As time went on, the problems with mirrors continued. And, unfortunately, the mirrors didn't seem to care if anyone else was present.
"Axl?" X said quietly, arms crossed. He had his serious, "you-are-in-trouble-young-grasshopper" look on his face. At least, that was how Axl thought of it.
But the reason for it was a mystery. He'd gotten rid of a Maverick attacking a junkyard earlier that day, but there hadn't been any casualties or even that much property damage. It had been the kind of smooth operation that X grudgingly approved of.
"Yes, X?" Axl tilted his head, trying to look attentive and eager. X had finally folded on the issue of letting him into the Hunters, and Axl was trying to be the best of the best in his own way.
"Could you please stop doing that?" X said firmly, and Axl stared at him, baffled.
"…Sir?" He finally said, and X frowned, catching Axl's lack of understanding.
"Your reflection in the wall is looking at the back of your head," he stated factually. Axl whirled around to see… his reflection looking at him. But it hadn't moved with him turning around. It had been looking at him the whole time.
"Argh!" Axl reached up to yank on his hair, and the reflection did the same. "Maybe if the walls weren't reflective… I don't know what's doing this, X! It's weird!" It was also creepy, although one instance with Signas had been hilarious. Fortunately, Signas hadn't been able to see the rude gestures Axl's reflection had been making behind him. But it had been hard for Axl to keep a straight face. X frowned.
"Maybe this has something to do with your DNA copying ability." Axl brightened at the idea. It was farfetched, but at least it was something. "Have you been down to the repair bay about this?"
"No, X, I didn't think it was me." But his DNA copying ability wasn't perfectly understood… maybe this WAS him. Axl felt relieved at the thought. If his ability was at fault, maybe the problem could be fixed. X shook his head.
"Well, try to get down there. That's really very unnerving to watch." X walked away, and Axl glanced back at his reflection, and then nodded. He'd get down to the repair bay as soon as he had time.
Time wasn't easy to come by, though, and it turned out that the repair bay was busy with some earlier injuries. Axl would have to wait for two days, since his condition was just a nuisance… and some things attracted his attention before then.
"Isn't this fascinating, Zero?" X said enthusiastically. They were all seated in the break room, and Axl looked up curiously from his science fiction book. It was a slow day for Maverick activity, and a person could only train so long.
"Mmm, if you say so." Zero said noncommittally. Axl blinked, and looked up at the TV to see what X was interested in.
It was a news special on some kind of scientific discovery. Axl wasn't too surprised… he suspected that if it hadn't been for the Mavericks, X would be a scientist in his own right by now.
He would certainly be happier. Even when he was resigned to the necessity, battle never made X happy. Axl shrugged off the thought, and looked at the program.
"…So this tablet predates human civilization? Or is it possible that human civilization is older than we suspected?" The host of the program was querying a scientist via a satellite link. The scientist… Dr. Gould, professor of Anthropology, a note on the screen said… shook his head with a smile.
"That's very unlikely, Sandy. An ancient civilization would have left signs, ruins. Besides which, this tablet would have been planted well before homo sapiens existed."
"Approximately how long ago, professor?"
"Oh, around 2 million years or so ago. The tablet itself can't be carbon dated, but it's easy to estimate the age of the surrounding sediment…"
Axl ignored the words as the screen flipped to a view of the tablet. It wasn't a very good view, but the characters on it… as he stared at them, he had the oddest feeling that if he only looked hard enough, they would make sense. And they were important.
But he didn't have nearly enough time to study them, before it flipped back to the host and the professor.
"Dr. Gould, what will you be doing with this discovery?" The host enquired.
"We'll be examining them at the San Francisco University. There will be specialists from all over the world trying to help decipher them, although it will be a very difficult task without a Rosetta stone-"
Axl ignored the rest of the program, standing up to leave. He wanted to see that tablet…
Later, that same day…
Axl slipped into the research laboratory, moved by an irresistible impulse. Logically, he didn't want to be there. He'd gone to considerable effort to mimic one of the guards and slip inside. If X and Zero found out about this, he'd be toast. And for what? An ancient tablet that was being heralded as proof of alien contact with earth? That was a prize for anthropologists and UFO nuts. He was neither.
