Chapter 145: Four
Vexen Replica 26 was currently waiting with the Computer on Floor 13 for Axel to arrive with the external hard drive that apparently had the Database on it. Of course, it made perfect sense that the Rebellion had backed up the Database before wiping it—any Vexen would be appalled at the thought of losing so much data. It just didn't quite make sense that Axel just-so-happened to know where said external was. Had the Rebellion seriously been stupid enough to tell him?
Then again… Axel had his own ways of finding out the things he wanted to know.
26 rubbed his neck at the thought; it still hurt from when Axel had held a chakram to his throat and demanded that he help with this stupid plot of his.
Pity there weren't very many Replicas who knew how to use the Program to its full extent. If there were, then 26 wouldn't have to be caught up in this mess. However, there were only few Replicas who were entrusted with the knowledge of Master Vexen's Program, and there were even fewer that were still alive. 26 was one of those few, and he couldn't think of any others that Axel could've located.
Well, there was 37, but 26 didn't blame Axel for not going to him for help.
26 sighed and silently wished that he was anywhere but here right now. Yes, this plan of Axel's might actually work, but there were a million chances it wouldn't. At least, there were a million chances it wouldn't go to Axel's liking, and another million chances that it wouldn't go to Xemnas's liking—26 cursed Axel for even dragging Xemnas into this—and, of course, when things went wrong, both of them would blame 26. 26 wasn't very keen on being around for that.
If only he could've convinced Axel that this wasn't going to work…
"Good, you're already here!"
Speak of the devil…
26 slowly turned to Axel. "Do you have the external?" he asked. No sense delaying things. The sooner this was over with, the better.
Axel pulled the external out of his pocket and tossed it to 26. 26 caught it with fumbling hands. It was a good thing he'd managed to catch that. Shouldn't Axel have known better than to throw valuable pieces of technology? If this broke, they'd be without a Database…
"You sure this is the right external?"
"Why don't you plug it into the computer and find out?"
26 let out a breath and headed over to the Computer. He plugged the external in, and then waited for the Computer to recognize its software. It didn't take long, thankfully. Now, to pull up the Database…
He frowned.
"That's weird," he muttered, eyes narrowing at the computer screen.
"What?" Axel asked, sounding a bit worried.
26 shook his head. The problem was gone, now.
"Must've been a glitch in the system," he said. "Nothing to worry about, everything's fine."
Still… for a second there, he thought. It was almost as if this computer didn't have… But that's impossible, really.
No matter. It's all working now.
"Good," Axel said. "Can we get started?"
"Not without Xemnas," 26 replied. "He wanted to oversee this, remember?"
"Right." Axel made his way over to the doors and examined them for a moment. "Now… how do you lock these things?"
"You don't." 26 chuckled. "Besides, you weren't planning on locking Xemnas out, were you?"
"No, of course I wasn't planning—what do you mean you can't lock these doors!?"
"This room has no security," 26 explained, still smiling to himself. Here was another of those holes in Axel's plan. "It's not like it's needed, when few people know Master Vexen's passwords, and even fewer know how to use his Program."
"But how are we going to keep the Rebellion out?" Axel asked. "They won't be distracted forever—Xigbar and his clone can only do so much."
26's smile widened. He pointedly didn't turn to Axel so the smile wouldn't be noticed. "I guess one of us will have to stand guard," he said.
"That means… me," Axel said, slowly. "No. No, I can't! I need to help you out with this, don't I?"
"Not necessarily," 26 replied, turning to Axel now. "But if you want to so badly, then feel free to tell Xemnas that he has to guard the doors."
Even if he didn't particularly want to be here, it was certainly worth it just to see the look on Axel's face right now.
"Oh, but why does it have to be me?" Axel groaned. "Can't… someone else…" He sighed, then glared at 26. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"
26 didn't say anything, but mainly because he didn't have a chance to. Xemnas walked into the room just about then.
"Is everything ready?" Xemnas asked.
"Yes, sir," 26 and Axel replied, near simultaneously.
"Good."
xxx
"What are they doing?" Alpha muttered, as he stared at the computer screen. He'd followed Axel via security footage to the Computer on Floor 13. Now Axel and a Vexen Replica—Alpha believed it to be 26—were discussing something. Alpha wasn't certain as to what they were talking about, though; the audio wasn't working for some reason. Maybe 26 had jammed it.
"Though why he didn't just jam surveillance entirely…"
The sound of footsteps—those of someone running, to be exact—interrupted his musing. He glanced up, wondering who it was, and found Vexen in the doorway.
