" – So it's like half past midnight, and I'm walking through the dorms, you know?" Axl narrates, arms akimbo in grand gestures to go along with his story, "And I hear this ghastly moan echo through the hall, all, 'You let us diiieeeeeee – '"

Zero grimaces. It sounds like one of his usual nightmares. "You sure you weren't dreaming, Axl?" He asks, crossing his arms. "And besides, what does this have to do with Rock? Or Roll?"

"I'm getting to it!" Axl declares, pouting. "It's right after I hear this stuff that Rock pops out right behind me!" The reploid cries, hands held above his head to demonstrate story-Rock's method of 'popping-out'. "Scared the bejeezus out of me! I mean at first he was all casual, 'Hey, Axl,' and, 'What kind of noises?' But then when I mention ghosts, Rock says, 'Those aren't ghosts.' And when I ask him how he knows, he's just 'I just know.'" Axl shivers.

Zero does his best to suppress his own. Arugh. Axl really knows how to set an atmosphere.

"Axl, don't tell me you believe in ghosts?" X says, watching the whole display with a bemused air. "You've been watching too many movies recently." He scolds.

"I have not!" Axl denies on auto, then amends, "Well, a little. In the name of research!" He adds. "Just so I know what to do when I come across one. If I do."

It's a losing battle. Zero grins and pats Axl across the head. "Give it up, Axl. X is right. Don't you think you have a little too much free time if you have nothing better to do than watch ghost movies…?"

"Ah, er, well." Axl doesn't meet Zero's eyes.

X does. A grin of mutual understanding passes between them. "Maybe you need something to keep you occupied, Axl?" X asks, voice casual. Too casual.

Zero bites down on a smile. "I can think of a whole lot of things that need to get done, X." He adds, watching Axl stiffen in his peripheral. "Alia did say something about needing people to help train the newbies with navigation…."

X nods sagely, expertly ignoring Axl's increasingly panicked looking expression. "I think Signas always has a backlog of paperwork he needs help with, too – "

"Whoa man, would you look at the time?" Axl blurts loudly, interrupting the conversation. "I need to get back to my room! To recharge! I'll see you two in the morning bye – "

The reploid is gone before Zero or X can get a word in edgewise.

X snorts. "That was even faster than usual."

"Why can't he haul his butt that fast during missions?" Zero adds, wryly. "Can you imagine the mission time records he'd set?"

X laughs. "It's something to consider. Chase him around with paperwork when he starts dawdling."

Zero smirks. "I'll keep it in mind."

-ooo-

He's safe absolutely nowhere.

Axl taps out a short sequence of rhythms on his forearms to keep from jogging through the hallways. It's been too quiet around town, with few proper missions to keep him busy. It's gotta be why he keeps feeling so agitated.

And why Rock makes him feel so… jumpy.

Axl keeps running into the reploid wherever he goes. In the dorms, in the break room, heck, he's seen the kid while exiting the simulation rooms! Rock doesn't even do battle exercises, considering he's part of the few departments strictly set for support.

He just can't look the child-type in the face anymore. Not after consecutive late night viewings of child based horror movies. With the weird noises and severed body parts and – eurgh! Oh man, he can't do it. For all Axl knows, Rock is going to do that 180 degree head spin next, and he really can't be held responsible if he accidentally shoots the kid.

Axl sighs. There's only so many runs of the same simulations he can do before he goes nuts. If some major Irregular attack doesn't occur soon, he might just start one himself – his trigger finger is absolutely itching for action!

"Axl?"

"Gyah!" Axl whips around, pistol already out. "R-R-Rock!" He stutters, systems still in high gear. It takes him a moment to calm down enough to relax his stance. "Sorry. Sorry. You scared me! Where did you come from?"

The child still holds his hands up as Axl disengages his auto lock, legs slightly bent in a cautious gesture of peace. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." Rock apologizes, bowing his head slightly. "I've been calling you from down the hall the entire time. I really didn't mean to, ah – " The reploid fidgets, eyes flicking off to the side before focusing on Axl's face. "Perhaps you were listening to something else?"

The kid had been calling him the entire time? Axl frowns, trying to remember if he heard anything – rather, his head had been in the clouds his entire walk. He can hardly remember getting down to the dorms at all. "Nah, I was just thinking," Axl admits, grinning sheepishly. "Did'ya need something, Rock?"

There is a strange silence for a moment while Rock stares intently at Axl. Axl's smile falters. Is there something on his face? "Rock?" He tries, waving a hand across the child's face.

Rock blinks. "Sorry," The child says immediately. He continues, "Miss Pallette asked me to find you. She wants you to try out some equipment she has developed."

Ah. Guinea pig time. "I'll head over then. R&D right?" Axl asks, feet already moving. Testing things always promised to be explosive – or interesting at the very least. It'd help with his extra energy at any rate.

Barely listening for Rock's positive answer, Axl hurries off down to the labs.

He doesn't see the child's concerned eyes following his form down the length of the hallway.

