Chapter Fourteen: Going Home
The couple stood awkwardly outside the door to Layer's quarters. "Well, here we are," Alia said somewhat lamely. "Are you ready?"
Max sighed, studying the door as though he could learn something from it. "As ready as I can be…I think."
Alia gave him an encouraging smile as she reached out to press the call button.
Unsurprisingly, the voice they heard through the speaker was Palette's. "Be right there." A few seconds later, the door whooshed open to reveal the short, blonde navigator. "Hey, you two!" she greeted, then looked over her shoulder. "Layer, Alia and Max are here!"
"Please come in," a weak, still-unfamiliar voice sounded from farther in the room.
Palette turned back to the couple with a bright smile. "You heard her; come in, come in!"
Max and Alia shared a cautious smile before he gestured for her to enter first. They quickly found the brown-haired girl seated on a sofa, several wads of tissue littering the table before her, likely from the small box that rested on the cushion next to her. "H-Hello, Alia…"
Alia said nothing at first but quickly made her way to her friend's side, moving the tissue box to sit and wrap the distraught girl in a hug. "Are you okay?"
"I'm…okay," she replied, bringing another tissue to her eyes. "I really blew it, Alia."
"It's going to be okay," Alia tried to reassure her. "The commander has asked David and me to try to help out as much as we can."
"Th-Thank you."
"Are you up to answering a few questions, Miss Layer?" Max asked gently.
She looked to her blonde friend next to her, who simply smiled softly. "I-I think so."
"Now, I have to let you know, some of these questions might be uncomfortable," he explained. "But, if you'll do your best to answer them you could help Zero out quite a bit."
The navigator blinked, seeming to gain some resolve as she straightened in her seat. "I'll do my best."
"Thank you." Max paused briefly, exchanging a glance with his wife before asking his first question. "How did you get the design for your new body?"
Layer paled as she started to tremble. "I…We…"
"I got it for her!" Palette blurted, then quickly ducked her head. "It's…It's not Layer's fault."
"How did you get it for her?" Max asked gently, turning to face the short reploid.
Palette's head appeared to sink into her slight shoulders. "I…got Axl to override the locks on the door to Zero's quarters and…"
The impromptu investigators exchanged a look of alarm, but said nothing.
The short navigator fell into a nearby chair, her legs unable to support her any more. "…I copied some stuff from Zero's computer to a portable drive and gave it to her."
"What kind of information did you get?" Max asked. "I'm not asking for specifics, just…categories."
"Journal entries… a lot of image files, and…some video files," Palette replied, her gaze firmly locked on her clasped hands.
Max and Alia exchanged a look of concern. "You know that unauthorized access to personal quarters is against HQ protocols," Alia said carefully.
"I know!" Palette exclaimed, suddenly meeting Alia's gaze with teary eyes. "But Layer's been wanting him for so long, and we had the chance to learn about him so she could figure out how to impress him, and…" She threw up her hands, letting them fall into her lap. "I'm so sorry."
"You know that we're going to have to inform Commander Signas," Alia added.
"I know," Palette said, nodding sadly. "I just…"
"You wanted to help a good friend," Alia said with a sympathetic smile.
"Y-Yeah…"
Max nodded with a grunt as he returned his attention to the brown-haired girl. "So you got your body design from the information Miss Palette gave you?"
A single nod along with another dab of the eyes.
He sighed heavily. "Miss Layer… How do I say this…? That design you found? That was Miss Iris, Zero's deceased…lover."
"I…I know."
Max blinked in surprise. "You…You know?"
She nodded sadly. "I've loved him for a long time, but I've been too afraid to tell him. I guess I figured that if I showed up like this that he'd approach me."
"You had to have known that it wouldn't work," Alia told her. "He lost her a long time ago; what made you think he'd accept you like this?"
"I…I don't know."
"Miss Layer…" Max started, and Alia could tell that her husband was trying to keep his anger in check. "I just spent I-don't-know-how-long making sure that Mr. Zero's okay, and all because of 'I don't know'?"
