Zero Purpose
Neo Arcadia, Core, 2400 hour
The city slept peacefully below him, a few lights still lit, twinkling like stars in the night sky. He shook his head to get rid of the illusion of peace, turning to look at the large monitor behind him, the screen split to reveal different locations of the battle taking place below the tranquil city. He gently touched one of the screens, enlarging the image to reveal the scene of reploids being blasted away by large cannons, never given the chance to even resist. Many of the rebel reploids were giving up, standing in front of the Neo Arcadian soldiers while volley after volley of shots were fired into them, finally exploding and scattering their broken remains. Many more were screaming and running in fright, while a few tried desperately to resist the attack. This was no military campaign that was occurring. It was a massacre.
"I…I was created to serve and protect humans," he said, his voice firm with resolve. But his heart was a different matter. It was true that he was created primarily to serve the good of humanity, but massacring helpless innocents went against his programming. Even if they weren't humans, he still felt the need to protect them, to protect the weak from being oppressed by those with power. However…
"I wonder if the original X would have this same dilemma?" he wondered out loud to himself, chuckling bitterly. "Would the original X hesitate to help those reploids? Or would he not waver at all to carry out the will of the humans?" He sat down in front of the monitor heavily, watching the destruction occur before his eyes as he did nothing. The screams of dying reploids echoed through his processor, abruptly cut off by explosions and gunfire. He quickly muted the computer, letting only the images reach him.
"Dr. Ciel…why did you create me?" he asked the empty room. He could almost see her standing next to his desk, smiling excitedly as she attempted to instruct him on how to run the city. The image faded from his memory, replaced with the dark reality. There was no one there. There would be no one there.
He wasn't the real X, and he would never be the real X. No matter how hard he tried, how hard he attempted to act like the original, no one would ever acknowledge him as the original. He was only a copy in all of their minds. He was worst than the other reploids. At least they were recognized as being an individual, while he did not even have that luxury. He was no one. He could never be an individual because the reality was that he was not individual. He was a copy, a supposed perfect copy of a hero that had disappeared from this world. But even as a perfect copy, he could not be recognized as a hero. Because he had not performed the deeds that had made X a hero, because he had not shown his merit, because he had not used his own will to become a hero.
He was a puppet with a mind of its own, and that was the worst existence of all. He could see the world around him, wish and will to act, but could not do anything since the one who controlled the strings to his limbs was not himself. He was a hollow symbol, created to reassure the people, but to have no means to reassure them. He touched his face, his fingers hovering the soft covering over the metal frame. He looked like X, but that was it. He could never know if his actions were what X would have done. He could never know if X had the thoughts that he had. He could never know if he was really the original X, given a new life, or if he was really an incomplete copy. And as long as he didn't know, he couldn't really exist in this world. He could only doubt his every word and action, always wondering if he was playing the role of "X" successfully. And even if he played that role perfectly, no one would acknowledge him as X. His efforts would always be in vain, so long as he looked like the legendary hero.
He laughed quietly to himself. What was he having these thoughts for? So long as he did what he was supposed to do, then he had nothing to worry about. But then…what was he supposed to be doing? Protect innocent reploids from destruction? Or eradicate them for the sake of humanity?
He sighed. He was going in circles. He had always been this way, wavering after making his decisions. No… Not he. It was X who had been this way, not him. It was from X's memory that he had his past, from X's programming that he had his personality. But X couldn't give him the strength to defy humans, to go against what he was created for. X gave him a past, but he didn't give him a future. All he had were broken memories, dreams that weren't his, and someone that would not fade from his consciousness.
Many of his memories were perforated with a companion, a partner, perhaps even a friend who stood by his side, supporting him, lending him a hand when he needed it. It seemed like he was always there when he most needed him, an un-shaking, constant pillar.
And it was true: Zero wouldn't be fighting himself like he was now. Zero wouldn't be debating over being the original or being a copy. Zero would find a goal, accomplish it, then fade away from the limelight. He had always faded away after missions, never really celebrating with the others, even when they had won a great battle. And one day, he faded permanently away, never returning to the light again. Just like X did.
