Chapter Twelve: The Reveal
Layer tried to ignore the gazes sent her way as she made her way to the Rec Room. She was still getting used to her new proportions, so she was taking more care than usual in how she carried herself.
As she entered the Rec Room, she reached up and ran her fingers through her new hair; it was longer and fuller than she was used to, but she found the soft brown color that spilled between her fingers oddly comforting. She felt something nearly fall off her head and quickly scrambled to grab the beret that fell into her open hands. She paused, examining the all-red garment held in white-gloved hands. "So different…" she mused again in a still-unfamiliar voice, then quickly caught herself as she passed through the doors into the otherwise empty room. She immediately moved to a seat opposite the entrance, a short couch, and settled in to wait. She knew that Zero always started his day by stopping by the Rec Room to drink tea before heading to the Combat Room to train.
She knotted her white-gloved fingers nervously as she waited; ultimately, she didn't know how he would react to seeing her in her new body, but she hoped that it would make him happy that she thought of him. In fact, she was betting that he would…literally, almost; she had used three of her future upgrades in the hopes that he would accept her, after all.
She nearly jumped out of her seat as the door opened, revealing her crush. "G-Good morning, Zero," she managed to say.
The maverick hunter froze mid-step in response to an old yet familiar voice, blocking X's and Axl's progress into the room. His head turned mechanically toward her with his eyes nearly the size of saucers. "Wh-What…?"
"Hey, Zero!" Axl protested. "You're blocking traffic! Move!"
"Oh, no…" X breathed as he caught sight of the room's occupant.
Layer slowly rose from her seat and bowed slightly before hesitantly approaching the red-clad hunter. "I-I h-hope the morning finds you well," she said as she carefully reached out toward him, intending to rest an encouraging hand on his arm.
Zero's eyes widened as long-suppressed memories started to return...
"Don't go, Zero! Don't fight him!"
"Zero, please don't fight with my brother…"
"Let's live in a world where only reploids exist…"
"Forgive me, Zero!"
The maverick hunter drew a shuddering breath as he started to tremble…
Alia's eyes opened to the familiar view of her quarters from inside her recharging pod. The steady thrumming of her reactor sounded in her audio receptors until her sound suppression subroutines initiated, filtering out the ambient noise.
The glass door on her recharging pod slid open, and she smiled to herself as she stepped out into her otherwise unoccupied room, ready to start her day. She had booted an hour earlier than usual because her husband would be stopping by on his way to work. She was still annoyed that they still weren't living together, but she understood that humans had needs that didn't apply to reploids, and that until her situation with Maverick Hunter Headquarters was worked out they would need to continue to live separately.
Her smiled broadened at a *chirp* at the door, and she hurried over to slap the control button, revealing her very special someone. "Good morning, David!" she squealed as she threw herself into his arms.
"Good morning," he chuckled as he squeezed his bride. "Man, it feels so good to have someone looking forward to seeing me."
"Same here," he cooed as she released him, taking his hand to lead him into her quarters. "Can I make you some tea?"
"Yes, please," he replied, placing a kiss on her cheek.
"Then go ahead and sit anywhere and I'll be out in a few minutes," she replied, releasing his hand to head into the small kitchen.
He watched his wife – her bodysuit-clad bottom, specifically – as she left the room, and shook his head with an expression of wonder. "Dave, you're one lucky guy," he murmured to himself as he settled into one end of a loveseat; he had decided that before he left for work he would make sure to give his woman some serious cuddling.
Alia came out of the kitchen a few minutes later, holding two steaming mugs. "Here you go," she said, holding out one of the mugs toward him. "You like green tea, right? Should give you a nice caffeine boost to help start your day."
"Thanks," he replied with a grin. "This is better than that crap coffee we have at work."
She settled into the seat next to him and took a sip of her tea before turning her eyes on him. "Hey, I have an idea; since I…well, don't have a job right now, could I visit you during your lunch break?"