"I…I'm sorry…"
"Sorry?" Max couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're playing with a man's heart here, do you understand that? A man's heart! From what I understand, it took X and Axl most of the day to calm him down. I went up to the roof to find him looking out over the city. Do you understand?"
"I…I hurt him."
"That's right." Max crossed his arms as he glared down at the trembling reploid. "You know, it's great that you like him, but…honestly? This was a really stupid way to try to get his attention."
"David!"
"Not now, Alia," Max said carefully before returning his glare to Layer. "You want Zero? I'll help you get Zero, but first: you are going to go to Engineering and get back in your old body, do you understand?"
"Hey!" Palette yelled, hopping to her feet. "You can't come in here and start telling us what to do!"
"Palette," Alia said, cautiously glancing at her husband as she rose to her feet as well, "it'll be okay. Calm down."
"Calm down?" Palette was uncharacteristically feisty. "This human comes in – who barely knows us, by the way – and starts telling us what to do?" She crossed her arms. "Why should we listen to him?"
"He's my husband," Alia answered simply as she moved to Max's side and laid a hand on his arm. "I trust him. And you can trust me."
"Layer..." Palette said, hurrying over to plop down on the floor in front of her friend. "You're not really going to do it, are you? You worked so hard for this! You gave up so much for this!"
"And what is 'this' that you worked so hard and sacrificed for?" Max asked with compassion in his softening tone as he uncrossed his arms. "A new body that has caused Mr. Zero to become even more distant? That's not what you wanted, was it? Miss Layer, if you wish to stay in that….body…" he said, starting to look a little uncomfortable, "…that's your choice. Just know that the one you claim to love will be hurt every time he sees you, not to mention how he might feel if he finds out how you got the design."
"The commander might have to order you out of that body, too," Alia added. "All of Iris' information had been sealed… Other than what you got from Zero's computer, at least."
"So, what do you say?" Max said, moving to stand before Layer and extending a hand. "Let's get you back home and try something else…okay?"
"L-Layer….?" Palette said worriedly.
The brown-haired reploid turned an uncertain gaze from Palette to Alia, and finally to Max. "L-Let's go, Mr. Hannity," she said, hesitantly reaching out to take his hand and allow herself to be helped to her feet. "I…I want to do this the right way."
Max exchanged a smile with his wife before looking back to the troubled reploid. "Then we'll support you to the best of our ability."
Palette followed the trio into the hallway, watching Layer as she allowed herself to be led along by Alia and her husband. While she didn't like that idea of the human bossing her friend around, she couldn't really argue with his logic. She blinked as the thought occurred to her that Layer might need someone to 'take over' for a while as she recovered from her situation. Even though she wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea, she decided to give Max a chance to prove himself…under her watchful eye, of course; even though she may have frequently teased her formerly-statuesque friend, she really did want the best for her.
She snapped out of her thoughts in time to see the double-doors for Engineering up ahead. "Will Douglas still be here?" she heard Layer ask as they stopped before the entrance.
"Only one way to find out," Alia said as she reached out to the console next to the door and tapped the 'call' button.
"This is Douglas." The group breathed a collective sigh of relief at the sound of the engineer's voice. "Is that you, Layer?"
"I…I am here…" Layer said, stepping closer to the console.
"You going back home?" he asked, and they could hear the smile in his tone as the doors started to open. "Come on in; I've been waiting for you."
Layer shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she gazed at the now-open entrance.
"Do…you really want to go back?" Palette asked.
Max noticed Layer's hesitation and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Do you feel like you'll be giving up if you go back to your old – I mean previous – body? It's okay to be afraid; just be honest with yourself."
The brown-haired reploid took a deep breath before stepping through the doorway to Engineering, seeming more confident with each step though she still hesitated every so often.
"Hey, there you are!" Douglas exclaimed as the group finally entered the main room. "I was starting to wonder if you'd changed your mind and left."
"H-Hello, Douglas," Layer managed to greet as she broke away from the group to approach her coworker. "I'm…sorry for any trouble I've caused you."
"No problem," he said, matching her quiet tone. "Are you here to go back?"