X hadn't known why Zero had disappeared, just like he didn't know why X had disappeared. It seemed to him that legendary heroes had a habit of pulling the disappearing act when it seemed that peace had established itself. But if he remembered correctly, heroes were supposed to reappear during a time of crisis, and if there ever was a time when a hero was needed, it was now.
He had been created as a replacement for a hero, but he knew, and everyone else knew that he was no hero. There were times when he was alone, away from his work that he cursed those who decided to re-create X. He didn't blame Dr. Ciel. He knew that she had planned on making him the real X, even if she had been too naïve to realize that it was impossible. He blamed those old fools who thought that creating a symbol to rule the people was a good idea. He blamed those humans who didn't look at reploids as having a life of their own, as only pieces of metal stuck together. He blamed X for disappearing.
Even so, he cherished the memories that X had left him. It seemed like those were the only memories worth keeping to him. The memories that he had made since his "rebirth" were nothing to be noted. It was from X's memories that he knew what friendship was, but it was also from those very same memories that he felt alone and stranded in this world. Sometimes, he wished that those that had created him had also decided to create Zero. He missed the feeling of knowing that his back was always watched, that he was never truly alone. And Zero was the only one who could crack jokes with a straight face.
He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. He wanted to talk to Zero again, even if that Zero was just a copy, even if the memories they shared weren't truly theirs. He wanted to be able to go on a mission, and engage the enemy without a word to his partner, each synchronizing their moves with the other and destroying enemies as if they were nothing. He wanted that silent companion that understood him without him saying a word. But he knew that what he wanted was something that he could never get.
Zero was gone. X was gone. Only he was left.
The monitor flashed with an incoming call. He shut his eyes, trying to block the world around him for a little longer. The signal continued to flash a steady pulse, hypnotizing in its regularity. Finally he opened his eyes and hit the transmission button, allowing the reploid to deliver its message.
"Master X, a few suspected resistance members have been spotted to the south," the reploid said in a monotone voice, not remarking on the length of time he had taken to receive the call. They were all the same, groveling and fearing him, never questioning his decisions. Even his four guardians were the same. He had hoped that at least Harpuia would put more effort into resisting his decisions, but time and time again, he had been disappointed. They didn't see him as a fellow reploid, a comrade. They saw him as lord and master, and subjugated themselves to his control. Perhaps the only ones who could have seen him as a friend were those rebel reploids, but now there was no chance of that. He was an enemy that needed to be destroyed, just like his mission was now to eradicate every last one of them.
"Shall I send you their coordinates?" the reploid asked in a flat tone at the other end of the line. The reploid waited in silence for its master's reply.
"How many of them are there?" X said tiredly, rubbing his face with one hand. His sharp blue eyes stared into the visor of the reploid, recognizing that this was one of the few older model reploids that were still in use in the more remote parts of the government. For some reason, he was glad that he was speaking to this reploid, rather than to one of the newer, single-eyed models. He felt uncomfortable communicating with those Cyclops-like reploids, not to mention it was difficult to get them to do what one wanted.
"Four members in total: two reploids, one cyber-elf, one human," the reploid said mechanically. "The reploids are standard service reploids, one male adult model, one female child model."
"Wait, did you say there was a human?" X asked, leaning closer to the monitor. If it was Dr. Ciel, then it might be possible to persuade her to return to Neo Arcadia and once again help the city towards peace.
"Affirmative, one human, two reploids, one cyber-elf," the reploid repeated again. As if to read his mind, the reploid added, "The human has been identified as Dr. Ciel. Send a pursuing unit?"
"Yes."
"Clarifications on the condition of retrieved units?" the reploid asked emotionlessly. X blinked a few times, not understanding what the reploid meant. When it finally dawned on him, he was about to respond that it should have been obvious to take them all back unharmed, but he realized that that was not the obvious answer. In fact, it would be more reasonable to destroy all units other than the human. But destroying innocents went against his programming…
"Permission to give calculated directive?" the reploid asked while he hesitated. He looked questioningly at the reploid. "It is advisable to destroy all rebel reploid units to minimize the amount of resistance," the reploid continued on without waiting for a reply. "Dr. Ciel and the cyber-elf should be captured without harm; both can be used for the good of Neo Arcadia." He agreed with that advice, but to him, it was too heartless a move. He was about to give his confirmation when the reploid spoke again.
