to deal with, cheerful and willing.
The last... X eyed the code askance, wondering if it was a mistake. Someone had apparently decided they had a superstar on their hands. Indicated proficiency was enough to slide him right into Zero's or X's squad without any training at all, if it was accurate.
He read it carefully, with a mix of amazement, pleasure, and worry. The initial part was what the recruit had filled out himself... sketchy, except for a "notification of kin" that noted his Aunt, Abigail McCoy, who'd once been a Hunter. X wracked his brain futilely trying to remember her, then gave up.
Then it got down to the more interesting things. The interviewer, Pulse, had found him intelligent and that he seemed to have acceptable motivation. That was standard.
The recruits didn't know it, but they were observed constantly the first day after they joined, to see how they would interact with each other, who would show the initiative to practice, how they acted in general. Those watchers pretended to be fellow rookies, in the interests of not making them self-conscious.
Normally they only made a few notes, but this time, there were multiple comments from all the watchers. They had been impressed. X's eyes widened as he read a description of how the youngster had started teaching one of the rookies some fairly basic techniques, then was cajoled into teaching everyone. And did it very, very well.
"Shows great leadership ability and grasp of the strengths and weaknesses of each recruit. His comments after they tried to tackle him and failed were very insightful and helpful. I observed him helping a rookie with an injured left arm perform the move with his right, and the rookie mastered it."
"I joined the lineup to learn the move, since I'd never seen it before, and did learn it. The way he handled that one rookie, the one who tried to throttle him, was adequate, although he does have a foul mouth. See rookie Gilgamesh for the full note on that incident." X frowned, and checked. That was the one with the personality note.
The notes went on, making note of a carefree, often silly, but kind and often obliging nature. They also noted that this rookie knew how to say "no" and set limits, which many people had trouble with. He enjoyed being in the spotlight, but didn't actively seek it out. X felt cautiously impressed.
Then he flipped the page, looking at the combat scores. A low whistle escaped his lips.
He'd excelled. The first tests had been nothing but a joke to him, so the evaluators had decided to carefully increase the difficulty, but making it seem as if it were nothing more than the usual. And as the difficulty progressed, his performance had increased exponentially. He'd blasted through all the simulations, finishing in the highest difficulty, the level of the #0 and X squads. A note said that he had seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, concentrating on nothing but the combat.
Already impressed, the evaluators had arranged a final test. Three Hunters, one a member of Zero's squad, had been hurriedly rounded up and briefed as the kid was finishing the last simulation.
Then the evaluator asked him if he wished to try an actual combat simulation against other rookies, using training weapons. The rookie hadn't boasted, but he had laughed, and said if they were willing to try, he certainly was.
And he had taken them all. Still pumped from the simulation, he'd exploded in a whirlwind of action as soon as the fight started... and the evaluator noted that his tactics were very, very effective. In the first minute, one of the Hunters had been down clutching himself in agony, and the other two were hard pressed.
They had tried to double team the rookie, but his relentless energy had forced them apart, breaking the team attack. Then he had eliminated another Hunter with a blow from his training sabre that would have killed her, had it been real.
That had left him facing off the member of Zero's unit. They had engaged in a spirited sword duel... that ended when the Hunter lost track of where he was, and stumbled over his own "dead" teammate, who had stayed where she'd fallen as she was supposed to, to simulate a real life battle. The rookie had moved like a snake, and next thing he had known, he was on the ground with a tiny gun pressed firmly against his forehead. The rookie had laughed and said that now, if this were a real battle, he'd be a prisoner. The Hunter had remarked that a gun that small could hurt, but it wouldn't kill him, even at this range... but the rookie had disagreed with a smile, mentioning armor piercing, high explosive ammunition.
X's face drew into a frown. Where could a rookie have gotten ammo like that? And the Hunter himself had put in a note...
"I would have sworn no rookie could take me down like that, ever. I don't want to sound like sour grapes, but we need to check this kid. One place to get that skill would be with the Mavericks. Same thing with that gun."