A simple nod.
He returned her gesture before heading to a familiar pod; the one she had exited from just the day prior. He tapped a few buttons on the side, and the cover slid open, revealing an empty seat. "We can transfer whenever you're ready."
She gave him a grateful look before moving to the pod that contained her former – and future – body. "It's weird, seeing my old self from the outside like this," she remarked in a subdued tone. "It doesn't look the way I remember."
"If it helps, humans say the same kinds of things when they see photographs of themselves," Max offered as he stepped up next to her. "It's the 'mirror effect' or something like that."
She giggled softly, then sighed at the realization that the next time she giggled….well, she might not ever have a reason to giggle again. "It's weird, but I'm going to miss this body."
Max simply smiled down at her, unsure how to respond.
"Well…" she said, heading to the empty pod where Douglas stood waiting, "…let's get this over with." She slid into the pod and made herself as comfortable as she could before giving the engineer a reserved smile. "S-Send me home, Douglas…please."
"Yes, ma'am." He tapped at the console on the side of the pod, and the door quickly yet silently slid shut, sealing with a soft *click*. Through the pod's window she saw him move to a familiar console a short distance away. "Shut down all of your nonessential systems," he instructed her through the pod's speaker. After she had done so he pressed a few buttons on the console. "Connection confirmed." He looked over at her. "Are you sure you're ready?"
She knew it wasn't as though he couldn't move her back, but still… "I'm ready."
He gave her a nod before pressing a few more buttons. Then, like the last time, he pressed one final button, and Layer's world went dark once again…
She opened her eyes to the inside of a pod. She knew she was back in her old body when she noticed that the pod's window was lower than it had been just a few seconds prior. Something seemed strange, though; when she had transferred from her old body to the new one, she had noticed an improvement in her visual acuity, likely due to Douglas' improvements to her blueprints for the new body. Moving back should have seen her with comparatively reduced visual acuity, however…
She blinked in surprise as the door started to slide open, revealing the rest of the Engineering Department along with her friends.
"Take it slow," Douglas warned as she started to exit the pod. "We can't be sure how much you adjusted to your shorter height, so take it slowly until you're sure you've got your bearings."
Layer nodded in acknowledgement, feeling a slight sense of relief at the sensation of her long, much-straighter hair gently caressing her backside.
"Can I help?" Max asked, appearing at her periphery with his hands held toward her.
She nodded gratefully as she took hold of his proffered hands; she was feeling a little disoriented after having been shorter for a day, so the extra support was welcome.
"One step at a time…" he said encouragingly as she finally exited the pod on unsteady legs.
"She's not a child," Palette said in a scolding tone, though it didn't have much conviction behind it.
"It's okay," Layer said, nearly stumbling in surprise at the sound of her old voice…which also sounded differently than what she remembered. "I appreciate the encouragement."
"Don't be afraid to use me or one of the others to lean on," Max said as he carefully released her hands. "We're here to help you out."
"Th-Thank you, Mr. Hannity," she replied as she briefly leaned on a nearby table to steady herself.
"How are you feeling, Layer?" Palette asked worriedly as she approached her friend.
"A little disoriented," the shapely reploid replied as she started at her hand. "It's strange; my vision looks exactly the same as when I was in the other body, but I know that one had better eyes than this one."
Alia turned to the engineer, who stood nearby with arms crossed and a smirk plastered on his face. "Douglas? Do you know what she's talking about?"
Everyone nearly jumped as he burst out laughing. "Yeah, as a matter of fact I do!" he exclaimed. "I had a feeling you'd be coming back, so I went ahead and applied the most current upgrades to your old body. Optics, vocal processor, joints…"
"You what?" Layer said, still working on her bearings.
Douglas laughed again as he carefully patted the navigator on the shoulder. "You've been upgraded, Layer! I haven't changed any of your aesthetics; I just replaced a few things that needed replacing as well as upgraded a few of your systems because…" he shrugged with an awkward grin. "…I enjoy my work."
"Thank you, Douglas," Layer replied, feeling a little overwhelmed at his kindness. "Wait…I thought I used at least three upgrades for the new body. Where did these upgrade allotments come from?"