"However, I believe such measures are unnecessary," the reploid said, doing very well in keeping its emotionless mask. "Simply damage the adult reploid's gun arm and capture the doctor and the cyber-elf. It is unnecessary to destroy or bring back the two renegade reploids."
"…I see," he said, looking at the reploid closely. The reploid was bordering dangerously close to being labeled a Maverick, and it was a fact that they both knew. The reploid had not been asked for its opinion, yet had expressed it anyway. X sighed, rubbing the creases on his forehead and laughing quietly to himself. He supposed he should also be labeled a Maverick for agreeing with the reploid's suggestion.
"What is your name?" he asked, genuinely interested. He wasn't about to let a reploid that would dare give him suggestions slip out of his hands so easily. He knew that by law, all reploids in the government should have been retired some time ago, but on the outskirts of Neo Arcadia, the law was more difficult to uphold. Apparently, someone in the government had decided to ignore orders, and for that, he was glad.
"I am just another number," the reploid evaded his question, his expression not once changing.
"Is that so? Then what do your friends call you?" X persisted, ignoring his duties to the city. If the rebel reploids escaped, then so be it. He hadn't really wanted to chase after them anyway.
"Sir, I am a reploid. Reploids do not have friends," he said sternly, frowning at the leader of Neo Arcadia.
"Reploids…don't have friends, huh?" X sighed, leaning back in his chair once more. "If that were true, what a sad existence reploids would have."
"Sir?" the other reploid said uncertainly.
"Never mind me," he said, sitting up straight and re-entering his role as X, the hero of Neo Arcadia. "Commence the retrieval of Dr. Ciel and the cyber-elf. Minimize the damage dealt on both sides."
"Yes, sir!" the reploid saluted. X reached over to turn the transmission off when he suddenly received a set of coordinates from the other reploid. He looked at the numbers, and then looked questioningly at the reploid.
"If you have time, you might find something interesting in that abandoned laboratory," the reploid said in a business-like tone. X raised an eyebrow at him, demanding further explanation. The reploid didn't give it to him. "And sir," the reploid said when he was about to cut the transmission once more. He looked at the reploid, wondering if the reploid wanted to be labeled a Maverick and retired. "When I still had friends, they called me Axl." The reploid then cut the transmission with a small beep, not allowing X to even get a word in. He continued to stare at the blank transmission screen for several minutes, wondering. In the end, he simply began observing the battle scenes again, giving instructions when it was necessary.
Desert, South of Neo Arcadia
Ciel tried to walk carefully to limit the amount of sand that kept entering her boots. The quiet shuffling of sand could be heard in the silence of the night as the group continued their trek through the vast desert, hoping that by some miracle they would stumble upon a livable shelter. Ciel looked up at the sky, wondering how long they had been traveling. The sky was dark without a hint of dawn. She wondered if she should be thankful for the dark cover of night, or whether she should dread that same darkness that kept her from seeing where she was going. She stared at the back of 0NB6, wishing that she could see as well as the reploids in darkness.
"Do you hear that?" the small reploid beside her asked quietly, staring at a certain direction in the darkness. Ciel looked nervously at the reploid. The last time the little girl had said that, they had been invaded. She wondered what would happen this time if the reploid really did hear something.
"There's something coming towards us," the taller reploid said, frowning. "What should we do?"
"Maybe it'll pass us by," Ciel said hopefully, though she really thought otherwise.
"Maybe it's someone from the resistance," the cyber-elf suggested without much conviction.
"Sure, Passy, and pigs fly," Ciel said, her fear turning into irritation.
"Should we hide?" 0NB9 said, holding Ciel's hand even tighter.
"Their scanners will detect us, if they haven't already," Ciel said, taking her blaster out again. She let the small weapon begin charging up. "If they're Neo Arcadian soldiers, then I won't hold anything back." The taller reploid nodded, also charging his blaster. They all secretly hoped it was someone from the resistance, even if that hope defied logic. It was likely that most of the resistance had been destroyed in Neo Arcadia's last attack, and it would be a miracle if a resistance member managed to hijack a Neo Arcadian ship and find them.