X sighed. That was the heart and soul of the worry, with scores this abnormal. He made a note to himself, to show the report to Zero, if his Hunter hadn't already told him about it, and talk to Vosk.
He was interested in finding out where this youngster had gotten his training. He glanced at the report one final time, carefully noting the recruit's name.
Zest.
At the same moment... unfortunately, if it had been just a little bit later...
Zest and his recruit class were practicing hard. The cuts had been made... pretty much what he'd expected... and they were beginning their classes.
Zest... wasn't exactly bored. But he couldn't help but fidget sometimes, especially when the instructor went over what was just too damn obvious to him. Like how to aim properly. It was enough to make him sigh... to himself, anyway.
A new Hunter stepped up, taking the place of their original instructor. There was a stir of interest in the recruits, and Zest's interest sharpened for a moment. He knew who this was.
Zero. The legendary Red Hunter, in all his glory. Zest was impressed by how alike they looked, now that he was confronted by the original. The same blue eyes, the same face, the same long, golden hair. An air of authority and energy that was similar to Zest's own. For good or ill, Zero had a compelling personality, and Zest listened to him intently...
For about five seconds.
"It's kill or be killed out there. Never show a Maverick mercy..." It was essentially a pep talk and lecture. Zest felt his attention wandering. It wasn't that Zero was wrong on any point, but it was just so... so... worthless to him. He already had killed, several times, and not just Mavericks either. Zest could still remember the one time... he'd won the draw... or lost...
His gaze was caught by a pretty young Huntress, and he eyed her for a moment... then noticed a handsome young Hunter in blue. He looked rather familiar, but Zest just admired his lines for a moment until he left sight. Zest was comfortable with his bisexuality.
"You!" Zest started violently at the sudden yell and finger pointed in his direction. "What did I just say?" Zero demanded sharply. Zest combed his mind futilely for a moment. He had no idea whatsoever.
"Unh... Mavericks bad, Hunters good?" He said weakly, to a bunch of smothered giggles from the other recruits, and some winces. Everyone knew Zest was in for it.
"Out here, where I can see you." Zest sighed, to himself, and stepped out obediently. Zero looked him over, obviously not liking what he saw. "What's this, some kind of cheap imitation? Who made you, recruit?" Zest tensed, feeling a coil of anger building in his stomach. But he kept his cool, answering lightly.
"Not entirely sure, sir, we never got to talk much before the Mavericks killed him. I got adopted after that." Zero paced around him, a bit like a hunting dire cat. Zest felt his shoulders tingle, but managed to stay in one spot.
"Well, rookie, if you want to come anywhere NEAR the glory of the original, you better start paying attention!" Zest's eyes narrowed dangerously, and the anger coiled and snapped.
"You ought to worry more, old timer. Worried you might get out done by the latest model?" He purred, creating a ghastly silence. The recruits stood frozen, watching the confrontation building. Zero was expressionless for a moment... then he grinned, an anticipatory, vulpine grin.
"Shall we see, recruit?" Zero drew his Beam Sabre, and Zest widened his eyes in false innocence.
"Oh, I wouldn't stand a CHANCE against you with a beam sabre! You've had SO much longer to practice, after all." Zest said innocently, surprising a strangled laugh from one of the recruits behind them. But then he grinned, just as wickedly as Zero. "How about something more... elemental? Like fists?" Zest mimed a punch in the air. "Or do you need weapons... sir?" Zero's eyes narrowed, then he laughed harshly.
"I could take a brat like you with one hand tied behind my back." He switched off his Beam Sabre, putting it back in his sheath, and the two began to circle each other.
The first meetings were inconclusive, tentative. But Zest quickly got his measure of Zero. He was good, very good... but somewhat dependant on his Beam Sabre, understandably so, a fistfight with Mavericks was a rare thing. And most important for this, he'd been taught hand to hand combat by a Karate master, or at least that was his style. Zest's style was a mish mash... whatever worked, from several martial arts and just plain dirty fighting.