His smile turned embarrassed. "Well, you see…"
"Douglas? Did the commander tell you to do this?" Alia asked, somewhat concerned.
"No no!" the engineer exclaimed with a wave of his hands. "I still have discretion in my department, of course."
"So, where did the allotment come from?" Max asked.
Douglas held up his hands and studied them. "Let's just say it's a good thing I like these hands."
Four pairs of eyes widened almost in unison as the realization set in. "You… You mean…?" Layer started.
"You used your own?" Palette interjected, finishing the taller navigator's thought.
The engineer shrugged. "Hey, friends take care of friends, right? And we're all friends here. Besides, it's just one allotment and since I'm an Engineering-class reploid I'll qualify for two more in about six months."
"Mr. Douglas; you are the man!" Max exclaimed as he stepped up to clap the engineer on the shoulder.
"Douglas…" Palette breathed. "Thanks a lot!"
"Hey, like I said: Friends take care of fr-AWF!" His response was suddenly cut off by the newly-transferred reploid grabbing him up in a hug.
"Thank you so much, Douglas," she shuddered as she squeezed her friend. "I am so sorry for the trouble I've caused you."
"N-No problem…" he managed, secretly thrilled at the feeling of her generous bosom pressed against the side of his head. "N-Now…go get your man."
"We'll have to start on that tomorrow," Max said as he stifled a yawn. "This human needs his recharge time."
"The three of us don't need to wait, though," Palette protested. "We don't need sleep, so we can-"
"No," Layer interrupted as she released the blushing engineer. "I want Mr. Hannity involved. I made some poor choices, but he helped set me straight so I want him involved."
"O-Okay…" Palette stammered, surprised by her friend's resolve. "W-We'll wait, then."
"Let's get you something to eat," Alia suggested as she took her husband by the arm. "Then, we'll get you home."
"Sounds good," Max grunted. "Well, not really; I'd prefer to sleep with my wife, but considering the circumstances…" he trailed off as the expressions of shock on the navigators' faces and one of amusement on the engineer's. "Sorry; feeling a little punchy from fatigue. I'll stop talking now."
The group shared a friendly chuckle as they headed out of Engineering. "Good luck with Zero," Douglas said as he punched in the code to lock the department doors. "For what it's worth, I'll be rooting for you."
"Thank you, Douglas," the purple-haired navigator replied. "I'll do my best."
The engineer gave the group a wink and a smile before turning and heading toward his own quarters.
"Are you okay?" Alia asked her husband as the four of them started back to Layer's quarters.
"I'm fine," he said with an awkward smile and a wave of a hand. "Just need a good night's sleep; I think I'll be able to do that with how today went."
"I'm…sorry for causing problems for you like this," Layer said quietly, her eyes downcast.
"Hey, I chose to get involved," Max said as he patted the purple-haired girl on the shoulder. "I just hope things work out all right."
"Thank you."
Palette nibbled on her lip as she trailed behind the group; while it had seemed like a great idea at the time, she was starting to realize the trouble she and Axl could have caused, not just for herself but for Layer as well. "Actually, the trouble I caused…" she murmured to herself. "Axl only got involved 'cause I tempted him." She suddenly felt a wave of guilt as she realized that she might have used her special someone to do something bad. "I'm sorry, Axl…"
"Did you say something, Palette?"
The short reploid jerked at Alia's sudden question. "I…I was just…thinking out loud. Sorry."
"It's okay," Alia replied. "We just didn't want you to feel left out."
"I'm fine."
Alia gave her friend a lingering look of concern before returning her gaze ahead.
They arrived at Layer's quarters, and the group waited as she keyed in her code. "Can you be here tomorrow, Mr. Hannity?" she asked as the door slid open.
"Of course!" he exclaimed, if wearily. "I plan on being here about…nine?" He looked to his wife, who nodded with a smile. "Yeah, nine. Breakfast out, then we'll find you and get to work."
"Would ten-o-clock be okay?" Alia asked, taking over for her exhausted husband.
