The Realization of Loss Chapter One Part Three
The door burst open unexpectedly sending a startled chill through the young robots body. He woke abruptly from his horrific nightmares, cruel laughter still ringing in his ears as his eyes blinked opened, focusing on his surroundings only to find his dreams were reality. He was still trapped, still in that little room lying helpless on the cold floor. The only difference from before was that he had company.
"Doesn't look like much, does he?" A gruff voice commented.
"Doesn't look like anything at all." The reply came.
Zero took a deep trembling breath, his eyes falling upon the gleaming metal legs of the tall, animal-like Repliroids standing over him imposingly. As he lifted his head, his gaze moved up their bodies, noting the heavy well-polished armor. He knew them. They had been at the bar that night, singing and cheering with him.
"…please……" He whispered sleepily.
"Pathetic." One snorted. "He begs like a human, just like Lord Sigma said."
The other only shook his head with a frustrated sigh.
"C'mon, let's get him to the throne room."
Zero cringed as they bend down to roughly grab hold of him.
"No..! Please!!"
There wasn't much he could do to fend them off, his body was weak and aching from his earlier struggle. They pulled him to his feet, each grabbing hold of one side of him and holding him between them like a helpless rag doll. A whimper escaped his lips as his wounded foot touched the cold, hard floor, forced to bear some of his weight as he was made to walk forward. Neither Repliroid acknowledged his fear or his pain.
This had to be it, they were taking him off to be their chosen sacrifice. His trembling breaths would be his last in this lifetime all because he wanted to belong, because he believed he'd been accepted as someone special. Lord Sigma lied to him, they all had lied to him and now, he was going to pay the price for trusting their words. All he could think of was his impending death as he was walked through the halls.
The throne room was full. Repliroids stood close to the walls with their eyes focused on Lord Sigma who sat in his raised chair, waiting quietly for his guards to return. Vava shifted a bit behind him, a bit annoyed with standing at attention for so long. There was a hushed silence as Zero was finally brought in, shuddering in terror. The two Repliroids stopped directly in front of the stairs leading to Sigma's throne and forced the frightened child down on his knees against his will, holding him firmly into position before their Lord.
Sigma's red eyed gaze roamed over Zero's features, studying the panic etched on his face. It was an alien emotion to him, even more alien to see it in the eyes of a fellow machine. Zero whimpered, warm, stinging tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Hmph..so this is the great Zero, pitiful." One guard taunted.
"Silence!" Sigma roared.
The Repliroid immediately stiffened up and fell silent at the command.
"….please..please just let me go." Zero wailed, a heavy shudder passed through his body.
"Stop your whining, Zero. You sound like a sick child crying for its mother." Sigma snarled. "I never thought I'd see you this way and quite frankly, it makes me ill."
"..Just send me home!! I'm not a "chosen one", I'm just a kid! Please..(sob)..please don't kill me!" Zero pleaded.
"Kill you?" Sigma spoke, raising an eyebrow at the sobbing robot before him. "Where ever did you get that idea? I don't have any intentions of killing you…at least not yet."
He rose slowly from his chair, his mantle billowing behind him as he made his way down the steps in slow, even strides. Zero wanted to take a step back from him as he came closer but the grip of the guards beside him tightened the moment they felt him flinch.
"Dear Zero..you see, you're just too valuable alive at this point for me to even think of ending your existence, miserable as it may be." He spoke in a smug tone, looking down on the blonde haired youth as he stopped to stand in front of him "I didn't wait this long for your birth just so I could slaughter you, where's the fun in that?"
Sigma placed his fingers on Zero's chin, raising the frightened boys gaze so that it met his own. His lips curled into a smile that made Zero's insides ache.
"No..I have plans for you. You're a very special creature, you possess inside of you a power great enough to conquer the world and I intend to make it mine. That's why I lured X here, I knew you'd be with him. It's a pity that game had to end so suddenly, I was enjoying the masquerade. It's almost a shame that you decided to stay so quickly, we could have had much more fun." Sigma chuckled softly as he drew back his hand from Zero's face.
"W-what a-a-are you going to d-do to me?" Zero asked meekly.
The Repliroid Lord grinned wickedly as the question was asked. He looked down upon Zero like a predator standing over its intended prey, readying to deal the fatal blow.
"Whatever I wish to little one." His regal voice spoke. "You'd be surprised at the things you can live through."
Zero uttered a small gasp of horror at the mere thought of what the words meant.
"Of course…if you co-operate this will be much easier on you. I just want a little information and if you give it to me willingly, everything will be fine. Am I making myself clear?" Sigma spoke calmly.