He blinked with an annoyed expression, causing her a little worry. "Well, now I feel stupid; I don't know why I never thought of that before." His grimace faded to a warm smile. "That would be awesome, beautiful. It'd definitely break the tedium of my day. Thanks."
She blushed attractively as she ducked her head. "What time is your lunch?"
"Two to three."
She blinked, her blush starting to fade. "That's kind of late, isn't it?"
"I prefer a five-three shift," he replied easily, leaning back in the loveseat. "Makes the part after lunch seem to go more quickly."
"That makes sense," she said with a shrug. "Well, I can be there at 1:50 then, if you'd like."
"I'd very much like," he said with a smile, leaning forward to place his mug on the coffee table before them. He then carefully took her mug and placed it next to his before taking her hands in his own. She knew what was coming when he started to lean toward her, and she matched his movement, closing her eyes as their lips drew toward each other…
A sudden, loud cry nearly caused them to fall off the couch.
"What in the world was that?" Max gasped, still recovering from the shock.
Alia's eyes narrowed…then widened. "That was Commander Zero!" She shot to her feet and ran for the door. "Come on!"
"Where are we going?" he asked as he followed her out the door.
"The Rec Room!" she yelled over her shoulder. "Zero always starts his day there! I'm sure that's where he is!"
Not knowing how to respond, he simply followed her down the hallways as she ran toward the familiar gathering place.
After sprinting down several hallways, they finally arrived at the automatic doors to the Rec Room, which obligingly opened for them. They hurried inside to find Zero struggling in the grips of his two comrades-in-arms. "X, what's going on?" Alia demanded, then followed X's gaze across the room and gasped before bolting to a nearby communication panel. "Commander Signas, we have an intruder in the Recreation Room!"
"What is it, love?" Max puffed as he finally entered the room. He then saw an unfamiliar face at the other side of the room, curled up on one of the sofas. She was obviously short but taller than Shortwave, with long, brown hair and large, beautiful blue eyes. She wore a dress-like garment that covered her from her neck to her knees, blue and red with gold trim. 'Leggings' colored the same as the dress covered her legs. "Who's that?"
At that moment Zero let out a cry, managing to break free of his friends' grips and drawing his Z-Saber. "Y-You're dead!" he yelled at the stranger.
In spite of his fatigue Max suddenly moved impossibly fast, putting himself between the girl and the distraught hunter with his own blades drawn. "Mister Zero sir, please calm down! Alia, make sure she's okay!"
Without a second thought, Alia hurried over to the girl's side and plopped down next to her on the couch. "I-It's okay, sweetheart; nobody's going to hurt you." She was a little concerned about comforting an intruder, but ultimately decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Alia…" the girl whimpered. "I'm so sorry…"
Alia blinked at the use of her name. "How…How do you know my name?"
The red beret slid from her head as she turned glistening sapphire eyes on her 'savior'. "It's me, Alia… I'm…I'm Layer."
The former navigator's eyes nearly bugged out. "L-Layer?"
The door to the Rec Room slid open again, and Signas, followed by Palette and Shortwave, hustled into the room. "What's going on here?" he demanded.
"She's dead!" Zero yelled as his fellow hunters tried to subdue him again.
"Compose yourself, Hunter Commander!" Signas barked before turning his eyes on the intruder. "Wait… Y-You're supposed to be…dead…"
"YYYYAAAUUUUUGH!" Zero screamed, throwing off X and Axl and raising his Z-Saber as he dashed toward the intruder. "YOU'RE DEAD!"
"Mister Zero!" Max cried out as he brought his own blades up, crossing them to stop Zero's downswing. "Please stop!"
The blades collided in a flash of light, momentarily blinding everyone in the room. When the light faded, Alia hesitantly opened her eyes, half-expecting to see her beloved cut in half by the tortured maverick hunter's blade, only to find him on one knee with his blades still crossed above him, desperately trying to keep the Z-Saber from hitting its target.
"Alia…" Max grunted through his teeth, "…get her out of here."
"Come on," Alia said, waving the other navigators over as she took the brown-haired reploid by the hand. "Let's go."