The sound of an engine's roar became louder as the aircraft approached them. Ciel pushed the smaller reploid behind her, and signaled for the cyber-elf to hide in the sands to block its light. Sand began to blow into her face as the aircraft inched ever closer to their position while they waited like prey in a burrow. Suddenly, the searchlight on the hovercraft switched on, illuminating their position for all to see. Ciel covered her eyes from the bright light, temporarily blinded, while her finger hovered over the trigger on the buster.
"Dr. Ciel, please return with us peacefully to Neo Arcadia," a voice announced from the aircraft. "Do not resist, or we will be forced to open fire." Ciel looked at 0NB6 worriedly. If she went without resisting, then maybe the two reploids could escape out of this ordeal unharmed. It was her fault that the other reploids in Neo Arcadia had been attacked by the soldiers, but if she could at least save these two, then she would be more than willing to hand her life back to Neo Arcadia. She took a step forward.
"Dr. Ciel!" 0NB6 hissed, trying to pull her back. She shook his hand off of her shoulder, facing the bright light.
"Do you guarantee the safety of these two if I go with you?" she asked, maneuvering herself so that she was blocking the two reploids from the ship's line of fire. If they didn't mean to honor their word, then at least she would be blocking them from harming the two reploids.
"Affirmative," the voice announced. The aircraft began lowering itself onto the ground, blowing sand in all directions. Ciel didn't dare turn around to look at 0NB6's face. She knew that he wouldn't be happy with her decision.
Single-eyed soldiers exited from the aircraft, aiming their blasters at the small group. Ciel gulped, hoping that that was just a precautionary action. Suddenly, a blast was fired and the aircraft exploded, throwing Ciel to the ground, knocking the wind out of her. She felt a pair of hands help her to her feet, pulling her away from the smoking remains of the hovercraft. The red-eyed reploids that had survived the blast looked around in confusion, not knowing how to respond in such a situation.
"Use your legs! Run, Dr. Ciel!" the reploid yelled at her, continuing to pull her along. She felt as confused as the Neo Arcadian reploids, staring at 0NB6 without really seeing him. "Hurry! Before they start chasing us!" Her mind finally clicked, and she ran with the two reploids and the single cyber-elf, trying to escape the destruction behind them.
"What happened?" Ciel gasped as shots flew past her into the soft sand.
"I decided to shoot the plane," the taller reploid said simply, ducking behind a sand dune and firing back at the reploids. He then rejoined Ciel and continued to run.
"W-Why?" Ciel asked, also turning around and firing at the reploids occasionally.
"They were going to take Ciel away," the small reploid said, sounding like she was about to cry.
"I told you already. You're the only one who can help us now," 0NB6 said, destroying a few reploids. "If you go back to Neo Arcadia, you won't be able to escape again, and then we 'Mavericks' will all be doomed."
"But look at your situation now!" Ciel said angrily, blasting the head off of a reploid. "Now you're being attacked when you could've gotten away safely!"
"The safety of one reploid means nothing," he replied calmly, starting to regret his decision as the number of Neo Arcadians didn't seem to be decreasing. His system was starting to overheat from his constant firing then hiding behind sand dunes while running. "I am prepared to sacrifice myself if it means that by my sacrifice I can aide others toward a world where reploids and humans can live in equality." He looked worriedly at the smaller reploid, knowing that his decision had really left them with but a single path to follow. The small reploid didn't understand what they were fighting for, and he felt bad for dragging her into a situation that might cause her destruction. He had prepared to sacrifice himself, not sacrifice others, but he saw now that the situation couldn't be helped. Whether they liked it or not, they were in a situation that could not be reversed.
"I don't want anyone to be sacrificed!" Ciel cried angrily, taking her anger out on the mindless hoard of reploids behind her. "There have been enough deaths. Why must you add your name to the list?"
"Please understand that I am just a nameless number!" he said, becoming as angry as the scientist. He wondered if his overheating system was causing him to become short-tempered. He had never felt himself become so angry before.
Ciel was about to retort when her cyber-elf suddenly shouted, "Watch out!" She turned around, only to scream as an energy bullet knocked her blaster out of her hands. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw the enemy reploids approach them quickly. She hastily knelt down in the sands, running her hands through the fine grains, attempting to recover her weapon.