Vexen was panting and out of breath. "Xemnas is here!" he managed to gasp, and there was a certain level of panic—possibly more properly defined as terror—in his voice. That same emotion—be it panic or terror or both—was reflected in his eyes.
Alpha raised his eyebrows. "He is?"
Vexen nodded, eyes fixed on the computer screen. "Yes, he came in and—how'd he get there so fast!?"
Alpha turned to the computer screen, and was surprised to see Xemnas conversing with 26 and Axel. Rather, Axel and Xemnas were talking, while 26 typed away on the Computer. But, still…
"I-" he began.
"Why are there Assassins outside?" Vexen asked, before he could finish.
Alpha sighed. "The Assassins are there to keep me from following Axel," he explained. "I'm surprised they're still there, really; I thought they had shorter attention spans." He shrugged. "As for Xemnas… well… how long did it take you to get here?"
"Uhm…" It took Vexen a second to come up with an answer. He seemed rather flustered. "Two minutes, tops, I suppose. I doubt it was even that."
"Maybe he didn't stay in the Main Room for very long," Alpha said. "It's really nothing to—"
"What is he even doing here!?" Vexen asked, voice shaking, and he pointed at the computer screen to further emphasize that he was talking about Xemnas.
"Vexen, calm down!"
Vexen opened his mouth as if to protest, but then thought better of the idea and shut his mouth again. Alpha breathed a sigh of relief.
"Listen, I don't know what they're doing, or why Xemnas is here," Alpha explained, a bit of annoyance in his voice. "I'm not all knowing! And there's only so much the security cameras can tell me, especially when the audio's not working."
"The audio's not working?" Vexen frowned. "That's… convenient."
"It's probably been jammed."
Vexen took a breath, probably to calm himself further, and then asked. "Any ideas of what they might be doing?"
Alpha shook his head.
Vexen sighed and glanced at the computer, thinking. "Though…" he said, after a moment, and he turned back to Alpha. His eyes were lit up; something must've just occurred to him. "Can they do anything? I thought… I thought that it was impossible to do anything drastic without the Main Computer. Otherwise, they would've done something already."
"Well, that's true," Alpha agreed, his stomach sinking.
But… his thoughts added.
"Then…" Vexen laughed slightly—somewhere between nervous and excited, from the sounds of it. "Then they can't do anything, can they? They don't have the Main Computer!"
"Actually…" Alpha tried, but Vexen wasn't listening.
"The Main Computer's here. Not there!"
"It doesn't matter what computer you're at, provided you have the Main Computer functions," Alpha said, quickly, before Vexen could get any more confident.
Vexen slowly gave him a sideways look. "You put the Main Computer functions on the external, didn't you?"
"I… thought it would be nice to have a backup," Alpha admitted. "Is there anything wrong in that?"
"I suppose not, but it doesn't matter. Axel knew where the external was." Vexen groaned and started mumbling things under his breath. Something about incompetence and… Alpha couldn't catch the rest. He chewed his lip, trying to fight back his annoyance.
"You could've at least put it somewhere safer," Vexen said.
"That's not my fault!" Alpha protested. "How was I supposed to know that Axel knew where it was? It's not like I told him! I mean, I guess someone else could've—not that I have any idea who, since few people knew where it was to begin with—but can you blame them? He was very convincingly pretending he was on our side!"
Vexen snorted. "You should've known he'd turn out to be a filthy double-crosser."
"He fooled even you, if I remember correctly," Alpha retorted, rolling his eyes.
Vexen held his hands up in defense. "Not my fault. I was hoping he was merely betraying the Organization, here, instead of betraying us—who are technically the traitors." He made a face. "Well, you are. I'm not from this universe, so I'm not a traitor, really. No doubt that they'd kill me anyway, if they found me." He was rambling now, speaking more to himself than anyone else. "Though, if they knew just who I was… Mercy. Xemnas might force me into taking charge of the Replica Program."
"That could be a good thing," Alpha said.
Vexen didn't seem to think the same. "No, I-" He shook his head. "Not for you. I wouldn't- I probably would just run to the other universe, the moment they got a hold of me. Make sure they couldn't find me. The tactic works, and—"
"Are you saying that you're a coward?" Alpha interrupted, smiling.
"Well, I—" Vexen began, a bit flustered.
"You're as much of a filthy coward as Axel is a filthy double-crosser. Admit it."