"Wait!" Zero yelled as he drew back his blade, only to be tackled by X and Axl.
"Come on, Fruit Loops," Axl grunted as he struggled with the distraught hunter. "Let's get you somewhere where you can cool off."
"Not now, Axl," X admonished as he wrestled with one of Zero's arms. "Save the jokes for later."
"Who's joking?" Axl countered as he tried to keep the green blade away from his face.
As X and Axl dragged Zero out the door Signas approached Max, who was struggling to his feet, and extended his hand. "That was very brave of you, putting yourself in harm's way like that. Commander Zero is one of our best Hunters."
"Thanks," Max grunted as he accepted the proffered hand to pull himself to his feet. "I was starting to worry that Alia would be a widow after less than a month of marriage."
"Do you know what any of this is about?" Signas asked.
"No, sir," Max replied. Then, his eyes widened and he quickly checked his watch. "Oh, crud! I don't have time to stick around and find out, either! I've got to get to work!"
"I will have one of our drivers take you there, if you wish," the commander offered with a concerned expression. "You…do not appear to be in any condition to be walking right now."
"I appreciate it," Max puffed, still trying to catch his breath.
Signas gestured toward the exit before leading the way. "In the meantime, I shall find out what I can and, if you would be willing to stop by after work, we will put our heads together to try to come to a solution to the present problem."
"I'm not sure how I can help," Max told him as he followed while shaking out his aching arms. "But if you think I could be useful, I'll see what I can do."
"I believe you will be quite useful…though I do not mean to give you the impression that I think of you as little more than a resource."
"I didn't get that," Max replied as he followed the tall reploid to an unfamiliar section of the building. "By the way; where are we going?"
"To the vehicle depot," Signas replied. "That is where we keep our fleet of vehicles for use at a moment's notice."
"So it's a garage?"
The walking supercomputer blinked. "I…suppose you could call it that."
"I'm just messing with you, chief," Max chuckled. "You call it a 'vehicle depot' then it's a 'vehicle depot'."
"Very well," Signas replied, unsure of how to reply. Humans could certainly be unpredictable…but that was one thing the commander admired about them. "I will have Outrun, our best driver, transport you to your workplace."
"Thanks again," Max replied. "What are you planning on doing with your guest in the meantime?"
"Guest?" The question actually took Signas by surprise. "Ah. I intend to have her kept in a holding cell until we can determine whether or not she's a threat to HQ."
"Fair enough. I'll make sure to head straight here after work and see what I can do."
"Thank you," Signas replied with a short nod. "Ah, here we are." He led Max through a set of doors into a warehouse-sized room full of cars, trucks and various aircraft. "Outrun! Are you here?"
"Righthere,Commander!" A dark-skinned reploid with hair nearly the color of pitch appeared seemingly out of nowhere and saluted. "WhatcanIdoforyou?"
"I need you to transport Mr. Hannity here to his place of employment, please."
"Rightaway,Commander!" the speedy reploid replied. "Comewithme,please."
It took a moment for Max to parse the rapid syllabic sequence. "L-Lead the way, sir."
Outrun might have blinked in surprise, but it was hard to tell. "CommanderSignas,thisisahuman. Willhebeokaywithmedrivinghim?"
"Just take it easy on the turns, and he should be fine."
"'Should be'?" Max repeated as he cautiously followed the driver to a hover sedan. "Well, my insurance is current, so…"
As the car sped through the depot exit, Signas sighed heavily. "Now to tend to our guest…"
The quartet of women sat uncomfortably in Layer's quarters. None of them were quite sure what to say in light of Zero's behavior in the Rec Room.
"So…" Palette started, trying to break the silence, "I guess it didn't go the way you'd hoped, huh?"
Layer simply stared at her white-gloved, clasped hands in her lap.
"I never thought I'd ever see him act like that," Shortwave remarked, looking around at the other girls. "He's always been so…level-headed."
"Yeah…" Palette agreed in a subdued tone.
