Months later....
Love…can someone like me feel it? Can a machine feel it? Can a half machine? These questions boggle my mind day in and day out. Those who are the same thing can love but…could I? Before I thought I could, but back then…I was whole. Now I question if I can; for now I was a hybrid. I was half Mobian, half reploid. A twist of fate caused by misjudgment that cost me my right side. I know I could love before, no doubt about it. But could I love now like I could before? Is it possible anymore? I look out over the cliff at the setting sun ahead. The sky was in shades of orange, pink and red; the ocean shimmered in the sunlight. Ever since what Fiona told me before, when I told her about my machine side, she told me something I didn't want to hear…about my capability to love. I knew she was still jealous cause my lover chose me over her, but how she told me…she sounded believable. The conversation was one I would never forget.
"Love? Ha! Like you could. It wouldn't matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to repeat your past." "But Fiona, you can't be right. You can't!" "I'm sorry Haley, but fact is fact. You're not Mobian anymore, and you're not machine either; you're both. You're a hybrid now, a mechanical Mobian freak. Your high hopes of ever having a family are impossible now Haley. You might as well forget about starting a family, cause now it's just like all your other fantasies; it's just…a…dream." I ran out of the room, tears welling in my eyes. I ran straight down the hall and out the base entrance. I ran fast as I could here to the cliff, and here I was. And you know what…I actually believed her; for the first time in my life…she was right.
I was nothing but a hybrid; a freak. I could never go back, I could never be whole. I was now and forever a freak. I held my face in my hands, tears swelling in of my eyes, I couldn't hold them back any longer. I started to cry, my tears making puddles in my hands. Soon the sky was black and the stars looked down upon me; judging me. I was so upset, not only because of what Fiona said, but that I've been lying to my longest lover yet. If he found out about my secret, he probably wouldn't love me anymore. We had been together for so long and he's missed me so much. If he ever found out the truth, I don't know how he'll react. Would he still love me? Would he leave me? Would he run off and vanish? I didn't know how he'd react. I lift my face out of my hands, my eyes big and wet. I looked out at the moon lit ocean and see the moon and stars dance in the waters. Suddenly my sadness turned to jealousy. Hating all the others, just because they were whole. Cause they were real Mobians, while I was the only half freak here.
I felt so lonely, out of place, like I didn't belong…and it was true. I didn't belong here. I was a half freak and I'd always be one. I couldn't change it, no matter how much I wanted to. My anger turns back into sadness; depression even. For no one could understand me; not my friends, my family or even my own lover. I broke down into tears again, hugging my knees against my chest; they ran down my face in streams, my face buried in my knees. I was so upset that I didn't hear someone walk up beside me. "Are you okay Haley?" A voice says. I lift my face and my tearful eyes look up to see my lover; Scourge. His voice was just as sweet as it was before. "Yes, I'm fine." I say with a sniffle. Though my voice couldn't hide that I was upset. "You don't sound fine to me. What troubles you my sweet?" Scourge asks, tilting my head up by my chin. "It's nothing, nothing you need to know about." I say, turning my head away from him. He got down on his knees right beside me and buries his face into my neck. "Please Haley; I don't like it when you're upset. I just need to know." Scourge pleads. I knew I'd never win this battle. I turn my head to him as he sits up. "Fine," I say, taking a deep breath.
"Scourge, I don't really know how to say this but…when you asked me earlier if anything happened to me to change me while I was away…I lied." I say, looking down at the ground. "What do you mean? What happened?" Scourge says, lifting my head up by the chin again. I take another deep breath. "Well, when I was in the Neo Arcadian desert, I ran into these Maverick bots; the patrol ones. I told you about them yesterday." I say. "Yes, I know what you're talking about." Scourge says. "Well, I ran into a group of them while I was traveling through the desert. I destroyed all but one. I tried to charge at it to destroy it but-" I stopped. I couldn't go on because a bad feeling started in my stomach. "But what?" Scourge asks, laying one of his hands on my robotic one. He couldn't tell the difference because of the fake fur that was over it. "Well, the one I tried to attack was a bomber; suicide bomber. And before I could attack it, before I could even slash it, it exploded. I was sent flying backwards. And when I tried to get up…I couldn't move my right side. I didn't know why at first, I thought I was stunned by the explosion so I fell asleep to see if it would go away. I woke up as the sun was setting and I still couldn't move. I thought I was done for…until Zero came along. He found be and took me back to his military camp, where he was assigned." I say. I look up at Scourge, he had that worried look in his eye. I saw it every time I got hurt. I could tell by that look in his eyes that he knew it would get worse…and he was right, it did.
"I blacked out for a while and when I woke up I was able to move my right side but something wasn't right with it. When I tried to stand up, I collapsed to the floor, like my right leg didn't have any strength at all. After I picked myself up, a nurse walked into the medical tent. It was Nurse Susie. I told you about her too." I say. "Yeah," Scourge says. "Well, after I hopped back up on the bed, she explained about what happened while I was out. Zero brought me to her, she examined me. Then she told me something I couldn't believe at first myself." I say. "What'd she say?" Scourge says. I could tell he was tensing up, so I just told him straight. "She said that what I thought was my right side stunned…it was really paralyzed. And she tried everything she could to relieve it, but she couldn't. She-" I paused for a minute, trying to regain my composure. "She had to replace my right side…with reploid technology." I say, looking away from Scourge. I thought he would end it there, that he'd just get up and run off, never seeing me again. Tears began to form in my eyes. Soon I feel Scourge turn my face to see his by the chin again. "That's what you've been keeping secret for so long?" Scourge says. I nodded. I could say anything because I knew if I did, I'd break down into sobs. "Why'd you keep it secret for so long?" Scourge asks. "Because," I say with a sniffle. "I thought you would think of me as a hybrid freak. I thought you'd run off, that you'd never wanna see me again. I-I was afraid that you would leave me." I say. That was when I broke down into tears.
I buried my face into my hands and my tears quickly filled my hands. Scourge lays a hand on my shoulder. I look up at him. "Haley, I'd never leave you because you're different. That's the reason I fell in love with you in the first place. Not that you were strong, or courageous, or loyal. But because you were different. And I haven't changed my reason for it since you left. Being a hybrid just makes you more different, more the reason to be with you." Scourge says, rubbing the back of his hand on my hot, wet face. "But still, Fiona said that now that I'm a hybrid, I couldn't be the same as I was before. That I couldn't remake the spark that brought us together. She called me a mechanical Mobian freak." I say, as I begin to cry again. Scourge pulls me close to him, letting me cry into his chest. He stroked my back to settle me down. As soon as I stopped crying, I looked up into his blue eyes; my own red eyes soaked with tears. "Listen; Fiona wouldn't know that. She's never been part machine. How would she know that? I mean, didn't you tell me that some of the Maverick Hunters had kids?" Scourge says. I nodded, not wanting to sit up. His embrace was too warm to leave. "Well, if they were able to, then maybe you can still." Scourge says. "Are you sure?" I ask. "Only one way to find out," Scourge says. I lift my head away from his chest, he kisses me and I kiss back. Slowly but surely we made our way through it all. That night made me realize that Fiona was wrong…yet again. Scourge had shown me the error of my ways and made me feel like I was really whole again. Like the first time we met.