"Another lab," June said with a sigh. "And here I'd thought I'd sworn off them."

"Well, you'll have to endure another for a while," X said with a friendly smile. He was escorting June, Axl and Rose to the science lab. June blinked in surprise as they entered… Gate, Lifesaver, and all the other great scientists of the base were there. She'd been expecting a few people, sure, but not all the great names. She could recognize most of them… despite her commitment to music, she kept up with developments in her earlier field.

"What's all this, then?" She said, confused, then a schematic on one of the screens caught her eye. "Oh, how cute, Tripwire 2." Then she noticed another. "And Tripwire 1. Where's 3 and 4?"

"Tripwire?" Gate said, confused, and June shrugged. Great names or not, she wasn't going to let herself be intimidated.

"You know, booby trap. So where's the real schematic?" She was expecting it to be up. There was a long pause.

"That is the schematic we are using." Gate finally said as the other scientists started to look alarmed. Lifesaver was frowning at June severely. She raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Oh, can't be. Really, where's the real one?" She glanced around at their expressions, then paled. "You couldn't have fallen for Tripwire 2. This is a joke, right?"

"Why don't you explain to us about these Tripwires?" Dr. Cain said gently. June swallowed hard, then nodded.

"Okay. Rose, get on the bench." Rose obediently lay down on a table, and June quickly opened his chest, revealing the slot for her program key. "Anyone got a cord?" Soon, she had the key plugged into Rose, then plugged into the computer. At first, the screen was black, then a logo suddenly spun out… a stylized K surrounded by a ring of posies. Then a login screen appeared, and she quickly entered the system. "Okay, you got your Tripwire 1." She slapped a schematic up on one of the monitors. "Tripwire 2." Another monitor came on. "Tripwire 3." Yet a third schematic came into existence. "And Tripwire 4." A forth monitor blinked on. "Each progressively subtler. They're designed to make you think you've finally found the right one, but still, I thought you guys would have more sense. And here… is the real thing." A final schematic popped up, and several scientists immediately crowded around it. Gate was regarding each schematic carefully, comparing them with each other. Each one was subtly different. Gate frowned as he realized that the main alteration in Tripwire 2 was what had been giving many of the copying Reploids problems…

"What is this change meant to do?" He touched the offending system, and June shrugged.

"Kill, what else? The Tripwires were designed to totally feeb with the Mavericks, if they ever got hold of Axl or Rose. That one'll cause mental instability and death. Check this out…" Everyone turned to watch as she started running a program. "One month later." They could see the schematic starting to slowly change. "Three months later." The change was becoming more pronounced and beginning to look unstable. "Six months later." Massive instability was clear… and as they watched, the entire DNA copying center shut down. For a Reploid built with it, that was death. "And Kristina was totally wicked with this… if you try to patch any of the Tripwire problems, you unleash the Easter Eggs."

"Easter Eggs," Gate prompted, as many of the scientists went from looking worried to looking sick. It had never occurred to anyone that Axl's scans might be complicated booby traps.

"Virii and worm programs." June answered, looking up at him. "This one, Easter Egg 2, causes random disruptions and freezes. It's not lethal, but you can't remove it without taking out the whole copying system." Someone in the audience groaned. She was describing the other problem they had been having. June looked around at all of them. "This whole thing was wickedly clever, really. Enough encryption of each one that it looks like you've really made a breakthrough, but each schematic is layered on the other…" June trailed off, wincing. "I just assumed you guys would've been warier. I mean, you knew about Red Alert!"

"We thought there was only one false schematic," Gate said, reaching up to rub the gem in his helmet. "…Shit." Everyone was startled at that obscenity, from Gate.

Everyone was feeling the same way, though. This was very grim news. All the Reploids with the next generation copy centres would have to be recalled, and no one had ever attempted to do such a thing before. Still, now that they understood what the problem was, there might be a way to fix it without removing the copying centres.

"Can this problem be patched without unleashing the Easter Egg?" Gate asked June, who looked pensive.

