Chapter Seven: Reploid Reassignment

Alia sat at her console, head propped on one hand, while the index finger of the other hand tapped idly. It had been several days since her date at the park with Max, and she was still suffering from a myriad of thoughts and emotions around the discovery of his humanity. In hindsight, she could see the signs that he wasn't a Reploid; his comparatively slower reaction time, endurance, strength. "Why didn't I see it sooner?" she lamented to herself.

"ALIA!"

"Wh-What?" she stammered, snapping out of her reverie to umute her comm. "What is it, X?"

"Would you please stop tapping the 'connect' button! My right audio receptor's starting to ring!"

She looked down and, sure enough, her finger had been absently tapping the 'connect' button. "I'm sorry, X! I was thinking about something else, and…"

"Max?"

"Y-Yeah…"

A noticeable pause. "Look, I'm sorry about how things turned out with your friend, but I really need you with me right now."

"I-I'm sorry, X," she said trying to pull herself together, as she reexamined the information on her console. "According to our data, you're, uh, in pursuit of Doppel Hound; he can create temporary duplicates of himself, but his doubles are not a powerful as he is. I…" she trailed off as an image of Max's smiling face suddenly intruded.

"Come on, Alia; I need you here."

"I-I would recommend using the Stealth Shot; its three way fire would allow you to hit multiple targets, qu-quickly taking out any duplicates."

"I was thinking the same thing." Another longish pause. "Thanks, Alia; good work. Going silent."

"G-Good luck, X," she managed as she fought to push aside the image of her boyf-of Max. "Alia out."

"You doing okay?" Alia looked up to find Palette, with concern in her eyes, standing next to her chair. "Axl just cleared his area, so I thought I'd check on you."

The senior navigator brushed a stray lock from her forehead. "I thought getting back to work would help me take my mind off him, but…"

"It's not helping?" Alia looked to her other side, where Layer stood watching her with a sympathetic expression.

"No," she replied with a shake of her head, more to try to clear it than anything. "It's so weird, though; we haven't known each other for very long, but we…connected so quickly."

"Well, you're both into researching," Layer suggested. "Maybe that's it?"

"I've thought about that," Alia replied, "and I think that's part of it, but…not all of it. I mean, I liked Gate, but… there's more to Max than that."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Palette chirped as she started to fidget. "You told us that he asked you to be his partner, right?"

"Close enough, I think," Alia acknowledged.

"What if what makes him special is that he wants you as a partner in his life rather than someone who just cooks and cleans?"

"I don't understand."

"I think I do," Layer said. "Most of the time, a man will beg a woman to 'date him', or whatever word or phrase they're most comfortable with; in other words, he asks her to let him into her world. Max did the opposite; he invited you into his world. Even though you're both into research, he invited you to join him on his search for truth as someone at his side as opposed to someone who just performs that tasks that he wouldn't be able to do due to his time spent studying."

"Wow…" Palette breathed, her eyes wider than their usual. "That's pretty deep, Layer."

"It's…just a theory," the tall navigator admitted while ducking her head with a tint to her cheeks.

"It does sound like him, though," Alia mused. "But that doesn't change the fact that he's human."

"Wait!" Palette exclaimed. "If he sees you as his equal, maybe he won't break up with you!"

"I don't know," Alia said as she absently ran her fingers through her golden lengths several times. "I haven't heard from him since he brought me home from the park…"

"Maybe…Maybe he's just embarrassed," Palette suggested. "You did tell us that he called himself some pretty bad words for not catching on to what you are."

"You're really worried about this, aren't you?" Layer noted.

"Well, yeah!" the short navigator exclaimed as she stomped her foot. "I've never seen Alia so happy before, and I want her to be happy all the time!"

"Thank you," Alia replied as she laid a hand on her friend's arm. Just then, the 'return' light on her console began flashing, indicating X's arrival back at Maverick Hunter HQ. At the same time, her comm cheeped and she tapped the 'connect' button. "Alia here."

"Navigator," Signas' voice sounded through her headset. "Please come to my office immediately."

"Is something wrong, Commander?" she asked while showing her friends a nervous expression.

"Yes and no. Please come to my office immediately. If your co-navigators are there, tell them to come as well."

"Y-Yes, sir, they're here and I'll let them know." Alia signed off, then removed her headset. "Commander Signas wants us in his office, immediately."

"Did he say why?" Layer inquired.

The blonde navigator shook her head. "He just told me to come to his office and have you two come with me."

"Then we'd better not keep him waiting," Palette said anxiously. "I hope we're not in trouble."

The women were quiet as they made their way toward their boss' office. They'd been called many times for briefings and debriefings, but the timing of the call seemed…suspicious.

As they entered the office, they saw that X, Zero, and Axl were all there as well. To their surprise, Shortwave was there, too. "H-Hi," she squeaked while giving them a small, awkward wave.

"Is everyone here?" Signas asked as he rose from his seat behind his desk and moved to stand before it.

"Maverick Hunters X, Zero, and Axl reporting 'present'," X declared as the three of them saluted.

