Axl lay, still as death, in his recharger. Reploids didn't move when they were recharging. If deprived of a recharger, Reploids would occasionally fall into a more normal sleep that served much the same purpose. It took longer, and wasn't as efficient and restful, but provided the downtime they needed. In that sleep, they might move and mumble. But not in a recharger.

That did not, however, prevent them from dreaming. And right now, Axl was having a fascinatingly realistic dream.

The world was… different.

Axl had trouble defining the difference. His sense of sight was sharper, somehow, yet also hazier. As if the world had been given a bit of extra texture, but had sacrificed acuity.

His nose twitched as he registered a delicious smell, and he glanced around, taking in his surroundings more carefully.

It seemed to be a combination of bar, restaurant and hotel. The floor was made of wood, planks of oak that had been sanded, polished and treated to make a beautiful surface. The bar was plain wood, being slowly wiped by a bored bartender. Behind the bar was a board with thin iron bars, each with a key dangling from it. A staircase led to the rooms those keys were for.

The lighting came from lanterns on the walls, and heat came from a great fireplace. Axl was seated at a long table, with several other men. He glanced down at himself, and blinked at the strange, padded and plated armor he was wearing. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. The sword at his side was unexpected, as well. It was a plain weapon, with a sweat stained leather hilt, and had obviously seen heavy use.

He was sitting at a long table, make of the same oak as the floor. It was stained with old beer and wine, and food, but someone had tried diligently to take the marks out. He could rest his elbows on it without fear of sticking. He examined the other men at the table. There were four others, and the most important was the smallest. A thin, weedy man with dull brown hair, olive skin and intelligent eyes, he was dressed very richly in embroidered cloth. Axl had a vague sense that this man was his employer and he was very satisfied with something.

Two of the other men were negligible. Brutes that had been hired for their muscle, not their brains, they had precious few of the latter. But the fourth person was an older man with butter blond hair and bright blue eyes. Laugh lines crinkled his face as he smiled, and Axl felt that there was something very familiar about him.

Zero?

That was silly. The older man was a human, but still, he felt like Zero in a good mood. He seemed a little mischievous, but so good natured about it that it was hard for anyone to take offense. Right now he was idly tossing some dice, and showing off by rolling sixes half the time. The two brutes were eyeing the dice with deep suspicion.

Any concern about fixed dice was wiped away as a tavern girl brought out the first course of their meal. Axl's grinned as a large platter of salads, eggs, cheeses, dates and mushrooms came out. This was only the first course, the appetizers but he always enjoyed salads. Taking a bowl, he started to eat after dripping a bit of spiced olive oil over the salad.

He could detect another smell, though. The inn was cooking a whole goose for them, and the scent was wonderful.

"We did well, yes?" The Zero-like man said with a smile, taking a piece of cheese. The language was something Axl had never heard before, but it seemed vaguely familiar.

"Very well!" Their employer said enthusiastically, helping himself to the mushrooms. "The silks we bought in Cypress will fetch a good price in Rome."

"Pass the dates?" One of the brutes asked, and Axl politely passed over the dish. He liked this one marginally more than the other. He was at least polite.

"Mmm, good. So, will we be getting a bonus?" The blond man asked innocently, and their employer laughed.

"Ha! No, I'm going to dock your pay. Of course, Lucilius. You'll all be getting ten pieces of silver, each." Axl's eyes widened. That was a handsome payment. The two brutes looked impressed, and Lucilius grinned.

"Sounds good, eh, Felix?" Axl grinned back at Lucilius. Felix was his name in this dream, he knew instinctively.

"Great! All the quicker to get back to your wife, eh, sir?" He said jokingly to their employer, who winced.

"Ah, Felix! Thank you for reminding me. I just hope she's stayed faithful!" They all laughed. His wife was actually a very kind, devoted woman he would be glad to see again.

Their employer gave his attention to the other two men at his table.

"Publius, would you and Cassius want to continue with us to Rome? I'm certain I could find steady employment for you." Axl was puzzled for a moment and then understood. He and Lucilius were trusted retainers, but the two other men had been picked up at a village when one man had to be fired and another had gotten sick. He and Lucilius had spent part of the trip training them to be acceptable guards. These two were getting paid half as much as them, and normally would have gotten much lower bonuses. The business had gone well indeed.

Axl wasn't too pleased at the thought of them joining the household, but he had to admit they would be useful. He and Lucilius had watched them carefully and they had the most important virtue of such servants… they could keep their mouths shut. Along with their brawn and willingness to take orders, that made them valuable for a traveling merchant.

The two men looked stunned at the opportunity. They were both peasants who had never hoped to see Rome

"Sir, we'd both like that." One of them finally said, awed, and Axl hid a smile as he snacked on a date.

The meal continued long into the night. The goose was done very well, stuffed with mushrooms, onions and breadcrumbs and treated with a mustard sauce. After the meat course, which was quite expensive, there was a dessert table. It was filled with fresh grapes, dates that had been stuffed with bread, dried fruit and wine, apples stuffed with sweet dates…

Axl frowned as a woman came up behind their employer. She was beautiful, with raven black hair and lovely olive skin. Her eyes were dark and smoldering.

He distrusted her immediately. At best, she wanted to get money for sex. At worst…

But there was nothing he could really do about it, and he tried to ignore it as his employer attempted to politely get rid of her. He was no monk, but didn't often patronize other women away from his wife. He certainly wouldn't in front of all his servants.

There was a bellow from across the room, and Axl nearly jumped out of his skin. Then he tensed, his hand going to the hilt of his sword. Maybe this was just a jealous peasant.

Maybe pigs were flying across the sky, too. Axl drew his sword to fend off the man, silently cursing. Surely this was an attempt to steal their money-

Pain seared across his back, and his knees buckled. He cursed himself this time… he'd forgotten the woman!

He fell to his knees, and then heard a startled scream. Something heavy crashed against him, knocking him down the rest of the way. Blood splattered across Axl's face, and he gagged as he saw the woman's head go rolling across the floor. Lucilius had beheaded her.

Axl fought to push himself up, and managed to get to his knees again. He saw his employer against the wall, protected by his two new servants who fended off attackers with more vigor than skill. Lucilius was willing easily against the "jealous" peasant. But they were outnumbered…

Axl forced himself to his feet, picking up his sword. He doubted he had long. He could feel hot blood gushing down his back, and strongly suspected the wound was mortal. But he had a duty to his friends… and his employer was also a friend.

"Raaarrrrrrggghhhhh!" Axl attacked with a wild war cry. His first strike killed one of the men attacking his employer, and the second crippled another. Then they were alerted and turned on him.

Axl tried to dodge a strike to his chest, but stumbled from the weakness of blood loss and grunted as the blade went home. The world was darkening, but then Lucilius was there. Axl smiled weakly as he collapsed a second time.

They would win. He was sure of it, and he had done his best…

Axl woke up with a start.

Wow! That was one hell of a dream! Now that he was awake, he could recognize the language that his dream had been using… Latin. He didn't know Latin, but could recognize the sounds of it from scientific names. Of course, it couldn't be real Latin in his dream if he didn't know Latin…

Weird. Axl pulled himself out of the recharger, then touched his back with a wince. It ached dully in a certain spot on his left side.

…? Axl blinked, and pulled his hand away. It felt wet. He raised it in front of him and stared at the smear of liquid on his fingers. It was very red, even in the dim light of his room.

Shaken, he stared at the blood, unable to guess what this meant…