Chapter 12: Memories and facts
"What do you mean, 'they don't fit'?"
Roxas blinked a couple of times in order to see clearly in the sudden absence of the screen light.
Zexion looked at him with a slightly panicked expression in his eyes, panic of knowing he'd missed out on information. In a way, it almost would have seemed funny, hadn't it been for the not so funny context.
"Well, for one, Sora and Riku were friends long before they got involved with the organization, but that file says that they met only after Sora had been with the organization for a year," Roxas clarified to him. " And Riku was never able to reach the level of a keyholder, but he still operated as one with the help of some corrupt code he'd got hold of, probably through Ansem. Sora knew about it, but he never said anything, because he didn't want Riku to be expelled from the organization. He wanted him close, because he..." Roxas had to make a pause as he tried to find the words to explain the information he'd got from the memories in his head. "They cared for eachother and had promised to be together, to help eachother out, no matter what happened..."
Roxas slowly sunk down on his knees as Zexion watched him with growing concern. Tears were showing in Roxas' eyes as he went on.
"Sora saved Riku's life for the same reason Axel tried to find me: because he couldn't imagine living without him. And he made him promise... He made Riku promise... before he entered the hack mode, he made him promise... not to let him get through the last wall if he made it that far. He told him to not let Ansem get a hold of the Kingdom Heart, no matter the cost..."
Roxas couldn't breathe properly and without success he tried to stop the tears from falling and his lips to shudder as the memory of someone else's nightmareish experiences kept repeating itself over and over behind his eyelids.
And all the time Zexion stood helpless, watching the legitimate heir of the most skilled code cracker in history break down over a memory triggered by two innocent photographs.
After a while Roxas felt Zexion's small hand on his shoulder.
"Roxas... what is it that you're not telling me?"
Roxas looked up at Zexion with red lined eyes showing a true pain of the heart.
He slowly sucked in a deep breath to stabilize his voice.
"I came down here because I didn't know where else to turn for some sort of information... Zexion, please tell me that it's nothing to worry about! I know I'm just overreacting..."
Zexion hushed at him, slightly uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"What is it that you shouldn't worry about? That Xemnas will try to use you to overtake the most guarded source of information in the world? That your memories aren't yours?"
Roxas forced back a growing panic in his chest.
"That Axel hasn't come back here since he left one week ago."
Zexion stepped back in surprise. Apparently there were a lot of information that he hadn't been given lately.
"What are you talking about? Is he missing? Why haven't I been told...? " he suddenly stopped himself as a realisation suddenly struck him full on. "Wait, who else knows about this?"
Roxas thought for a moment before he answered.
"Let's see... Larxene knows and Marluxia... and I think Lexaeus said something two days ago about Axel finally keeping his nose to himself or something. I don't know about Vexen or the others. Xemnas should know something though, since he's the one who sent him out on the mission and I bet Saix is starting to wonder about his absence as well..."
Zexion stared at him for a moment while he took in the facts of what Roxas told him.
"Well if Axel's missing, we're in some deep shit," he finally mumbled and Roxas looked at him in confusion.
"Why do you say that?"
Zexion stared at him as if he'd just told him that he couldn't read.
"Are you really telling me you haven't even once noticed the fact that Axel is the head of the defence here, that without him all our security is at risk and our firewall down for the counting?"
Roxas actually felt a bit stupid for not having given those things a closer thought. But now that he was, he suddenly felt it as if a cold hand squeezed at his heart, as something finally clicked in his mind.
"Zexion, if someone wanted to hack the KH, wouldn't it be easiest to do so through a protecting unit while the anti-virus system and all other defences are down, leaving a number of walls as fragile as a one-digit password?"
"Well, doesn't that question answer itself?" Zexion said, then froze as he understood. "Oh..." he said slowly.
"We, the organization, have through Sora's actions, and the key keepers before him, been protecting parts of the KH's main security coding. If someone knows that the system's firewalls are down, they'd take their chance to attack," Roxas continued and got back up on his feet. "And this attempt would work even better if that person operated from one of the protecting unit's own computers."
Zexion's eyes went wide with the final conclusion.
"Are you telling me that someone inside the organization is trying to betray the entire meaning of our existence in order to get through to the Heart?"
Roxas grabbed his arm and stared him straight in the eyes.
"They're already doing it! Now show me out of here before it's too late to do something about it!"
Zexion was too upset by the whole impact of the conspiracy theory laid out to him to do anything else than silently obey the demand. Together they started running down the rows of bookshelves towards the entrance, Roxas not even a footstep behind Zexion.