"I really don't know… maybe. I'm not a big shot at this, you understand, just a lab assistant. But I can show you how the Easter Egg operates."

"Please."

Axl, meanwhile, was watching with a blank, shocked expression. X winced as he saw how Axl was looking at the monitors, down at his brother, then at his own hands…

"It was my fault… my fault all along…" X heard as he stepped closer to Axl. "I killed them…"

"Axl, no." X gently touched Axl's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault your creator booby-trapped your systems… or that we triggered those traps." Axl looked up at X, horror in his eyes.

"But I was… was like poisoned candy, X! All my friends… Red… it was my schematic that drove them insane! And everything that's happened afterwards… Lumine…"

"Axl…" X gently held Axl close, letting the younger Reploid get rid of the grief, the pain. Axl sobbed, closing his eyes tightly.

Neither one of them noticed Rose watching, from the table, with a wistful look on his face…

The next day, there was a mini-mutiny in the lab.

"I'm not going to lie down for you all day! What do you think I am, anyway, a cheap whore? Let me OFF this table!" Rose was entirely fed up with being a guinea pig. "I was supposed to be doing some brother bonding, here! Eating chips and drinking cheap beer while we watch soccer, not stuck on a lab table!"

"That's your idea of fun?" June said with a snort. "Oh shut up, Rose. Put out like a good little techno-whore."

"Not funny, June!" Rose snarled, less than amused. "Can't you just download the schematics onto the Hunter system?"

"Hmm… maybe." June looked doubtful, though, and snagged Gate. "What are the codes on this thing?" Soon, they were working on transferring the data. It took some time to get the access on Rose's end… June had rarely used those passcodes, so she had to wrack her brain. But eventually, they managed it. "Alright, Rose. Hold on and you'll be able to go." June closed down the interface, and unplugged Rose from the machines. Rose jumped up with a relieved expression.

"Alright!" He dashed out, intent on finding Axl. However, that was easier said than done. The Hunter HQ was very large, and soon Rose was hopelessly lost. But after asking for directions several times, he found his way to a lounge.

Axl was there, curled up on a sofa watching TV. But he was looking extremely depressed. Rose tilted his head to one side, and quietly walked into the room.

"Axl?" Rose queried him softly, and Axl slowly looked up. He was expressionless, now, but his eyes were desolate.

"Rose?" Axl blinked slowly. "They let you out of the lab?" Rose snorted, and plopped down beside his brother.

"Yeah, after I put up a stink. Darn techno-weenies." That won a smile out of Axl, but it was small and brief. "What's wrong with you?"

"Oh… nothing. Just thinking." Axl said, and Rose cocked an eyebrow at him, then flipped his legs up and rested his feet in Axl's lap.

"Don't think so hard, your brain might explode." He advised the startled Hunter. "That's what June always tells me, anyway." That made Axl smile, more naturally, before he shoved Rose's feet off his lap. The singer pouted, then sat up straight, his expression turning serious. "Axl? I thought we were going to get to know each other better?" That was hard to do with Axl depressed. Axl blinked, then revived a bit more, giving Rose a friendly smile.

"That's right… why don't we go see if Zero's free, and we could all go to the Cabana?" Axl suggested, making Rose tilt his head to one side.

"The Cabana? What's that?" Axl blushed slightly at that innocent question.

"We-ell… it's my favorite place. It's a really awesome cream parlor that sells CANDY. More candy than you could imagine! All different types!" Axl said happily, and Rose grinned.

"Sounds delicious!" Rose said happily. "And maybe we could visit a nightclub after?"

"Sure!" Axl was suddenly feeling a lot better. In his pain over the revelations about Red Alert and his own systems, he had forgotten the most important thing about finding his brother… he had a brother!

It was time to get to know him.