They attacked each other in earnest, a pair of blurs, and when the trick happened, the recruits almost couldn't see it. Zest's hand moved agilely, Zero reeled as something hit him in the face...
CRACK! CRUNCH!
"Auuuuughhhh!" Zero lay in the dirt, curled around the centre of his pain, hands pressed against it. Zest turned to the recruits again, dirty and a little dinged up, but grinning. The recruits gazed at him in pure shock.
"That, my fellow rookies, is two techniques of dirty fighting... the first, "throwing dirt in the eyes," and the second, known fondly by my family as the "nutcracker." Now, the trick is, if you do this to an opponent and leave them alive-"
"Grrrrrr..." A gutteral snarl started...
"-It's time to run like hell!" And Zest took off as Zero leaped to his feet with a scream, Beam Sabre leading the way on a merry chase across the field. "Whoo hooo!" Zest whooped as he ran.
This was a lot funner than listening to a lecture.
At that moment, X had passed through the training ground a few moments before, and was talking with Vosk.
"...Right. We really should do a full background check on that kid, and get him to explain a few things. He refused to give any references." Vosk, a slight Reploid in purple armor, picked up the report on Zest again with a frown. Normally references didn't matter, but... "And the account we sent the payment to for him has been closed, and the name it was under is false. Someone is covering up something. It might be Maverick activity, or it might not, but we-"
X and Vosk were both startled when a rookie burst into the room... Chip, X managed to identify him, the other rookie in this unit to get a good code...
"Sir, sir come quick, Zero's trying to kill Zest!" He gasped out, and X and Vosk both froze for just a split-second.
Then they were both moving. "What?" When they got outside, they could see the recruits milling around, utterly confused... Zero screaming up at the wall of one of the buildings... and up on the wall, skillfully climbing, was a form with blond hair.
"Get back DOWN HERE YOU BEEEEEEEEEPPPP!" X winced, as Zero engaged in profanity completely unsuitable for any age group.
"Make me, old timer!" The rookie up on the building called down. X jogged over, with Vosk, just in time to prevent Zero from starting to climb...
"Zero!" X seized his arm, then gazed up at the purple and black armored Reploid. He was struck by the amazing resemblance between him and Zero... it was really incredible... "Get down here." He ordered Zest sharply as Vosk took Zero's other arm, restraining the swearing Hunter.
"Yes sir." The rookie said brightly, jumping down and landing with a catlike grace. X blinked again. Now that he was close to Zest, he could see the unbelievable similarity... and the slight differences. The recruit was just a trifle heavier, a bit broader in the shoulders than Zero. It was scarcely noticeable, to anyone not intimately acquainted with Zero. His eyes were also a slightly deeper blue, full of life and a... zest for life. X smiled as he thought that. And there was also a tiny scar on the bridge of Zest's nose, as if he'd banged it against something, and felt it was too minor to be worth repairing. But it had left a small mark, lending just a bit of character to his handsome face.
Zest was regarding him with intent interest, as much as X had given him, and X finally blinked.
"Unh... right. Come with us." He turned away, leading Zest off to the room he and Vosk had been alone in, before. He completely missed Zest's quick glance at his butt, as they walked off, Vosk keeping a firm grip on Zero.
This was going to be their first real interaction with this young superstar...
It also turned out to be an irritating, awful interaction on all sides.
"Look, we need references from you." Vosk tried to sound reasonable. He'd been trying for almost a half hour, and Zest glared at him, his temper fraying.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I can't give you them!" Zest rested his chin on his hand, and eyed X from the corner of his eye. The one bright spot in this whole thing was that he was seeing the blue Hunter up close.
He was very impressed. That trim, compact, short body... the innocent face, innocent eyes. There was an edge of knowledge, experience, but still that childlike innocence underneath. Zest found that very, very attractive.
In truth, Zest had a slightly odd set of preferences. He liked all different types of ladies, although his favorite was very skinny, but muscled, with long brown hair... like Angel. But any fine woman could turn his head.