"What are you planning to do?" Zexion asked when they turned around a corner and could spot the entrance doors.
"I may be a code breaker, but I'm also quite good at building codes as well as cracking them. I'll make something up," Roxas replied, his face set in a stern expression of determination.
"Any way I can help?
Roxas felt a bit odd at the thought of being the one to order the older librarian what to do, but since he'd asked for it...
"Do you think you could find any useful information on Ansem or Diz in this place? Because that would be very helpful."
Zexion nodded and slowed down to a stop by the doors. As he opened them to let Roxas out, he turned to the blonde with a grave expression.
"I will let the others know about this. Xemnas, Demyx... and, do you think Larxene is safe?"
Roxas nodded hastily as he went through the opening and started running through the corridor towards the stairs.
Roxas nearly collided with Marluxia as he turned around the last corner before the door leading to the computer central.
"Woah, take it easy, kid!" the pink haired man reprimanded him and grabbed a hold on his shirt collar before he got too far away.
Roxas halted instantly as the pressure on his throat pulled him backwards and almost brought him out of his balance.
"Marluxia, let me go! I need to do something..."
"Always such a rush," Marluxia said with a smirk. "It can wait. Xemnas is looking for you, so you better come with me."
Marluxia didn't wait for Roxas to oblige to this, he simply started pulling him along by his arm.
"Hey, wait, you can't just drag me around like this!" Roxas tried to object while flailing violently with his arms to get free from Marluxia's iron grip.
"Oh, but I can, Roxas, and I'm going to get you over to Xemnas' office whether you want to or not." He stopped in front of a small key pad placed in the wall and pressed the button for the private elevator leading directly to the room of the head of the organization. There was a beep and Marluxia punched in a four digit code and suddenly the wall in front of them opened up to reveal the hidden transportation device. Roxas was pushed inside and quickly followed by Marluxia sealing off the escape route. The latter pushed the up button and the elevator's doors closed.
About five seconds later, the doors opened and Marluxia shoved Roxas out into the same office where he'd seen Xemnas directly after he'd awakened from the coma.
Roxas grimaced as he thought of the unfairness that he'd been forced to use the stairs that last time he visited, when there obviously had been a way in which he could've gotten there faster and be a whole lot less exhausted by the transportation.
"Take it easy, Marluxia," Xemnas' voice boomed softly towards them from the direction of the desk. Roxas turned to look, but couldn't see him.
"Of course, sir," Marluxia said in a soft chirping voice, his entire face suddenly cracking up in a big, strained smile.
Roxas shuddered at the false act of flatter. Not only was Marluxia a bully and a perv, but he added to that list of abilities with being a big kiss-up.
"Leave me with him for a moment will you?" Xemnas' voice came once again.
Marluxia never stopped smiling, he just bowed and backed his way back into the elevator and went back down, leaving Roxas alone in the big room with the voice of the organization's charismatic leader.
Roxas got himself seated in the same chair that he'd sat in at his last visit and looked about, searching the room for the source of the voice.
"You won't find me by looking at everything else," Xemnas said with the hint of a laughter in his voice.
Roxas turned his eyes towards the sound and finally spotted him standing tight next to one of the big, heavy black drapes hanging from the window tops. He was wearing a long black leather coat. The moment before the hood on it had been up, concealing him in the shadows. Now it was pulled back and the white hair stood out from the otherwise black spot in which he stood.
"I've called you here today because I mean to tell you something you should know about Ansem."
"About Ansem?" Roxas repeated, making sure he'd heard right.
Xemnas nodded slowly and turned to face him, his eyes fixating on Roxas'.
"Ansem was a fool, a dangerous fool, but still a fool," Xemnas started. "He tried to join the organization when he was about your age."
Roxas hadn't known this, and the surprise must have shown in his face, because suddenly Xemnas' mouth widened in an amused smile.
"He was talented, no talk about it. But he was also unstable and easily drawn to do things for the sake of taking on a challenge – like hacking into places you're supposed to help keep shut."
While Xemnas talked, Roxas started to wonder about why he'd truly called for him – to teach him a piece of history or to just delay him from intervening with the highly possible hacking of the Kingdom Heart. As soon as the thought hit him, though, he shoved it away as ridiculous.
Xemnas' smile grew wider as he noticed Roxas' impatient shifting in the chair.
"In short, his application to join was, after a test period, declined, but he had managed to get some friends inside the walls before he left. You might be wondering why I'm telling you this, right?"