The Cabana had obviously been built with a seaside theme in mind. There was bamboo piping along the walls, cut at varying lengths, and above them were very bright, cheerful pictures, seashells on strings, and even a few sand dollars. The chairs were all well padded with something that resembled red leather, but was actually a plush synthetic. A curtain made of beads separated the ice cream parlor from the candy shop, but it was common for a customer to venture of there, and come back with a bag to enjoy along with their ice cream.

Right now, the two Axl's were sitting on the stools at the ice cream bar, drinking milkshakes. Zero was beside them, eating a large dish of ice cream, but for once he wasn't attracting a great deal of attention. The sight of the two identical, cute kids sitting and drinking ice cream was attracting more than a few glances. Rose turned to wink at a pair of young human girls, who giggled and whispered to each other, grinning. Axl blushed, looking into his ice cream.

"I feel so freakish…" He hadn't realized how strange it would be, walking around with his brother. Reploids just weren't made to be completely identical like this. Rose blinked at him, then grinned.

"Axl, you're not thinking of the positives," Rose chided him. "I bet we could score with them, if we really wanted" That made Axl blush even more, and Zero grinned.

"He's right, you know. Guys aren't the only ones who fascinate about twins, you know!" Axl choked, and hopped off his stool.

"I, uh, think I'll go get some candy…" He beat a hasty retreat to the other part of the store, making Rose blink after him.

"Gee, is he shy? I'm not…" If he ever had been, his experiences with being in a fairly popular, up and coming band had burnt it out of him. They weren't popular enough to have hordes of admiring fans, but they had enough. Zero shrugged.

"He can be pretty shy with girls. Don't worry, the candy will calm him down." Zero was sure of that… they'd had heavy discussions at the ice cream parlor before, with candy to make things easier. Axl had an immense sweet tooth.

"Candy?" Rose said, musingly. "I hardly ever eat candy. Mostly potato chips." Zero blinked, a bit taken aback by that revelation. It was definitely very different from Axl.

Sure enough, though, Axl came back beaming with several bags of candy… caramels, sea salt toffee and chocolate covered peanuts. He hopped up on the stool, then opened the bags.

"Want to try some?" He offered them to Rose, as Zero swiped several caramels. Rose hesitated, then shrugged good-naturedly.

"Sure, why not?" He tried a sea salt toffee, peeling off the wrapper and popping it into his mouth. Then he blinked. "Hey, this is good!"

"Don't sound so surprised," Zero said teasingly, making Rose blush. "Axl knows his candy. So! What's it like, being a rock star?"

"Oh, I'm not a rock star yet… although I want to be!" Rose grinned. "Although it's more pop. But really, the touring and stuff can get awfully wearing, especially for a new band like us."

"Oh yeah?" Zero asked, interested. To him and Axl, the business of being a pop star was interesting and rather glamorous. "How so?" Rose continued, more than willing to talk about it.

"Yeah, we have to travel a LOT. All the time, everywhere, in our van. And we're not that good yet, so we don't have roadies, and except where the venue supplies 'em we have to put up and take down our own equipment. That can be a real pain. And the van is CROWDED." Rose sighed. "Sometimes it can be a real pain. So, what's it like to be a Hunter?"

"Oh, it's great!" Axl said happily. He started chattering happily about life at Hunter HQ, with Zero interjecting an occasional comment. "…And it feels so good, knowing you've helped people!"

"Oh…" Rose almost sighed. "Sometimes, I think I should be doing that too… I'm pretty good at fighting, I've even killed a few Mavericks. But… I love my music."

"Music helps people too," Zero pointed out. "Especially now. They need as much to get their spirits up as they can get." Axl nodded solemnly. The general population was getting used to the stress of constant Maverick attacks, but nothing could make it easy on them. And the whole business with Elysium had been extremely painful, although the world was past it now.

"Aw, you make me feel so special!" Rose polished off his milkshake, then checked the content of Axl's. "Just about done… is there a good nightclub we could go to nearby?" It was starting to get a bit late, and Rose wanted to experience some of the local night scene.

"Sure, there's a really good one only a couple blocks from here." Zero stood up, shaking out his hair. "Let's go."

It was time for some serious fun.