With other men, he was far more selective, probably because he wasn't drawn to them as deeply. But his favored "type" in men was shorter than himself, but with the same kind of trim build as X... brunette, usually, with innocent eyes. It rarely happened that he met someone who fulfilled all those qualities, but when he did, it caught his attention. Usually only as long as the person was in sight, but now, he could study X up close... and X was exactly...
Vosk banged a hand against the table, his own temper fraying. "What are you hiding? That bank account we were given closed as soon as the payment was deposited to it. Abigail McCoy is completely beyond reach, and we have NO confirmation of your story. What are you hiding?" He demanded with a snarl. Zest drew in a deep breath.
"It's none of your god damned beeswax what I'm hiding!" He snarled right back, and X stepped in.
"You have to understand, Zest. Your level of skill just isn't normal, and one of the ways you could have learned it is from the Mavericks. We need to make sure that's not it." He said soothingly, and Zest subsided a bit.
"Besides Maverick activity, what else is there to hide?" Zero suddenly asked, eyeing Zest like he really wanted a second crack at the rookie. Zest gifted him with a sardonic grin.
"You want that categorically or alphabetically?" Zest lifted a hand, and began to tick them off. "Arson, burglary, assassination, grand larceny, shoplifting, vandalism..."
"Wh... what?" X blinked several times, Vosk looked startled, and Zero was suddenly interested. Zest shrugged, a bit uncomfortable.
"My... references wouldn't want to talk to you. This place is kinda official." Zest shrugged again. "They wouldn't want to have anything to do with someone who might report them to the police." X blinked again, and Vosk looked thoughtful.
"If we promised them complete anonymity, do you think your references would be willing to talk with us?" He asked, and Zest thought about it for a moment.
"It's... possible... but you should know that oathbreakers usually don't live long." That made Zero laugh... until Zest shot him a gaze that was deadly serious. "I mean it. That's really important." X looked a little nauseated, and Vosk thoughtful. Zest had basically told them his "references" had killed, and would kill again, if they felt threatened.
"Well, I can swear that we will not give information to the police. We deal with Mavericks, nothing else. Will you try?" Vosk asked, and Zest finally nodded.
"Yeah, I'll contact them." And see what kind of response he got...
The response came in an e-mail the next day, and Zest went to tell X and Zero immediately.
"Someone's coming tomorrow." He explained, adjusting his ponytail. "I don't know who it is, or how they'll get in, but they're coming."
"Great." Zero said sarcastically. "Do they expect us to just hang around all day, waiting for them? We do have work, you know." Zest frowned, and shook his head.
"Just do what you usually do, I'm sure they'll introduce themselves when you're both here..." Zest felt a bit exasperated, giving Zero an irritated glance. "They're doing a lot just coming here."
"We feel privileged."
"Zero, stop..." X cut in, trying to diffuse the argument. "Thank you, Zest. Zero, we can take one day off without hurting anything. Besides, you can try out those new simulations." That thought improved Zero's mood immediately. It would be a way to play without actually taking a real day off, since it was technically important business.
"Yeah, that should be good." Zero mused, then suddenly eyed Zest. "You can join us, kid. I want to see if you're as good as they say." Zest blinked, then grinned.
"Gladly, sir!" That would be more amusing than the usual training...
Zest rotated his arm, wincing at the pain in the joint. Zero had almost jerked it off during the simulation... apparently, he was still carrying something of a grudge. "Ow." Zest lifted it up, testing the feeling, the strength. "Ahh, minor."
"You don't need repairs? Good." X said, sounding distracted. "Zest, when are they going to be here? It's four o'clock already." Zest could only shrug.
"I don't know, X, but a lot of them are nocturnal..." In fact, most of them were mainly nocturnal. Zero raised an eyebrow at his purple copy.
"I hope they won't come at midnight. I need my beauty sleep." He stretched, deliberately making his golden mane ripple. Zest couldn't help but laugh.
"But what do they think we are, rookies who have all the free time in the world?" X fretted, and Zest frowned, opening his mouth...
But he was interrupted by a soft voice behind him.