"Get behind me!" the taller reploid commanded, pulling Ciel behind him and firing at the advancing reploids.
"My blaster. Where's my blaster?" Ciel asked in panic, still trying to search for her lost weapon.
"Ciel, let's keep going," the small reploid pleaded desperately, trying to pull the scientist along with her.
"Let's just make a run for it," 0NB6 said, grabbing Ciel's other arm and running. "My cheap blaster is beginning to overheat." He felt a sudden pain in his arm, and then nothing as the sensors on his arm were cut off from the rest of his body by a succession of three bullets. His arm hung limply, no longer able to hold his blaster while his mind was flooded with pain. Warnings and damage reports flashed in his mind as his body tried to force him to repair his injury. He quickly shoved those processes to the back of the line, concentrating on getting Ciel and the other reploid out of the situation safely.
Ciel screamed as the three bullets flew past her, releasing the reploid's hold on his weapon. She saw his injured right arm, and quickly picked up his weapon, firing it in his stead.
"We can't run like this!" she shouted, continuously firing, the weapon growing warmer and warmer in her hands. "We can't run without expecting to get injured."
"You can't destroy them all with just a blaster!" 0NB6 shouted back, using his other arm to try to pull her away.
"Take 0NB9 and Passy and get out of here," she instructed him, beads of sweat forming on her head as the weapon began to feel hot in her gloved hands. "They can't harm a human. They're programmed not to harm humans," she said, half to reassure herself, half to convince him.
"They don't look like they're holding back to me!"
"Ciel, just run a little farther," her cyber-elf said, hovering a little distance away from them. "I think I see some sort of ditch. If you're going to go out fighting, you might as well do it from a reasonably safe covering. You'll have a greater chance of destroying more units that way."
"Fine," she nodded, immediately turning around and grabbing the two reploids, forcing them to run with her. The cyber-elf flew in a zigzagged line, trying to draw the enemies' attention. The three saw the ditch that the cyber-elf had mentioned, and quickly jumped into it. Ciel stuck her head out, firing at the approaching Neo Arcadians. She suddenly dropped the blaster into the ditch.
"You're right, that blaster is cheap," she said, blowing on her quivering hands. How could they win? The odds were too much against them. Even if she managed to make every single one of her shots count, even if she ignored the pain the heat was causing her, she wouldn't be able to destroy every single reploid that was chasing them. She looked at 0NB6. He grinned at her, knowing they were done for. The cyber-elf flew into the ditch, rejoining them.
"What are you doing? If you don't destroy them before they come here, then we'll all be dead meat," Passy chided.
"The only one made of meat here is Dr. Ciel, and I think she'd be the last one to become dead meat," 0NB6 joked as bullets landed in the sand above him, showering the group with sand.
"That's not funny!" the small reploid shouted, silencing the group. "We're about to die, and all you grown-ups can do is joke around?" She looked furiously at the others, appearing as if she were about to cry. She stomped to the blaster and picked it up.
"What are you—" Ciel and the other reploid started, but she cut them off.
"If you're not going to do anything, then I will," the little girl shouted. She held the blaster with both of her hands, and fired at the ground.
"Uh…the enemy is up there," 0NB6 said uncertainly. The other reploid looked back at him defiantly. Suddenly, they felt the ground shake, and a moment later, the ground collapsed, hurling the group towards a deeper hole. Ciel screamed, the sudden fall taking her by surprise before she landed in a pile of sand. The cyber-elf darted into the pile of sand she had landed on, hiding her bright light from the sight of pursuers. The group tried to be quiet as they saw Neo Arcadians above them, standing at the edge of the ditch, searching for them. The Neo Arcadians them moved on, walking around the small opening, not noticing their prey deep in the hole below.
Ciel let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, smiling weakly at the others. Somehow, they had managed to cheat death, and she hoped that luck would last with them for a while longer.
"See? If you had been paying attention to your surroundings instead of joking around, you would have noticed that we were on sand rock," the little reploid coughed, trying to get the sand out of her vocal system.
"Sand rock?" the other reploid asked, retrieving his blaster from under a pile of sand.
"You know, the little rocks made of sand that you can crush if you push real hard?" the child said as if it were common knowledge.