Zero couldn't answer, he only nodded silently unable to find the courage to speak at that moment. He choked back his tears, trying to tell himself that if he just told this monster what he wanted to know, things would be alright, maybe he'd even get to go home.
"Good. I want you to tell me everything you remember about this city. I know you still have the memories, I could see it in your eyes when you stood at the window in my office. Tell me your secrets and I'll be merciful, playing dumb only annoys me."
"But…" Zero began. "I've never been here before..I-I don't know what you want me to tell you.."
"Don't lie to me." Sigma growled, his eyes flashing a deeper red than before. "I can see the way you look at things, you remember being here. You remember X, you feel the same for him and I know you remember other things as well. Tell them to me!"
"I don't know!!" Zero cringed at Sigma's words.
"Pity. That's the wrong answer." Sigma spoke.
He drew his hand back quickly, before Zero could even respond, and struck the young child hard in the face with a loud crack. Zero yelped from the sudden pain as his head snapped back, even Blues had never hit him that hard before.
"Now..perhaps you'd like to try that again?" Sigma spoke in a calm yet mocking voice.
"I..I…d-d-don-n't kn-n-now!!" Zero whimpered pitifully, his eyes tightly closed in preparation of another strike.
A low growl escaped Sigma's lips.
"Stop your whimpering Zero." He hissed. "You always were stubborn but this…this is just pathetic."
From behind Sigma's throne, Vava snorted in disgust as if to agree. This certainly was not what he had expected. All that planning for a sniveling child, Lord Sigma must have had a circuitry glitch. The blonde haired child hardly seemed to be the great warrior he had expected.
Zero didn't answer Sigma, he could no longer find the courage to speak. He kept his eyes shut, his head lowered, not wanting to see the reality around him anymore. He expected at any moment to feel the killing blows. It was all he could think of. Even if he had known exactly what Sigma asked him to say, it would have been lost in his fear-clouded mind. Sigma grew quite impatient with his victims silence, this little act had gone on long enough. He reached out. grabbing some of Zero's golden hair in his hand and pulling on it roughly to force Zero's attention back on him and the matter at hand. The frightened robot let out a startled yelp, his panicked filled eyes flying open suddenly and meeting Sigma's glowing red gaze once more.
"Well…?" Sigma questioned, a hint of frustration in his voice. "Are you going to tell me or must I be unpleasant and force it out of you?"
Zero opened his mouth to speak, to once more plead for his life and swear he knew nothing but only a low, trembling cry came out. New tears stung his eyes and spilled down his wounded cheek only serving to infuriate Sigma more with his display of weak human emotion.
"Bah, this is getting me nowhere!" Sigma growled, letting go of Zero's hair and backing away. "Take him to the lab, let Serges deal with him and his pitiful whining, he'll be begging for the chance to speak after that."
"Yes Lord Sigma!"
The guards harshly pulled Zero back up onto his feet, seeming to make sure his wounded foot was forced to bear most of his weight against the hard floor as they dragged him forward. His whimpers and cries echoed through the throne room, drawing the attention of several Repliroids who glanced at him with contempt in their cold eyes. No one spoke a word, they didn't have to, hatred and impending doom hung in the air. Zero cringed knowing that worse torture most likely awaited him where ever he was being taken though it was very hard to imagine anything worse than the vivid images of his own death that filled his mind already. It didn't matter that Sigma had said he would not kill him, Zero felt it deep inside of him – he was going to die and he was terrified.
"It seems your chosen one is the silent type, O' great Lord." Vava commented, crossing his arms across his chest.
"So he is..but not for long. The information I desire must be somewhere in his programming. Serges will find it even if he has to search every circuit in his body." A small smile crossed Sigma's lips as he spoke, knowing the deliciously painful torture Serges would inflict upon the unwilling child. "This was merely a simple setback."
Vava nodded in response, his true reaction hidden behind his facemask.
"We shall see M'lord, we shall see.."
"We shall indeed." Sigma said as he turned towards the direction the guards had taken. "I will see to it personally."
"Stop, STOP.." Zero cried, squirming with all the energy he had left to get loose from the guards strong grip. "P-please…"
"Be quiet!!" One of the Repliroid guards hissed angrily and tightened his hold on Zero's arm.
His partner moved quickly to place the last metal restraint around the boy's wrist, pinning him helplessly to the cold lab table with a low grunt.
"Damn kid still has some fight left in him." The other guard remarked.
"Feh..he's still pathetic, the one Lord Sigma spoke of would have beat us both into the ground."