"What have I done?" Three heads looked up at the brown-haired navigator's words. "I just...I just wanted him to love me, but…" Tears started to trickle down her cheeks, dripping onto her clasped hands. "…now I'm sure he hates me."
"I'm sure he doesn't hate you," Palette said consolingly, though she didn't sound very confident. "I'm sure you just…surprised him. Once he gets over his shock and you explain everything I'm sure he'll forgive you. Right, Alia?"
All the former navigator could do was helplessly lift her hands before letting them drop into her lap. "I…I don't know. I've never seen him like this before, so… I just hope X and Axl can calm him down somehow." She found herself wishing that her husband was there; she was sure he could help them find an answer. "I'll…I'll talk to David later and see what he thinks."
"David?" Shortwave asked with a puzzled look.
"Er, Max," Alia amended. "He asked me to start calling him by his first name a while ago."
"Ah."
Everyone suddenly jumped as Layer burst into tears, loud sobs shaking her whole body. It only took a moment for the other three to respond, giving her tissues and holding her and saying whatever comforting words they could think of. Alia knew, however, that tissues and comforting words would not solve the problem, but a conversation between the distraught navigator and the grieving maverick hunter.
"…so she transferred herself into a new body, hoping it would…get Zero's attention," Alia finished as she sat before her former commander.
"I see," Signas grunted as he sat cross-armed behind his desk. "Well, it would seem that she succeeded, though not in the way she intended."
"Yes, sir."
The commander sighed once, then leaned his elbows on the desktop. "Mrs. Hannity; does Navigator Layer's new body look familiar to you?"
She thought for a moment. "No… No, it doesn't. Why?"
"Hm." Signas rose from his seat and reached across his desk to tap some buttons that Alia never knew were there. "What I am about to show you is classified information, known only to me at this time. For the time being, you are not to reveal this to anyone else; is that understood?"
"I understand," Alia replied, sitting up straighter as she unconsciously took on her more professional demeanor.
"You have, of course, heard about the Great Repliforce War," he said as he tapped more buttons on his desk.
"Of course," she replied. "I was working with Gate at the time, but it was hard to not hear about it," she explained, then blinked in surprise as she realized that she no longer had the pain around her colleague's loss like she used to.
"Indeed…" Signas grunted as he pressed a final button; a three-dimensional holographic projection appeared over his desk; that of a female reploid with long hair and wearing a beret and dress. "This…is Iris. She was the sister of Colonel of Repliforce…and Zero's operator."
"Operator?"
"That's what they were called before the term was changed to 'navigator'," he explained.
"Wait…" Alia murmured, thinking about Zero's behavior as she studied the image. "Were she and Zero…close?" The reploid commander simply nodded solemnly, and she sighed with a sympathetic expression. "No wonder he reacted the way he did. Layer…you idiot."
"Due to the…unfortunate circumstances, they were forced to fight each other on the Final Weapon satellite. I do not know all the details, but I do know that her death at his hands affected him greatly."
"I can imagine," she breathed. "Poor Zero…"
Signas tapped a few more buttons, and the image disappeared. "I would like to hold off on divulging any more information until your husband is with you. I have requested his assistance in this matter and think it best to discuss this further only when he is present."
"Then why did you tell me this much?" Alia asked.
"So you could tell him when you meet him for lunch," Signas answered simply.
"How did you-" Alia started before catching herself. "Right. I'll make sure to talk to him about this."
"Thank you."
"Well, if you don't need me for anything more, I should get going," Alia said, getting to her feet. "David's lunch is at two-o-clock, and it'll take me a while to get there."
"I could have Outrun drive you," Signas offered. "He provided transportation for your husband this morning."
Alia could literally feel the synthetic blood drain from her face. "Is…Is he okay?"
The commander gave a slight yet sympathetic smile. "Outrun reported that your husband arrived safely, yes."
"That's a relief," she breathed. "With the way the morning went, I've been worried about him. Thank you, sir; I'll check in with Outrun, then."
"Thank you again, Mrs. Hannity. I look forward to finding out what you and your husband are able to discover."