"Actually, I would put all three of you down as extremely unobservant fools." Both the Hunters stared at the janitor standing behind Zest, an average looking man, his chin propped on the handle of his broom. Why would a janitor say something like that to them?
Unless...
Zest turned around slowly, his expression one of... wonder. "...Dad?" X and Zero blinked, trading a glance. This was Zest's... father?
"But of course." He took off the cap, revealing thinning, fine blond hair, and crisp blue eyes. "And you've walked past me three times in the last hour. Very poor, Zest." He spared a glance at X and Zero. "They at least have an excuse, since a human infiltrator in Maverick Hunter Headquarters is an almost ridiculous notion... what human would betray them? But you, Zest, have no excuse at all."
"Unh... sorry dad." Zest looked slightly embarrassed, glancing at X and Zero. "This is my father, Jason McCoy."
"Pleased to meet you," X said, shaking his hand. "So, what can you tell us about Zest?" Jason McCoy looked thoughtful, then glanced slowly at Zest. Zest tensed… they had decided, via e-mail, that it was time for the Hunters to know the truth since they already suspected. There would be too many chances for them to find out from the Mavericks for it to be hidden forever.
"He's a Maverick made copy of Zero." X and Zero both tensed in shock, and Zest winced at the straight, bald-faced declaration. Trust his dad not to sugar coat it. But then his father smiled thinly. "He was sent on a basic mission to cause havoc, and interrupted a dance at my daughter's high school. Angel attempted to seduce him on the dance floor, and while he was distracted, my son, Mort, hit him from behind with a taser."
"A taser?" Zero scoffed. "What could that do to a Reploid?" Jason smiled again, but his eyes were cold.
"It's all in location. Zest, turn around." Zest obediently did so, and his father moved his ponytail aside to reveal the circular dataport hidden behind it. "A very vulnerable point to an electrical shock. He was lucky he survived… and it completely scrambled his programming and memory." He dropped Zests' ponytail, and the young Reploid turned back around, grinning. "After that, my children brought him home. After we found he was uninfected and had no memory, we kept him."
"Ah, I see… then he did learn to fight like that from the Mavericks," X started, looking troubled, then blinked as Jason smiled and Zest grinned. They were both very amused about something. "What's funny?"
"Heh, the Mavericks didn't teach me this!" Zest said with a laugh. "I totally stank back then! No, I learned all this from practicing with the family."
"You learned how to fight like that from humans?" Zero sounded very, very skeptical. Humans could be useful to the Maverick Hunters. A few had the reflexes and skills necessary to make their way in the 0'th and X units, but most had to settle for heavy weapons and defensive placements. Which was fine, really. The Hunters needed people for that. Still, it was amazing that humans could have taught Zest so much. Jason just smiled, and handed X a datachip.
"If you doubt, watch that," he said. "So, is this sufficient assurance? Zest has lived with our family for three years without incident." X and Zero looked at each other, and were about to speak when…
Vosk spoke from behind them, making everyone except Jason jump. They hadn't heard him enter the room. "No. I want a detailed list of everything you've taught him. It's idiotic to keep him in the rookie classes and I don't have time to figure out what he doesn't know." Zest shook his head with a grin as Jason nodded.
"Very well. Here's what he can do," and Jason began listing a skill set that would have given Zest pride of place in the penitentiary. Zest wasn't in the least bit embarrassed. He'd worked very hard to master all the skills. When Jason was finally done, Vosk nodded.
"That pretty much covers everything he needs as a Hunter, although perhaps some extra work in team tactics would be good." Zest's education had included some of that, working on simulators with his family, but even then the teams had been very small.
"Vosk," X finally broke in. "We can't just make him a Hunter! He's still a rookie." Vosk waved that away.
"I wasn't going to suggest that. No, I'll make him a teaching assistant. We can always use a bit of help. How does that sound, Zest?" Zest blinked, then grinned.
"Sounds great, sir!" He said cheerfully as his father nodded. He'd be able to do this easily, and it would be a lot more enjoyable than basic training in things he already knew.