Bit awoke in the dead of night to the distinct feeling of unease.
He shot up in bed, chest tight and a skin clammy with a cold, anxious sweat. Not a feeling he was used to. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.
A distinct and familiar inward pull; he reflexively glanced towards the hangar. As his head cleared, he could tell that these feelings originated from the Liger. But unlike the distinct impressions it usually provided, these were - put nicely, a mess. It wasn't unlike straining to listen with one ear while being screamed at in the other. It both hurt, and he couldn't make sense of it.
"Liger, bud…"
More of the same.
The severe discomfort compelled Bit out of bed, where he quickly threw on pants and a shirt before stumbling down the hall. The closer he drew to the hangar, the more clear the conflicted impression became: the Liger wanted to attack, to belt an angry, defensive roar, but the Liger was also very aware that this was likely overkill, would likely wake everyone, and likely bring them running, which it didn't want, because...
~Bit. Come quickly. Be quiet.~
The hair stood up on the blonde's neck. He instantly recognized that this voice was the Liger's , but he'd never before heard it with such clarity. Only in dreams… and in grueling moments of combat, when he thought he'd imagined it. Clearly it wasn't his imagination. Unless this was some kind of dream...
~Bit.~ More urgently.
The Zoid's near-palpable anxiety gave Bit heartburn. Not a dream.
The young man grimaced as he peered into the dark hangar. Only a few cool, dim perimeter-security lights were on. The other Zoids were still and in their proper bays, seemingly asleep.
Not his. Of course not his. In one corner the Liger Zero stood tense, bowed forward, forepaws out in front of it. It resembled an over-large cat that'd caught a mouse. To complete the picture its tail erratically twitched and lashed. Bit recognized the motion for what it was: serious agitation.
"Liger," He whispered, quickly crossing the cold floor. "What's-"
Beneath the Liger Zero's foreclaws was what looked to be a small Zoid. A very small Zoid. But small was relative; it was still larger than Bit, and every angle he could see through the Liger's cage of claws was sharp.
Bit froze. The Liger Zero was pinning down an Organoid.
He mainly knew that's what it was, because that's what the Liger mentally tagged it as. Bit had heard about Organoids before, just as most children on Zi had - in the context of fantastical stories. In everyday life they were an occasional branding concept and a neat word for things. They weren't supposed to be real.
The rough-looking creature's red head was poking out from between the Liger's massive claws. It had emerald-green optics, with which it glanced at Bit without interest - then looked straight back at the Liger. It was hissing audibly, and Bit could tell it was speaking. He just didn't understand a word of it.
The Liger seemed to though. Bit surged with the Zoid's conflicted anxiety again. At this distance the intensity was excruciating. A deep fear, a strong need to destroy and banish this clearly evil thing, but also deep sadness and longing and-
"Li-ger," Bit said again, now through his teeth, looking up at the Zoid in pained exasperation. What exactly was he supposed to do?
The Organoid gaped its jaws and made a sound not unlike laughter. With a flash of red it vanished from beneath the Liger Zero's claws, leaving a very surprised and angry Liger with nothing and Bit-
Bit glanced and the Organoid was standing beside him. That lasted all of a half-second before the Liger Zero exploded into a roar. A charged laser-claw crashed down in a swat mere feet from Bit's side, slapping the Organoid away. The blonde yelped and staggered back from the heated swath of air, watching the Organoid vanish again mid-tumble.
Bit regained his balance and blinked. It could... teleport? Okay. Cool.
Not cool.
He looked around in a panic, finding himself abruptly shepherded beneath the Liger. It crouched low above him; growling. In the otherwise dead-silence of the night, he could hear its soft inner workings, and its equivalent of a quick pulse.
Nothing.
Bit turned a full, frantic circle. Was it gone?
Okay, so he knew it was an Organoid but- what the fuck? Why was it here? What was-
Bad bad bad dangerous bad bad bad - he distinctly understood the Liger's sentiment; but it also spoke, seeming upset. With… itself?
~What is bad? He said he needs our help-~ BAD
Bit honestly couldn't tell if he was supposed to be concerned or terrified, and felt like his eyes were going to permanently cross with the way the Liger kept bickering. He pointedly walked to one of the Zoid's legs and placed a firm hand on it, somehow understanding that's what it needed. Contact.
His voice shook. "Bud. C'mon. What's going on?"
The Liger calmed slowly into silence, and glanced around. Then looked at Bit upside-down. ~I do not know.~
Bit didn't know why, but he somehow expected the Liger to have a better handle on the situation. This was before realizing that the Zoid had an equal expectation that he would know what to do.
Great.
"Is- was that actually an Organoid?"
~Yes.~
"Is it dangerous?"
~I...~
There once more came that red flicker, and Bit snapped his gaze around, expecting to see the Organoid again. Instead, exactly nothing knocked the wind out of him and he dropped to his knees, gagging in shock as the Liger shrieked and bounded off across the hangar. The other Zoids woke to peer at this abrupt commotion with varying levels of concern.
There certainly wasn't any disagreement now: the Liger Zero reflected absolute indignation and rage, roaring and bucking around while its pilot choked for breath. Bit felt bile rising and really wasn't in a place to stop it; he violently retched, realizing a dim moment later that Liger was in similar throes.