-ooo-

"X," Alia calls on X's private comm channel. "I need you to come down to the labs!" The navigator sounds breathless.

X is on his feet and speeding through the HQ in an instant. "Alia, what's going on? Are you hurt?" He asks, dash jumping over the heads of startled hunters. "Did an Irregular get into the building – "

"No, no!" Alia laughs, and X skids to a stop right before the emergency stairwell. "It's just – Rock has been helping me on my side project recently – with your armors." Alia clarifies, voice amused. "We think we've finally got something figured out, and I wanted to show you – oh, I didn't mean to scare you!" The reploid laughs.

X quietly turns red. "R-right. Sorry. I'll be down in a few. Thanks Alia."

"No problem, X." Alia responds, tone just this side of teasing. "Take your time."

"Rodger that." X sighs.

-ooo-

"…So what we needed was to replace the identification system and armor DNA printing system!" Alia finishes, Rock nodding eagerly beside the taller reploid.

X frantically searches his dusty memories for the correct scientific literature. "Wasn't the problem that the identification blueprint corrupted and we can't get an exact DNA copy from me? I believe we had an incident with Axl – "

"Actually, Rock here," Alia proudly pulls the child to the front by his shoulders, grinning widely, "Figured out a way to temporarily bypass the error so we could recode the blueprint to accept you and then reconfigure it so it would use your identification system to imprint – "

"My DNA," X finishes, blinking. "Of – of course! If we can't pull a copy of my DNA out then – "

"We can use your systems as the base!" Alia's eyes are practically sparkling. "Admittedly, even if we'd tried that before it wouldn't have worked without Rock's jerry-rigging. Dr. Light's security systems are top notch – the fact that we got through them to do this is incredible."

X smiles wanly, "Still ahead of his time, that Dr. Light. Makes me wonder when we'll ever catch up in robotics technology." And the fact that it was Rock and Alia who made this kind of progress – it never stopped catching X off guard, the fact that he worked with such amazing minds. He reaches out to ruffle Rock's hair, pride swelling through his chest.

Matching eyes with the two reploids, X grins, "You're both incredible."

Alia flushes, "Oh stop it. We're only halfway done." She chides, smiling, unable to master her expression into something sterner. "We might be able to get primary trials for refitting your armors done soon."

So stay close to base, X infers. "Let me know when you want to kidnap me for tests." He offers plainly.

"Of course," Alia nods.

"X," Rock starts, tone incredibly sober, "The issue is that using this method will leave your systems open to attack. Dr. Light left these security features in for a reason." The child doesn't quite meet his eyes as he says this, shifting from foot to foot. "I'll have to work on your coding too. So if you don't want to – "

Watching Alia's wide-eyed expression, the boy hadn't mentioned this to her either. It belatedly occurs to X that perhaps he should be suspicious about how quickly Rock figured out how to technically "hack" the armors – and even X's programming, from what the child was inferring – when the rest of the world had attempted for nearly a century without any luck. And yet.

"I'll put myself in your care, Rock." X says, leaning down to the reploid's level. "I trust you and Alia will give me a full play by play on how this is gonna work?" He adds, tone just this side of teasing.

The deflection works, Rock's shoulders loosening visibly, and the child nods. "You won't be in any danger. I promise."

There's so much conviction in the boy's words that X can't help but smile.

-ooo-

"… I didn't even realize – I was so excited that we had a work around I didn't even stop to think – " Alia rambles after they send Rock off.

X puts a placating hand on the navigator's shoulder, smiling. "It's alright, Alia. I know you didn't mean any harm."

Alia snaps her head towards him so fast, X is momentarily glad that reploids don't get whiplash. "It's never been intent that caused problems, X." The ex-researcher near growls. A beat, and then, "Sorry." Alia sighs, slumping.

X squeezes the shoulder under his hand reassuringly. "I know." He offers quietly. There's a landmine here he shouldn't prod. "Nonetheless, I trust you Alia." X hesitates, and then adds, "And Rock as well."

"He's really something," Alia says at length, grin wan. "He navigates his way through the armors like he's known Dr. Light's work his whole life. I honestly don't know how we managed to miss a gem like him all these years." And here her mouth twists into a grimace. "X, was it just me or did he offer to open up your core program?"

The thing that absolutely no one had been able to do thus far – and not for lack of trying.

X rubs the back of his neck, unsure of what to think. Instead he says, "There's just so much I feel like we don't know about Rock and Roll. We're so used to getting reploids living off the grid and without paper trails that it's hardly different that they didn't have any identification before we assigned them some. They don't seem like bad kids but I worry." X sighs, "… For them, even, rather than what they could do."

Would do.

Alia nods absently in agreement. "For the time being, I'll make sure to go over every bit with Rock before we attempt anything." She declares, solemn.

"I know you will, Alia." X says, smiling.

So uh, I just realized it's almost been a year since the last update. Oops.

Don't uh. Worry about the strange nonsense technobabble in this chapter. I have absolutely no idea what I'm saying.