Vexen straightened, trying to look more confident as he defended himself. "I have a high sense of self-preservation," he said. "Besides, would you want Xehanort to force me to, I don't know, Replicate him? How would you like six Xehanort Replicas walking around the Worlds, hmm?"
Alpha frowned. "Xehanort?"
"Xemnas. Whatever. Same person."
Alpha started to question further, but Vexen started talking again before he had the chance.
"Can we stop them?" he asked. "This computer still functions as the Main Computer, does it not?"
"Mm… Yes, it does… but I can't stop them if I don't know what they're doing."
"Can you lock them out of that computer?"
Alpha shook his head. "Not from here."
"Worth a shot…" Vexen muttered. He started mumbling under his breath again, but Alpha didn't bother listening this time. He turned his attention back to the computer screen, thinking.
"As long as you stay out of our way, there really is no reason for any of you to get hurt."
Axel's words still rang in his ears.
Alpha bit his lip.
I can't… seriously be considering doing nothing! he told himself, a bit appalled at the fact he had been considering such. They have the external!
They have the full Program!
They…
He paused, and let out a long breath. Defeat was heavy in the air.
We just need to get that back from them. The external. And…
Well…
What could they be doing that's so bad we need to stop it?
Would there be anything wrong with letting them do whatever it is they want to do, and then worry about the external—and the Program—when they're done?
xxx
It was 1.9 seconds after Xemnas left the room that 7 started in Snapdragon's direction. 1.4 of those seconds had been a moment of relief, before the fighting began. The other 0.5 seconds had been the time it took for 7 to make his decision.
He took a breath, trying to calm himself. It didn't work as well as he hoped, as there was terror still nipping at his heart, but at least he was able to keep himself from thinking too much about their very-likely lack of the Repair Program. That would have to do. There wasn't enough time to calm himself down completely.
7 gathered his energy, and then sent out a large blast of ice. All the lesser Nobodies caught in the blast were frozen solid immediately. With them out of the way, he could focus more on clearing a path to Snapdragon.
He focused his energy again, then bent down and placed a hand on the ground. Cold seeped from his fingertips, and ice began to form on the ground around him. At his command, the ice started spreading, slowly at first, before it was racing along the ground. It made its way to the Lexaeus and Bloodroot, and then climbed up their legs, immobilizing them, at least for the moment.
7 straightened and darted past them. It wouldn't hold them for long. The Lexaeus, after determining that he couldn't break free from the ice through his own strength alone, had begun smashing at it with his axe sword. Bloodroot, however, was having a bit more trouble.
The Lexaeus broke free, now, but Amaryllis was there before he could get anywhere near 7. With the Lexaeus distracted, and Bloodroot still struggling against the ice that held him, 7 went to Snapdragon's side. Snapdragon was bleeding quite a bit, but that was a good thing. It meant his Data hadn't gone into shock and stopped processing how to imitate proper human body functions—which meant this wound could be healed without use of the Repair Program. The severity of the wound, however…
7 tried not to think about it too much, and cast a Curaga on Snapdragon. His wounds closed most of the way—the cut on his arm was completely gone, actually—and the bleeding stopped, if just for the moment. He would survive until proper attention could be given to him.
Then again, if they didn't have the Repair Program...
7 dug an ether out of his pocket and downed it, then cast another Curaga on Snapdragon. There. He'd still probably need even more careful attention after everything had calmed down, but it could wait for sure now.
"You're alright," he told Snapdragon. "All healed, or, mostly healed. Anyway. You probably should—"
The swish of a scythe being swung interrupted him. 7 turned to see a Marluxia—that was Ivy, wasn't it?—about to hit him. He got his shield in between him and the scythe before it could hit, and then pushed himself to his feet. Thankfully, he was easily capable of holding his own in battle, and it was only Ivy he had to deal with.
Oh wait, Bloodroot had gotten free of the ice.
Before Bloodroot could attack, however, Snapdragon was there to block him.
"Snapdragon, don't!" 7 hissed. "You should—"
7 cut himself off, though. Two Curagas was plenty to ensure Snapdragon was in at least decent conditions to fight, if not ideal ones. And they couldn't afford to have Snapdragon sit out.
"I'll be fine," Snapdragon insisted. "We just have to hold them off until Axel's done."
7 agreed, but that fact didn't make him feel any better. He had a nasty feeling that it could be quite a while before Axel was done with whatever it was that he was doing, especially if Xemnas was involved, somehow. Hopefully, though, it wouldn't be too much longer.
It couldn't be too much longer…