Roxas gave him a short nod for an answer.
Xemnas' eyes gleamed in the dim light.
"It's important to know your enemy, Roxas. His goals, dreams, wishes... his strengths and his weaknesses. Ansem's weakness was his short thinking and his impatience. His strength, on the other hand, was his will to succeed and a cunning mind."
"So, what does this have to do with Diz?" Roxas asked with a growing feeling of missing something important. "Are you saying I should try to find out his strengths and weaknesses?"
Xemnas' smile faltered for a moment.
"Roxas, have you given your own strengths and weaknesses a thought? Because I'm sure that it's more or less obvious to anyone watching you."
"Really? So, what are they then?" Roxas replied defiantly, proving that he hadn't thought about it at all himself and getting even more aware of the feeling that he was missing something very important.
The pleased expression on Xemnas' face wasn't what Roxas had expected and the Cheshire grin that was back on his lips sent a chill of ill-boding premonition through Roxas' spine.
"I'm guessing you've noticed the absence of our firewall programmer," Xemnas said, his voice smooth as cream.
A pinch in Roxas' chest told him that this meeting was going in the wrong direction and he started to feel even more anxious than before to leave the room.
"To be frank with you, Roxas, you probably have more strengths than weaknesses, but the one weakness you do have seems to be far greater than your strength."
This made Roxas flinch and a rage built up in him.
"What do you mean by that? Here I'm doing my best to just remember who I am, and you demand that I change a part of me that I have no control over? Why did you really want to see me, sir? Because, frankly, I need to be elsewhere and if you're going to waste my time talking about my faults, I'm so leaving this room."
Xemnas laughed.
"Really now? Haven't you figured it out already? The greatest code cracker of our time tells me he still haven't figured out how to find the key to a code he's been served for a week!"
Roxas grimaced with dislike at the changed attitude. He wasn't used to being laughed at like this, to be mocked for not being able to do something.
"If it's so simple, then how come I don't know what the hell you're talking about?" Roxas spit out and got on his feet, ready to leave the room.
Xemnas took a few steps and was now within an arm's reach of Roxas.
The black leather coat creaked with Xemnas' every motion, following the shape of his body tightly. This new outfit was starting to get on Roxas' nerves. It made him think of nightmares he wished never to re-visit. Dreams of drowning in darkness...
"My dear key bearer, I suggest you take a moment to think about what you know about this entire situation," Xemnas said slowly. "Sometimes the best of codes, the ones that are the hardest to crack, are the ones that are easier to crack than expected..."
Roxas mumbled slowly to himself as he did what he'd been told to do and started to place out all the pieces of the puzzle given to him.
It all circled around the want to get inside the Kingdom Heart.
The start was when Sora was accepted into the organization. Then, Riku was contacted by someone with the power to make his progress through the organization go faster. This someone had to be a person highly ranked, with access to key-codes hidden from most people.
That person, Roxas had guessed to be someone who got Riku in touch with Ansem, a not too bad hacker himself.
Ansem tricks Riku into start breaking into the Heart and for some reason leaves enough traces behind him for Sora to find them, free Riku and take his place. But before that, Roxas reminded himself, Sora had been through a session with the NAMINÉ that had gone wrong.
This session had been ordered by Xemnas, saved by Marluxia and stored by Zexion. Someone who knew about the session then stole the data from it, to use it on Roxas in order to blend his mind and heart with that of Sora's and, by doing so, get the ultimate key bearer to use as a wall breaker against the security systems surrounding the Heart.
Now that someone was a strange man called Diz, the same man who possibly wants to repeat Ansem's coup in a refined version of the original plan.
Axel had managed to break the blending before completion, leaving Roxas half way in-between his own memories and those belonging to Sora. After this, Axel had gone missing on a mission Xemnas sent him on...
Roxas shuffled the pieces around in his mind, trying to find a pattern to lock and from that pattern build up the main frame through which he'd be able to enter, and finally crack open, the code hidden within those pieces.
Sora, Riku, Roxas, Axel, Ansem, Xemnas, Diz…
Suddenly there was a light turned on in the back of his mind and Roxas inhaled loudly as the pieces were finally falling into place. He almost felt like hitting himself in the head for not having seen it all earlier.
Xemnas stepped closer.
"Axel figured it out way faster, you know," he said calmly and put a leather clad hand on Roxas' shoulder.
Roxas shuddered at the touch.
"How… how did you do it?" Roxas asked as the final piece was linked to the puzzle.