"N-Navigators Alia, Layer, and Palette reporting 'present'," Alia declared as the three of them saluted. All of them then dropped their salutes as everyone looked to the diminutive receptionist, who shrank under their collective gaze.

"R-R-Receptionist Shortwave r-reporting 'present'?" she squeaked as she finally managed a salute. "Oh, Commander, am I in trouble? I'm really sorry."

"No one is up for a reprimand," the tall reploid intoned. "You are all here because I need to inform you of a temporary change of personnel."

The seven of them exchanged glances. "Understood, sir," X replied for the group. "What are your new orders?"

"Only two of you are being reassigned," Signas told them, "but I wanted all of you to know since it will likely affect office relations." He paused a moment to let his words sink in before continuing. "Navigator Alia."

"Sir!" she said, snapping to attention.

"You are hereby relieved of duty, immediately and indefinitely."

"S-Sir?" she said, her posture faltering.

"You performance has been…lacking as of late. Rechecking our logs, I find that you have not taken any kind of leave since the Eurasia incident."

"B-But sir-"

Signas stopped her with a hand. "This is not open for discussion. You are relieved of duty, and Receptionist Shortwave will be substituting for you in the interim."

"M-Me?" the short, redheaded reploid squeaked. "I-I mean; me, sir?"

"That is correct," Signas replied. "You will train with Navigators Layer and Palette for the remainder of your shift in preparation to take Navigator Alia's position as X's navigator, starting tomorrow."

"B-But I couldn't do that!" Shortwave protested while casting anxious glances at the veteran maverick hunter.

Signas drew himself up to his full height. "That was an order, not an offer," he declared.

"Y-Yes, sir," she stammered as she started to tremble, shifting her anxious glances to Alia.

"All of you will support her efforts to the best of your ability," Signas said. "X, I expect you to be gracious to your new navigator as she learns her new responsibilities."

"I'll take care of her, sir," X said, then flinched as he heard a gasp from his new navigator.

"Dismissed," Signas said, then turned to head back behind his desk as the group started to leave. "Navigator Alia; please stay behind."

"We'll be outside," Palette said reassuringly as she and Layer left the room, closing the door behind them.

Alia approached Signas' desk somewhat cautiously. "Y-Yes, sir?"

The Maverick Hunter commander gestured to the seats in front of his desk. "Please, sit."

"Th-Thank you, sir," she replied as she settled into one of the large swivel chairs. "What can I do for you?"

Signas' expression grew surprisingly gentle. "How are you doing, Alia?"

She blinked; Signas rarely used her name absent her title, so… "To be honest, sir; I'm a mess right now," she answered while looking down at her clasped hands.

"Why is that?"

"Well, when Max and I went to the amusement park a few days ago, I found out that he's…" she tried to suppress the memory and, by extension, the emotions that went with it. "…he's a human."

"Indeed?" he said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his desk. "And what clued you in to this?"

Alia really didn't want to relive that particular memory, but… "He…told me after I asked him."

"And what prompted you ask such an odd question?"

She couldn't stop the optical lubricant from escaping their ducts. "He…kissed me on the cheek, and…I could feel his heartbeat."

"And how did you know that it was a heartbeat? The next generation of reploids have-"

"It's not just that!" she exclaimed, forgetting that she was talking to her superior. "He tired too quickly while fighting Seismic Sloth, his reflexes are slower than the average reploid…" she trailed off with a puzzled gaze. "Sir, why are you asking me about this? Are you saying that you didn't know he was human?" He simply gazed at her, and she realized that he would have had to have known. "Sir…why didn't you tell me?"

He steepled his fingers. "My involvement with all of you is at a professional level; that precludes becoming involved in your personal lives. That being said, I am not unaware of my subordinates' feelings toward one another; we are very much like a family, though not."

"What does Max have to do with this?"

Signas leaned back in his seat. "As you know, I have one of the most advanced processors of my generation; this allows me to nearly predict what will happen in the near future."

"Yes sir, I know about that. But why are you telling me this now?"

"To give you context for what I am about to say." He rose from his seat and headed to the window behind his desk and looked out. "I have good reason to believe that your relationship with Max will be the next step of reploid evolution."

She was on her feet in an instant. "What do you mean?" she demanded. "I don't even know if he wants to have anything to do with me, and you're saying…?"

"I cannot say with certainty, of course," he admitted, "but your situation presents a unique opportunity for Reploidkind. What Sigma tried to do for years may be accomplished by the two of you in less than half the time."

"What do you mean?"

The commander turned to face her again. "Sigma tried to advance reploids by instigating conflict, particularly between human and reploids. What is needed, however, is communion and cooperation between us, like we had in the beginning." He circled his desk to stand before his former subordinate. "Take whatever time you need to reconcile with Max. While I do not wish to coerce you into a relationship with him, I do believe that such a relationship would be good for both of you, and for humankind and Reploidkind as well."

"He really said that?" Palette said in disbelief as the two navigators plus Alia headed toward their quarters. "Wow…"

"I've never known the commander to talk like that," Layer agreed. "But…what he said makes sense."

"Well, now all you have to do is get Max to fall in love with you again!" the short reploid chirped while flashing a 'victory' sign.