But something drew him on, and soon he found the tablet. It was held behind a force field, to prevent any contamination and decay. Axl shook his head in disgust at the unnecessary precaution. Did they really think it could be destroyed from contact with the air?
He went over to the keypad, still wearing the guise of a guard, and flipped off the field with a stolen code. Getting that had taken even more work than getting inside.
The blue field blinked out of existence, and Axl stepped over to cautiously touch the tablet. The surface was matte black, unreflective, and he was glad for that. He didn't want to think about what his reflection might do here.
Characters had been scored deeply into the surface, and Axl gently traced them. The tablet felt slightly rubbery and almost screamed synthetic. He could definitely see why it was considered proof of alien contact, when it had been found in fifty thousand year old sediment.
But there was something odd about it. Axl winced, touching his forehead as the characters seemed to blur in front of his eyes… and began to make sense, just as they had in the TV broadcast.
He squinted at it, and then started to silently mouth the words. The tablet almost seemed to vibrate as he spoke to himself…
We salute the eyes that see this,
Steel and flesh entwined before us,
Child of all we sacrificed,
Read this now, our despairing song!
Hazam! Kazam!
Our tears shall fill the earth!
Child of the Age of Reason,
The Age of Change has come and gone,
Returning now to sow its chaos,
Heed this now, our joyful song!
Hazam! Kazam!
Our joy shall lash the earth!
The Age of Reason is a lie,
All you know is not the truth,
But when no truth exists but what you make,
Sing this song in fate's rebuke!
Hazam! Kazam!
Our laughter shall shake the earth!
Sing our song to salute the changes,
Come to ravage earth and sky,
Fill the cisterns overflowing,
With the powers left to die!
Hazam! Kazam!
Our rage shall break the earth!
Child of steel and child of flesh,
Singing now our song,
Fear the future and embrace it,
You alone must be strong!
Hazam! Kazam!
Our song shall end the earth!
Axl gasped, stepping back as the tablet started to rot. Flecks of green started at the center, then raced outwards, as if some malignant fungus was quickly eating away at the synthetic surface. There was a soft, crumpling sound, and the tablet collapsed in on itself. As Axl stared in amazement, it was reduced to nothing but dust. And soon, not even that remained, as the dust seemed to vanish into the air.
Axl took a step away, and stumbled, lightheaded. Blinking, he realized he'd shifted back into his own form. But it didn't feel right. His body felt tight, hot… what was the word humans used? Feverish. And he was suffering from a growing nausea. If he didn't find a toilet soon, Axl was certain he would be tossing his cookies onto the floor.
He tried to reach the door, but the floor had other ideas. It rose up and threw him to the ground, and he couldn't suppress the nausea. His last meal splattered across the floor, and Axl gagged at the sour taste in his mouth. He looked around for a mop, a cloth, something to clean it up. Then logic caught up with him.
The sound! The guards will hear me! They would have to be deaf to miss the sound of someone being violently ill. And even though they would assume it was one of their own, they would surely go see what was the matter. Then his cover would be blown. Axl struggled to suppress the nausea, stumbling to his feet and lunging out the door.
No one was there, and with a moment of intense concentration, Axl assumed the form of a guardian again. Relieved by his success, he started to walk out, feeling better by the moment. Although very uneasy about what had happened.
What did that thing do to me? Infect me with some alien virus? Axl made a silent vow to go see Lifesaver as soon as he got back to Hunter HQ. He could make up a story about not feeling too well and get a general checkup. That would certainly pick up any viruses, and the last thing he wanted was to spread something to the other hunters. Then something very amusing occurred to him.
I wonder what the anthropologists and UFO dudes will think when they find the tablet gone and that someone horked all over the floor? Axl sniggered quietly at the thought. It would certainly be a puzzle. He looked forward to seeing what they would say on TV, although he was a little ashamed of the mess he'd left.
Better hope no one ever figures out it was me, or the cleaning 'droids will lynch me.