Layer thought for a moment. "Barring any Maverick attacks, that should be fine."
"A-Are you going to be okay getting home?" Palette asked the human.
"I'm going to sign out a vehicle and take him home myself," Alia replied before Max could open his mouth.
"Couldn't he just sleep in your quarters?" Layer suggested. "I'm sure the commander wouldn't mind; he is your husband, after all."
The blonde reploid shook her head. "I would, but he needs something to eat, and most restaurants are going to be closed by now."
"Oh. Of course. Well, have a safe trip. Good night everyone," Layer said, giving a small bow before entering her quarters, the door sliding shut behind her.
"Let's get you home," Alia said as she started to lead Max toward the Vehicle Depot.
"Can I come with you?"
The young couple blinked in surprise at Palette's request. "I…suppose…" Alia said, then looked to her husband. "Do you mind?"
"it's fine," he chuckled with a wave of his hand. "I'm too tired to discuss it, anyway."
The short reploid gnawed on her lip some more as she followed the Hannitys to the garage. The truth was, she didn't want to be alone at that time; she knew that her guilty feelings would eat her alive if given the chance, and they would very much have that chance if she was by herself. She studied Max's back as she walked, and internally cringed at the idea of all the meat and bones she knew resided under his skin and she found herself wondering why she had encouraged Alia to go out with him in the first place.
She then thought back to everything the human had done since entering their lives; dating Alia while being a near-perfect gentleman, proposing to her in spite of their very different natures, fighting X to try to fit in… Suddenly his back looked different; while Alia could get upgrades and new bodies, Max had to somehow make do with what he'd been born with. She suddenly felt a bit of admiration…along with a little more guilt.
She continued to gnaw on her lip as they entered the depot and Alia headed over to a terminal to work on signing out a vehicle. "Mr. Hannity?"
"Yes, Miss Palette?" he said, and she listened closely to the sound of his voice; it sounded almost the same as always, but with some differences that she understood had to do with his current fatigue level. She hadn't interacted with humans very much, so to hear the differences in his tone as well as see the way he carried himself was interesting.
"Thank…Thank you for being so good to Alia," she said as she studied his face.
"My pleasure," he replied with a sleepy smile. "She makes it easy, actually; she's an amazing woman."
"Y-Yeah…" She licked her dry lips. "Could…Could we talk soon?" She glanced over at Alia. "Just…you and me?"
He blinked in surprise. "I…suppose. I'd have to talk with my wife first; I'm not comfortable with the idea of being alone with another woman…"
Palette cast her gaze to the floor as she felt her face heat up at his reference to her as a 'woman'.
"…but if there's something I can help you with, I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you," she said, looking up again to study his face. "I know you're tired, so…"
"We'll work something out," he said, giving her another sleepy smile.
"Okay," she replied, a smile starting to spread. "I'm going to go to my quarters. Good night, Mr. Hannity," she said with a small bow.
"Good night, Miss Palette," he returned warmly as he ducked his head.
She giggled as she turned and nearly skipped to the entrance to the depot.
"Where's Palette going?" Alia asked as she returned in time to see her coworker disappear from view. "I thought she was coming with us."
He shrugged with one shoulder. "I dunno; she asked about talking with me, and when I told her that I'd have to talk to you about it she bid me good-night and left."
"That's interesting," she said, her delicate brow lowering. "Did she say why she wanted to talk?"
He shook his head. "Naw, but it looked like something was bothering her. Listen, could we finish this talk later? I really need to eat something and get to bed."
"Of course. Sorry." She led him over to a small hover car, a two-seater, and unlocked it before heading around to the driver's side. "Let's get you home."
He grunted an acknowledgement as he opened the door and fell into his seat, and Alia started the car and carefully maneuvered it out of the garage; while she wasn't a professional driver like Outrun, she was a competent driver.
They were about halfway to his home when she asked, "So, what would you like to have for dinner?"
No answer.
"David?"
As they passed under a streetlight, she glanced over at her husband…and smiled to herself.
Somewhere along the way, Max had fallen fast asleep.