Zero kept his eyes on them both, his mind locked into such a panic that he didn't really comprehend what they were talking about. He could feel himself breathing at a rapid pace and the tightness of the restraints on his body. There was no escape from his fate and all he could feel was the pure horror of whatever gruesome death had been planned for him.
"……please…. .." He whimpered, not knowing if he was speaking to the guards or himself.
Footsteps echoed on the hard floor and moved closer to the lab table. Zero shut his eyes, he didn't want to see anymore, didn't want to hear anymore.
A rather short Repliroid, even smaller than Zero, glanced over the table with dull, emotionless eyes, one open wide like a camera lens, taking in every detail. His features resembled those of the typical old scientist usually found in any human horror movie involving a laboratory. Gleaming white metal served as a moustache and beard, several spikes of it placed atop his head to simulate hair and he was bent over slightly, as if deliberately made to be an old man. His armor, however, shattered any illusions – it being just as heavy looking as any other Repliroids.
"I see you have brought me another..experiment." He said to the guards, his voice had even been made to sound more like that of an aged human male.
"Lord Sigma ordered him brought here." The guard replied.
"Indeed I did. You are both dismissed, Serges and I need to discuss our "guests" fate alone." Sigma spoke softly from the entrance way.
The Repliroid lord seemed to have appeared in the room unnoticed until he had spoken, no one had heard him enter. Despite this, the guards both turned and hurriedly saluted him, moving to leave the lab without another word.
"Lord Sigma, I was expecting you sooner or later." Serges spoke as he checked the restraints on the trembling youth.
"Excellent. I hope you're well prepared. This task could prove to be a test of your abilities." Sigma replied and moved closer to the lab table.
"So this is him then?" Serges asked, dull red eyes meeting Sigma's gaze.
"In the flesh so to speak." Sigma answered with a slight grin.
"Flesh..don't remind me." Serges snorted resentfully, turning to the tray beside him and checking his lab tools.
"Of course, it won't happen again." Sigma replied with a hint of sarcasm.
"So what do you want me to do with him?"
"Well, you see he's being a bit difficult and hiding information from me. Perhaps if you did a full examination, you could aid him in remembering."
A twisted grin crossed the scientist's face.
"A full examination, I'd be glad to, it's been ages since I've had something new to tinker with."
Sigma smiled slightly at the old man's response.
"I figured that but do keep in mind that I prefer to have him still functioning after you've had your…fun."
"Of course my Lord, I'll make sure to put him back together in working order." Serges spoke as he picked up a tool from his table and admired the way it gleamed in the artificial light.
"Good. You have my consent to do whatever you deem necessary. I'll be extremely disappointed if you fail me Serges….you do remember what happened the last time you didn't quite succeed, don't you?" Sigma deepened his voice, the last few words sounding full of malice.
"I do my Lord…it will never happen again.." Serges replied as he kept his gaze on the sharp bladed tool in his hand.
"I certainly hope so for your sake."
The Repliroid Lord cast his gaze down to Zero's trembling body, his face taking on a curious look as he brushed the tips of his fingers over a swollen spot on the robot's cheek.
"You bruise just like a human would….Fascinating…" He spoke softly to himself. "Your secrets will be mine soon enough though, Little One, you can't hide from the one who knows you best."
He drew his hand back, slightly surprised by the lack of reaction from his "toy".
"I wish to know everything you find out about him Serges, every detail."
"I will record everything Lord Sigma." Serges promised.
"Good…then I'll leave you to your work." Sigma spoke and turned, his mantle flowing regally behind him as he made his way to the door.
"I won't disappoint you! This will be my most thorough examination ever!" Serges called to him but no reply came.
The old Repliroid turned his attention back to his victim and smiled as he realized panic had completely taken over Zero's senses. That made it all the more fun, torturing a panic-stricken victim by driving them to the brink of insanity, making them pray to even the most vile of deities for the pain to end. It had been too long since he had indulged himself in the screams of a helpless creature and felt the power of knowing a living being was completely at his mercy.
"Oh yes…" He spoke in a low and demented voice, red eyes sparkling with eagerness "I will do the most thorough examination ever…"
He broke into gleeful laughter turning to the insane cackling of a madman as it filled the room and echoed through the darkened hallways..
Saga X is Copyright 1995-2001 of Roll-Chan Productions and may not be reproduced in any form without written consent from the author.
Sigma, Zero and others are Copyrights of Capcom Japan and are used without permission.
No money or other personal gain is being made off this fic because..um..it sucks.
Anxiety attacks courtesy of Serges acting weird –bops him-
Next up: X and the Rhythm of love (just kidding..we hope)
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