Something about the conversation caused her to pause by the door. "Commander? There's one thing I don't understand."
"What is that?"
She gave herself another moment to put her sentence together. "If you have the most advanced processors available to reploids, why do you think David could help?"
"Intuition," Signas replied immediately. "Humans have always outclassed us in this area, but your husband seems to have an even greater developed intuition than most. I believe that he will be able to see what's going on 'behind the scenes' and help come to a solution that will be of benefit to all."
"Huh." Alia mulled his words over for a moment, then grinned. "Do you mind if I tell him that, too?"
"If you think it would help," Signas replied, clearly missing the joke.
Alia shook her head, her grin resolving into a smile as she left the commander's office. From there, she headed to the elevator and took it down to the ground floor. Upon exiting, she made her way down the infrequently-used hallway to the vehicle depot.
Outrun was there to greet her. "Yourhuman-Imeanhusband-wasdeliverdtoworksafely,MissAlia," he said, snapping a salute.
"Thank you, Outrun," she said while trying to not giggle at the driver's nervous expression. "Would you be willing to take me there? I'm meeting him for lunch, and Commander Signas has asked me to relay some information to him."
"Hecontactedmeshortlybeforeyouarrived," Outrun informed her as he dropped the salute, causing her to flinch; she never could get used to how fast he moved. "Doyoumindifwetakethefastestcar? Nodisrespectintended,butdrivingyourhusbandtoworkwas…boring."
Alia laughed out loud at her coworker's situation. "I can imagine. Yes, that would be great; the sooner I can see David, the better."
"Rightthisway,then," he said before moving to the appropriate vehicle. Fortunately, she was able to follow him thanks to his trail of afterimages. Why they never made him a Maverick Hunter she'd probably never know.
She settled into the back seat of the car as he performed a quick check of the vehicle. Three seconds later, he carefully got into the driver's seat and they started off.
"What'sitlikebeingmarriedtoahuman?" he asked as they headed out of the depot doors.
"Huh? A human?" She hadn't expected that particular question. "I...guess I don't think about it much, really. I mean, I know my husband's a human, but…" She shrugged, even though she knew her driver wouldn't be able to see the gesture. "…I guess I think like David; I don't see humans or reploids, I just see people. At least, I see them that way now."
"We'vearrived,MissAlia."
She blinked in surprise before looking out her window. Sure enough, they were stopped outside of the company where Max worked, and she smiled with a shake of her head. "Thanks for the ride, Outrun. Will you be able to pick me up in an hour or should I make other arrangements?"
"I'llbehere."
"Thanks," she said as she got out of the car. "See you in about an hour, then."
"Enjoyyourtimewithyourhusband," he said through the passenger-side window before the car disappeared in a blur.
She stood there for a moment longer, shaking her head at the sight. "We have all kinds at HQ, don't we?" After one final glance in the direction where Outrun had zoomed off, she headed into the building. Just inside was a large desk where a young blonde woman sat filing her nails. "Hello, I'm here to see David Hannity."
The girl glanced up from her 'work' before setting the emery board aside. "Is he expecting you? Do you have an appointment?"
"I-" Alia was at a momentary loss for words. "I don't… Would it help if told you I'm his wife?"
The receptionist gave her a dubious look. "He's cute, but not that cute. Hang on," she said as she reached for her phone, putting it to her ear as she pushed a few buttons. After a moment, she spoke again: "Mr. Hannity? Someone who claims to be your wife is here. Long blonde hair, blue eyes…" her gaze flicked to her guest's chest. "…nice assets…"
Alia inwardly cringed, wondering what kind of people her husband worked with.
She regained her composure in time for the receptionist to hang up the phone. "He'll be down in a few," she informed Alia before picking up her board and filing her nails again. "You can have a seat while you wait."
"Um, thanks," Alia replied, then headed over toward the rows of seat while mentally shaking her head. "I'll never understand human businesses…"
A few minutes later a set of doors opened on the other side of the waiting room, and Max exited. "Hey, beautiful! Sorry to keep you waiting."
