Dark silence. Two things humans, even after millions of years of evolution, still dreaded. Perhaps they generated electricity against the darkness. Perhaps they composed music against the silence. Zero required neither. He held no innate fears, for he was once dead, but now he was alive, and with a purpose. So it was with anticipation he hopped away from the throwing knives that whistled through the dark silence.

A white skeleton emerged from the shadows, slowly taking the shape of a reploid who held a rather sharp wakizashi in hand.

"I am Phantom, the Shadow General, Guardian of Neo Arcadia."

"Hi, I'm Zero."

"You have defied Master X, and now you will pay for your sins."

"Hi, I'm Zero."

Phantom frowned.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"No."

"Impudent fool!"

"Hi, I'm Zero."

"Graaah!"

Phantom rushed Zero, the short sword flashing white in the darkness. Zero reared back and slammed his saber into the ground, tearing rocks loose with the force of the charged blast. Phantom was sent flying, but the Guardian unfolded a giant shuriken and rode it through the air, throwing knives and then himself at Zero, who performed a half-turn and smacked Phantom aside with a reverse cut. Reeling from his injuries, Phantom admitted, "Your kung fu is strong."

Zero waved at him.

"Hi, I'm Zero."

"You annoying insect!"

Phantom clasped his hands and performed a shadow clone technique. Zero sighed.

"You are not Naruto."

He shot the one with the highest energy output. Phantom grunted, leaped upward and threw down a giant shuriken. Zero jumped over it, but the shuriken exploded into four knives on contact with the ground. Zero's leg was grazed.

"Hah!" Phantom gloated.

"Your frontal armour plates are damaged, along with that nasty cut on your back," Zero countered. The Guardian growled and lifted clasped hands. A flaming aura surrounded him.

Poof. He was gone. Zero blinked.

"He retreated?"

Throwing knives came from nowhere. Zero got one lodged in his shoulder before scampering out of the way. When the next set of knives flew, he pinpointed their origin and shot Phantom out of his camouflage mode.

"Argh!"

Zero dislodged the knife, grimacing at the circulatory fluid staining it.

"Okay, now I'm annoyed."

Zero went on the offensive, cutting Phantom's sword apart and splitting the silly skull helmet in two.

"My name is not 'annoying insect'. I am Zero."

Phantom glared at him.

"I will not forget it. Enjoy my parting gift."

The darkness lifted as Phantom retreated, and Zero saw the dead reploids littering the factory's entrance. One of them still had their communicator keyed to the Resistance Base…

"This is Zero. A Guardian neutralized the perimeter guards."

"This is Ciel. Roger that, Zero. Return to base."

"Not yet."

"Why? You want some crystals?"

His optic sensors knew full well what the timer on the upper right corner of the screen meant.

"Phantom rigged the place to explode. I'm going in."

"There's no time! Retreat while you can!"

"Ciel, you know damn well that they haven't learnt to set realistic timers on their instant-death traps."

True to his word, he had a full minute to spare by the time he deactivated the final bomb.

"Now, about those crystals…"

"But you gathered enough!"

"Think of it as retirement planning."

"You… you're going to retire?"

"Not me. You."

888

Ciel was irate when he explained his opinion to her.

"I am not running away, Zero!"

"Ciel, you can convert this base into a caravan and escape from here. Take all the energy crystals I gathered and leave Neo Arcadia to me. I don't want you anywhere near this place in case I fail."

"Are you saying you don't need us anymore?" Ciel blurted out. Zero was on the verge of saying yes, but basic programming forbade logic.

"You are the reason I fight. Your happiness is my goal."

Ciel stared into those dark eyes.

"Why?"

Zero did not smile as he said, "Nothing else matters."

Ciel had to look away to hold back the tears. She hated crying in front of him. It made her feel doubly weak to break down in front of one who knew no tears.

"Zero… if you take away obstacles from humans, they cannot grow. Obstacles give humans… give me the drive to live. Think about the energy problem. I need to stay here and do research so that I can prove to Neo Arcadia that they don't need to retire reploids to conserve energy."

Zero thought this over several million times before replying a few seconds later, "I cannot conceive of a new energy source. Only you are capable of such a thing, and if that brings you happiness, then I will allow you to stay."

Zero walked away. Ciel frowned slightly.

"Allow me?"