Chapter 39: Apologies
The sudden sound of a dark corridor opening surprised everyone. Everyone with the Rebellion was in Castle Oblivion, from what they knew. Riku glanced up from his conversation with Namine, finding a Lexaeus Replica. He frowned, however, upon realizing that the Lexaeus Replica was carrying a seemingly unconscious Vexen Replica.
"You!" Joseph shouted suddenly, pulling out his wooden sword and pointing it at the Lexaeus Replica. "You were fighting us earlier!"
"Joseph, calm yourself," 29 called warningly.
"I do not wish to fight you," the Lexaeus Replica stated plainly. "I actually came here to apologize. That, and find a place for-"
"Number 4!" someone cried suddenly. Riku was surprised to see 2 rush over. It would make sense, he assumed, that the lower numbered Vexen Replicas would look out for each other.
"What happened to him?" 2 demanded.
The Lexaeus Replica grimaced. Or, sort of grimaced. Lexaeus had a weird way of making facial expressions. "Saix decided to show off his new ability. 4 was the victim."
Riku frowned, slowly rising to his feet. Quite a few thoughts were flying through his head, and his hate for Saix was growing. "Saix Deactivated him, didn't he?" he asked.
The Lexaeus Replica gave something between a grunt and a nod. "With only a snap of his fingers."
Everyone winced.
There was a bit of silence for a moment. Everyone seemed to be trying to process this. There had been rumors that Saix had been making the Deactivating Process that easy, but they hadn't been confirmed until just now.
Riku wasn't quite sure what to make of this either. The thought of being Deactivated never was a pleasant one. The fact that Saix could now Deactivate anyone with only a snap of his fingers definitely wasn't pleasant either.
But it doesn't matter. I can't be Deactivated, he reminded himself. I'm not in this Program. And Namine's not catalogued, so I don't have to worry about that either.
It's all okay.
This doesn't affect me.
This doesn't affect Namine.
With those thoughts he was able to push the thought of how unpleasant being Deactivated must be aside. It didn't matter. Neither he nor Namine were in danger, so it didn't matter. Well, it mattered a bit, but not much.
"I'll take care of 4," 2 said. He took number 4 from the Lexaeus Replica and dragged him off.
Namine watched them go, and couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for 4, though she did not know him. For starters, she was sure that if he was awake, he would be very uncomfortable at least. The way 2 was dragging him off did not look conventional in the slightest. However, since he was Deactivated, he probably couldn't feel anything.
I bet that would be a terrible experience, she thought. To be Deactivated. You wouldn't be able to feel anything, to hear anything…
Your conscious just trapped in nothingness, unable to move your body.
Unless… you couldn't even THINK.
That's a scary thought.
Being unable to think…
She shook her head to clear it.
I shouldn't be worrying about this. Riku said this doesn't affect me. As long as I'm not catalogued… that is…
But… the likeliness of me being catalogued is slim, right?
I'll ask Riku about it…
"Riku, you have my apologies," the Lexaeus Replica said. Namine looked up, glancing over to Riku.
Riku raised his eyebrows. "What for?" he asked.
"I let it slip that I assumed Namine was here," the Lexaeus Replica replied. "A Larxene Replica heard and told Saix. And since, obviously, Namine is here, I feel the need to apologize."
Riku frowned, not looking pleased one bit.
"If there is some way I can make up for it," the Lexaeus Replica suggested. "Maybe I could… look after her. Make sure that she isn't kidnapped."
Riku shook his head slightly, the glare in his eyes very clear. "That won't be necessary," he said, voice even, but still threatening. "I can handle that."
"I see…" the Lexaeus Replica muttered.
"He could always help us infiltrate the World that Never Was!" Joseph chimed in. Everyone turned to him.
"Joseph," 29 said sternly. "What have I told you about that?"
Joseph shrugged. "I thought it was a good idea. I mean, maybe we'll get lucky and Saix forgot to lock his computer and we could change the passwords on him. Or, at least, try and figure the passwords out, which I think would be easier to do from his side."
"That might work," the Lexaeus Replica agreed. "And I would be glad to help you."
"What made you turn against Saix?" Riku asked. "I want to be sure we can trust you, and that isn't just a trap."
The Lexaeus Replica frowned, as if pondering if he should be offended by that or not. However, he was a hard person to read, so he could have been thinking about something else. "I see your reasoning," he said finally. "But when forced to sit in a room for a week while waiting for Saix to order your punishment, you have time to work up a strong dislike towards him."
There was a hint of bitterness in his voice as he said this.
"Alright then," Riku replied. "I can believe that. However, if this is a trap, I will not hesitate to kill you."
The Lexaeus Replica nodded.
There was a moment of bitter silence in the room.
"So when do we get started with this plan?" Joseph asked, all too excitedly.
"We could start now," the Lexaeus Replica said.
Riku glanced over at Namine.
She laughed slightly and nodded at him.
Riku turned back to the Lexaeus Replica. "Yeah. Let's start on that now."
He nodded for the Lexaues Replica to follow him. They had to go find Alpha, first.
"And where do you think you're going?" 29 asked, catching Joseph by the arm.
"I wanna help!"
"Joseph, you can't go to the World that Never Was! You'll get hurt."
Joseph pouted furiously, then sighed. "Can I at least help them plan?"
29 considered him a moment, and then relented. "Yes, I suppose you can help them plan."
"GREAT!"
Joseph ran to catch up to Riku. Riku suppressed a groan.