There was a truly nasty series of sounds, followed by a lot of wet and metal and hitting the ground.
Bit wiped his face and stood, abruptly feeling a lot better and wondering-
Yep. It was the Organoid. Lying on its back, its body oddly, symmetrically split along panel lines, with a multitude of protruding wires laying limp, every which-way. It looked like it'd been knocked out.
The floor was slick with Zoid fluids, which still dripped from the Liger's undercarriage in thick, gooey ropes. Bit made a face at the mess, but quickly met his Zoid's gaze with concern. "You okay?"
~I am fine.~ The Liger sounded disgusted, and glanced at the creature on the ground. ~The nerve.~
Leon's Blade Liger stalked from its bay to carefully regard the Organoid. The Liger Zero shook off, reset its paneling and and joined the Blade Liger. Bit listened to the Zoids rumble to one another, as Zoids often did.
He neared the two, looking down between their massive fanged snouts at the strange creature. Bit thought that the Organoid, strangely, looked a little less awful than it had a few minutes earlier. But between his own coursing adrenaline and bewilderment, he was hesitant to be sure of anything at the moment. His innate mechanic once-over told him one thing, though: besides seeming to share the same base materials, this 'Organoid' looked wholly alien and like no machine or Zoid Bit knew of. It was both really interesting and sort-of terrifying, because he wanted to touch but-
"Bit, what the hell?!"
Bit glanced.
It was grumpy Leon in only boxers, and grumpy Leon in only boxers wasn't pleased to see any of the things he saw. Least of all, his Zoid involved.
"No Leon, look! There's-" Bit heard a scraping and saw that telltale flicker of red. His mind registered what'd happened before his eyes did, and sure enough by the time he looked back, the Organoid was gone.
His eyelid twitched. "There… was… an Organoid. Maybe it'll come back."
"Bit. You are dreaming. It is 2 in the morning." The young Toros set his jaw irritably, eyeing the mess. "Whatever you think you're doing, please... stop. Shut the Liger up and go back to-"
The red Blade Liger chuffed at its pilot. Leon, automatically receptive, had his eyes unfocus a little … and he suddenly blinked a lot more awake. His gaze snapped up at his Blade Liger in confusion. Then dumbfounded, down back to Bit.
"What the fuck?" Were the next words out of Leon's mouth.
The blonde broadly shrugged.
Vega walked silently down the cold corridor.
He hated this base.
He hated the forest, he hated the humidity, he hated that his quarters here were but a pale facsimile of his old room. He hated that this base's food sucked, he hated that Backdraft's operations - including its internal supply lines - had been severely disrupted for months, causing said food to suck.
He hated being hungry all the time - not for lack of eating, but because he'd somehow become tied what seemed to be every negative experience of the other pilot that Fury had chosen. He hated that he didn't know how far that particular issue went - it had a lot of really concerning implications. He hated that he couldn't tell Sara, because he knew she'd react poorly. He hated Brad for simply existing and being in the Fury's good graces, because the Berserk Fury was his.
He hated feeling alone like this.
~Vega. You are not alone. You are my friend. He is not.~
Reassuring, but still frustrating. The sense that the Fury was holding him at an arm's length was pervasive.
~I do not wish to hurt you any more than I already have.~ Plaintive. Apologetic.
Vega stopped. There arrived the searing pain in his head he'd quickly learned to ignore - but even brief considerations would immediately bring it back. The Fury had indeed hurt him, terribly. Permanently. But it hadn't meant to.
Vega could easily tell that the Fury craved a greater intimacy, and felt bad for his resentment. But it existed nonetheless.
The child stepped out into the Fury's hangar, ducking under several scaffolds to come around to the front of the beast. Various Backdraft mechanics were refitting and installing the Berserk Fury's armor; they threw Vega brief salutes as they noticed him, and he nodded acknowledgement.
It'd be impossible for him to effectively describe the scintillating delight that was to be in the presence of his Zoid. A sense of mastery, a sense of calm, a sense of invulnerability and safety and everything one could ever want. His bones, his teeth, everything in him ached to be closer; this was despite the fact he walked the constant tightrope of a migraine, always wanting to surrender wholly to the thing but, quite frankly, knowing better.
He leaned onto one of the Fury's massive talons, dropping his forehead to the cold metal.
Fury. Does Bit matter?
~Nothing truly matters. Only we create meaning.~
Vega wasn't prepared for that response in the slightest, and blinked several times.
What do you mean?
~We answer to no one, Vega. What we say is what is. We will seize our fates together. Nothing will stop us.~
The tightrope act became difficult in light of such statements. Vega's breath caught with unbidden excitement.
But he felt a huge lump in his throat again and quieted. Do... we really have to kill Bit? He-he was just-
~He and the Liger are one in the same. All must be destroyed.~
It clearly wasn't open for discussion. Vega bowed his head further, but looked up after a moment.
Are... we one in the same?
The Zoid turned its head slightly, thoughtfully, causing the various mechanics to freeze in place. Those in eyeshot looked to Vega for the OK, and he gave them a vague, affirmative nod. The Berserk Fury didn't respond for quite some time. Then:
~We will be.~