"Yeah," Alia mumbled, casting her gaze to the ground before them.

"Perhaps we could visit that clothier," Layer suggested. "She knows a bit about Max, doesn't she? Perhaps she would be willing to provide some insights."

"Hey, that's right!" Palette piped up. "And while we're at it, we can get some cute clothes!"

The navigator's excitement was contagious, and Alia found herself smiling. "Sure. Let's go."

"We'll meet up with you after work," Layer said. "Perhaps you should rest a bit before then; you've had a rough day."

"All right," Alia said as they parted. "See you later."

Tiny bells tinkled as the girls entered the clothing shop, and Alia looked up to see a cluster of small bells attached to the doorway in such a way that the opening door would hit it, causing them to ring.

"Welcome!" a semi-familiar voice called out. "Ah, welcome back, young lady!"

"Thank you, ma'am," Alia replied meekly.

"And are these your friends?" the shop owner gushed as she approached the trio.

"I'm Palette!" the shorter of the two chirped as she hopped to stand before the older woman. "Nice to meet you!"

"My name is Layer, and it's a pleasure to meet you as well," the taller reploid greeted.

"Well, I'm Ginny, and it's a pleasure to meet you both as well," she said with a smile as she turned to Alia. "Well, are you here for another outfit? I've been working to find some that would suit you nicely."

"I…I'm…"

Layer laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Miss Ginny, we need your help. Alia hasn't seen Max for almost a week since a rather…unfortunate…date at the park."

"What happened?' Ginny asked as she ducked down to get a better look at Alia's expression. "He didn't do something stupid, did he?"

"NO!" Alia managed to yell before covering her mouth with both hands.

"Then what is it?"

"She found out that he's a human," Palette explained.

"And…?" Ginny asked expectantly.

Layer and Palette looked at each other. "That's it," Layer said.

To their surprise, the older woman looked amused. "And you didn't know that, then?"

"N-No, ma'am," Alia admitted.

Ginny's expression turned from amusement to sympathy. "Oh, you poor dear. That must have been awkward."

"We're hoping you could give us some insights as to how she can win back Max's favor," Layer explained.

"'Win back'?"

"Humans and reploids don't usually get in…intimate relationships," Layer informed her. "Or rather, when they do it typically doesn't end well."

"Now you listen to your Aunt Ginny," the older woman said gently as she put her arm around Alia. "There's one thing you need to know about Max; he doesn't see 'humans' or' Reploids'…he sees 'people'."

Alia's eyes snapped to hers with a hopeful look. "You really think so?"

"I know so, dear," she said comfortingly. "Most likely, he'll show up at your work in some dramatic fashion to ask you to forgive him or something like that."

"O-Okay…" Alia said, not sure what to make of her words.

"Now," Ginny said, releasing her charge, "can I help any of you with a new outfit?"

"Actually, maybe you could help Layer out!" Palette chirped, laying her hands on the taller reploid's arm as though to present her. "She's been trying to get Zero's attention for a really long time, but she's too shy to approach him directly."

"Palette!" Layer hissed.

"Oh, so you're hoping to get his attention, are you?" Ginny said with a sly grin.

"Y-Yes…ma'am," Layer replied hesitantly.

"Do you know what he likes in a girl?" Ginny asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"What he likes in a girl," she repeated. "All men like certain things about girls, but the trick is that they each have their own particular tastes."

"So what do I do?" Layer asked.

"Well, you find out what this Zero fellow prefers in his companions, and you try to accentuate that in yourself…provided you have that quality to begin with. For example; In terms of appearance, Max prefers more evenly-proportioned women, not too big in any one area."

"H-How do you know this, ma'am?" Alia asked as she self-consciously crossed her arms over her chest.

Ginny's disposition sobered noticeably. "He would always bring girls to me," she said. "I think he thought of me as his second mother."

"So why didn't his relationships last?"

"They just weren't a match," Ginny replied with a shrug. "They were all nice-enough girls, but they would end up either jealous of the attention he gave his research, or they wanted him to spend money on them."

"Like he did with me," Alia lamented. "Now I feel bad for him spending money on me."

"Now, don't be like that," the older woman scolded gently as she put her arm around the young reploid again. "I doubt he has any regrets in buying that lovely outfit for you; he believes in investing in things and people he values."

"So he valued me…"

"Values," Ginny emphasized. "You still don't know that he's done with you, and I think you'll be seeing him again, very soon. As for you, young lady," she said, waggling a finger at Layer, "find out what your young man likes; colors, styles, body types, anything you can find out and you come back to me, and we'll make you more irresistible than you already are."

"I…will keep that in mind, ma'am. Thank you."

"You're quite welcome, dear," Ginny said with a kind smile. "One thing I will say off the top of my head is: let him see your eyes. My husband would say they are the windows to the soul, revealing who we really are."

"I…will keep that in mind, ma'am," Layer repeated. "Thank you."

In the end, Alia ended up buying a new outfit, a sky-blue dress that covered her from neck to ankles, as well as to her wrists.

Layer, on the other hand, came away with a plan…