Alia hopped to her feet and excitedly hurried over to her husband. "It's okay. I got here a lot sooner than I thought I would."
"Mr. Outrun?"
She nodded with a giggle. "I was here before I knew it."
"That was my experience, too," he said with a chuckle as he opened the door outside for her. "There's a sub sandwich shop nearby; you okay with that?"
"Sounds good," she replied with a smile as she took hold of his arm, leaning into him as they walked.
They entered the restaurant and placed their orders. As had become the norm, Max took their orders over to a table while Alia retrieved the condiments, napkins, and the like.
"How was everything at the office after I left?" he asked after they settled in to eat.
"Not as bad as I thought it would be," Alia replied. "Listen, David; you know that female reploid, that intruder?"
"Of course."
She absently ran her fingers through her hair. "Well, you might find this hard to understand, but…that…that was Layer."
He froze mid-chew, his eyes growing wide. "M-Miss Layer? That was Miss Layer?"
She nodded solemnly. "She had that body made to try to get Zero's attention."
He chuckled, but it sounded dry. "Well, it sounds like she succeeded, though not in the way she intended."
Alia burst into laughter, earning her a raised eyebrow. "I'm sorry; it's just that Commander Signas said almost exactly the same thing."
"Then I guess I'm in good company," he replied in a fake high-brow voice, causing her to laugh even more. "Seriously, though; why did she choose the design she did? I didn't get a very good look, but it seemed like it was really different than how she used to look."
Alia sobered as she thought back to her conversation with Signas. "I don't know how she got it, but I do know that it looks exactly like his girlfriend from the time of the Great Repliforce War."
"Wait…Zero had a girlfriend?" Max blinked with an expression of shock. "Damn, and I thought I knew everything about him. So, why is Miss Layer pursuing him if he already has a girlfriend?"
She opened her mouth, paused, then closed it again. "He… They ended up fighting each other during the war, and…he killed her."
The sandwich fell out of Max's hands and onto his plate. "H-He what?"
"She was part of Repliforce and he was, of course, a Maverick Hunter," she explained as he stared in mute shock. "Signas will be meeting us later to talk about the details, but I suspect that Zero ended up fighting her brother, Colonel, at some point and ended up killing him. I do know that Colonel was killed during the war, and that Iris was his sister…"
"…so she went after Zero to try to avenge her brother," Max finished. "Man, wars involving family are the worst." He gestured helplessly at his wife. "So, Layer shows up looking like the girl he loved and had to kill, and…yeah."
"Yeah. Poor Zero."
They returned to their meal, but the atmosphere had become more somber. The young couple would make eye contact every so often, only to look away again as they thought about Zero and his lost love.
Max was the one who eventually broke the silence: "I want to know how Miss Layer got the designs for Zero's girlfriend's body…what was her name?"
"Iris."
"I want to know how Miss Layer got Miss Iris' blueprints – or whatever it is you use – and I want to talk with both her and Mister Zero. Maybe whoever it was that built her new body, too."
Alia smiled inwardly at Max's polite use of her friends' names. "I'm sure the commander will be happy to give you whatever information you need, and I'm sure Layer would be grateful for anything you could do to help her."
Her eyes widened as a brief glare flickered across her husband's face. "Miss Layer may end up on the receiving end of an ass-chewing, figuratively speaking, by the time I'm done. But I'm going to hold off on any judgments until I have all the facts."
"D-David…?"
He glanced up at her face, and his expression softened as he sighed. "Sorry love, but from what I'm hearing, it sound like she used some very bad judgment, and without having done enough research, and that could have caused him needless grief. So, I'm not very happy with her right now. But…" he said, holding up a hand as she opened her mouth, "…like I said: I'll hold off on any judgments until I have all the facts."
"O-Okay," Alia stammered, feeling slightly unnerved by her husband's intensity. "Th-Thank you." While she was worried about her friend, she knew that her husband was a fair-minded and just individual.
The truth would be made known…for better or for worse.