"How did you know that was what you were standing on?" the cyber-elf asked, coming out of hiding. It shook itself a little to get rid of stray grains.
"There were lots of big sand rocks lying around, so I guessed that maybe we were on a really big sand rock," the little girl said, brushing her skirt to free it of sand. "And I was right."
"Yes, you were," Ciel said, shaking her head. "We sure are lucky to have you around. You're like a safety blanket, you know?" Ciel muffled her laughter, afraid to let the reploids above hear her. "I'm beginning to feel that as long as I have you around, everything will turn out all right." The small reploid smiled shyly in response. "I'm glad we're all safe," she said, feeling tears beginning to form at the corner of her eyes. "Just a little more, and we would all have been killed."
"I thought you said reploids are programmed not to harm humans?" 0NB6 asked, reminding her of her foolish behavior.
"Well, those reploids certainly weren't given that program!" she said defensively, huffing a little. "And what about you? 'I'm just a nameless number to be sacrificed.' You stupid!" she said, hitting him in the arm.
"Ow!" he gasped as she knocked the useless arm, hitting the still active sensor in his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry! I forgot," Ciel said apologetically, quickly going to his side to check on his arm. "Passy, would you mind giving me some light?" The cyber-elf immediately hovered over the two of them, watching the scientist examine the arm carefully.
"The nanobots should have fixed it by now," Ciel said, moving the arm carefully. "See? The hole the bullets made has been fixed already, but the arm still isn't functioning."
"I think the power supply that leads to that arm has been cut off," he said, finally having the chance to go over the damage reports that his system had been urging him to see.
"That's bad. If we don't reconnect the power supply soon, then the nanobots in your arm will be permanently destroyed," Ciel said, frowning. "That means you'll never be able to use this arm again."
"Unless I get someone to fix the movement mechanism in the arm," the reploid said, shrugging. "Or get a fresh supply of nanobots after reconnecting the power supply."
"Both of those options are going to be impossible if we ever get out of this ditch," Ciel said, sitting down across from him. "The tools required... Not to mention how expensive nanobots are. How are we going to get a hold of those things? We're basically on the run now."
"Ciel, you can use me," the cyber-elf said, hovering near its master. Ciel bit her lip.
"That means that you'll die, so thanks, but no thanks," the reploid said, leaning against the sandy wall. "I'd rather have a useless arm than an arm gained through another's sacrifice."
"Are you being a martyr again?" Ciel teased.
"Think whatever you want."
"Hmph! Well, since you give such little value to your life because of a lack of a name, then I shall name you," Ciel said pompously, sitting up straight. "0NB6. I hereby dub you 'Dande' of the Dandelions."
"Dandelions? Why am I 'of the Dandelions?'" he asked, amused.
"Because you're a weed."
"What!"
"Ciel, name me too!" 0NB9 said excitedly, sitting closer to Ciel.
"Hmm… Yours is more difficult," Ciel said, fishing in her mind for a good name. She wanted a perfect name for the little reploid, one that would capture the spirit that was in the child. "Alouette. Your name is Alouette."
"Alouette?" the small reploid asked, trying the name out.
"It means 'lark.' You see, my name means 'sky,' so together, we'll make 'skylark,'" Ciel explained, smiling at the reploid. "So you'd better stay by my side."
"Okay!" Alouette said happily, smiling broadly. The small reploid then turned to the taller reploid, chattering away at first about their new names, then about anything underneath the heavens. Ciel only looked fondly at the two reploids, hoping her wishes carried in their names would come true.
She hoped that the taller reploid would be able to survive the world that they were about to enter. She hoped that he would persist like a dandelion, not fearing what happened to itself, sending seeds everywhere so that it would always persist, always survive, no matter what. She hoped that he would be able to survive as well as the dandelion.
And for the little girl, she wished to give her a pair of wings so that the reploid could fly her way to freedom if all else should fail. She wanted all the reploids to be able to survive and find the freedom they so deserved. Even if they couldn't have it now, she hoped that one day, someone would be able to give the reploids justice.
With those thoughts, she fell into a light doze, waiting for the Neo Arcadians to leave the premises, and for the long awaited dawn to arrive.