Phantom was beginning to see why the Guardian's Master was all too quick to abandon his duties.
The General of Shadows heaved a deep sigh, dropping his chin into his palm and staring down at the tenth stack of paper to gather under his nose that day, wondering, for the tenth time, what this pertained to. He flicked a sheet over and began reading its contents.
Reports have shown than an increase in Reploid activity outside the city boundaries. A request to form a human unit specially trained with weapons strong enough-
Muttering, Phantom scribbled a denial signature onto the document's bottom corner, and tossed it into a pile of other scraps to be passed back to their owners. There was no 'increase of Reploid activity' anywhere. Harpuia personally saw to such monitoring of the vast desert, and yet the human councilors were either dumb enough, or desperate enough to get their points across they'd make up such weak excuses.
It made little sense to Phantom. Then again, Humans in general were a paradox to him, their strange quirks and emotions that boggled a Reploid's mind were everyday occurrences, and the Guardian's were only given one alternative to deal with these sort of situations.
"Smile, say no thank you, and sign paper work until your hands fall off or are twisted all up into knots." Phantom muttered aloud, knowing X had meant well when he had come up with the cheeky little saying.
Not that it helped his dour mood.
The formation of a human attack unit seemed fair enough, as Fefnir had brought up once during a little spat between them all, (this surprised them all, for the Red General usually was the first to snarl and kick a human away for their weaknesses) and despite their hesitance, the remaining three were forced to think on this matter. X had offered no words. He had sat among them, smiling that odd little smile and just shaking his head.
Letting humans run about with guns designed to break down Reploid's alarmingly quickly wasn't going to be happening any time soon. Phantom knew this, and nonchalantly shoved the papers aside into bin used for recycling the all too precious paper supply. Why they never used a computer networking system, the General could only guess, but for now, Phantom focused on tidying up the office and stepping outside for a breath of fresh air.
A balcony was attached to this particular study, and as of late, Phantom took every chance he could get to stand at the railing of the delicately curved half oval, staring out over the glistening city below. It was dark out now, humans returning to their homes to sleep in preparation of the next day, knowing they were secure and well protected.
Or did they? Obviously some did not, for why else would the papers be rotting away in this study, one request after another, day after day? It mattered little to the Shadow General, but it did weigh heavily on his Master's shoulders-
"Master… what a fine time for you to disappear. Errand indeed…" Phantom muttered. Just the day before, the morning had passed without the appearance of Neo Arcadia's lead Reploid, and when the guardians had gone to check on him, they found only a scribbled note explaining he would be gone for a 'few days'.
Having never seen X disappear before, and since they couldn't exactly make the excuse that he was 'under the weather' as the humans say, the four had to come up with some sort of plan to explain their Master's disappearance. Phantom had decided to take over the 'clerical' duties, while Fefnir and Harpuia oversaw the duties of the council members and general grievance audiences with townspeople. That left Leviathan out searching for clues on X's location.
"Bring him home." Phantom spoke out into the night sky, seeing a faint dusting of stars just beyond the domed ceiling of Neo Arcadia, but there would be no reply in the silence prevailing.
===xXx===
Outside the domed protection of Neo Arcadia, the world was a barren, desert of considerable size. In the entire past century, very little had been done about exploring further down the sandy miles, due to the low resources and poor machinery to last out in the unforgiving winds and sandstorms.
But Reploids didn't have to concern themselves with dehydration, hunger and injury from the elements. Nor were the rumors that nothing resided outside of the desert.
In such a place was X's destination. Over one hundred and thirty years ago, a pod had been discovered in the tiny patch of forest, half buried in the ground and seemingly abandoned until it was discovered.
That same little forest still existed, and a large 'motorcycle' rested at the entrance by the tree-line, a towing trailer attached to its back. X had slid his tiny body from the giant machine, his 'booted' feet sinking softly into the sand. He wasted no time in getting his bearings, squinting as his sensitive eyes took in the bright sunlight and pale trees that reflected back that light. For a long moment, he didn't budge from his spot, taking in the memories that assaulted him so suddenly, which he then quickly pushed aside. He couldn't be weak now, nor doubt. He refused to believe what he had come to retrieve had been moved or lost to the ages.
There was only one way to find out.
===xXx===
X had made his way along a faded and by then overgrown path within the forest's trees, moving along for longer than an hour with no sign of breaks in the foliage. This worried the old Reploid somewhat, wondering if perhaps his memories had betrayed him, and this was not quite the correct place.
Until he broke through a thick trailing of bramble, and into a spacious clearing.
The glade before him was dimly lit, the trees overhead forming a sort of 'ceiling' that cast soft light. There was nothing much else in the vicinity except more shrubbery, and one single item that caught that weak sunlight and sent it back into a flash back into X's eyes, who shaded them with his hand.
A triumphant, and very much forced smile came to his face, relief mixing with trepidation and forming a knot in his 'belly'. "I found you…"
===xXx===
"He's returned?"
Harpuia bounded to his feet at the news, having been watching over several screens filled with data scrolling up and down their lengths. He had been at the computer station for what felt like days, and Leviathan's news set his frazzled nerves onto a focused center. That is, until she spoke again.
"Yes, but he brought back some sort of pod… and locked himself inside his lab."
====xXx===
Indeed, as Leviathan had reported, X had returned to Neo Arcadia without notice. The Sea General would not have even noticed if she had not needed to find her way into the underground 'garage' where several in development vehicles were housed. X's monster of a motorbike was uncovered and parked in its secret cubby, of which he had left open.
She had immediately gone in search of her Master, but was met only with a glimpse of the Neo Arcadian figurehead floating a giant pod into the lab, a weak smile, and a shooing gesture that sent her scampering off to find Harpuia and the others. By the time they were gathered in one of the many sitting chambers that dotted the upper towers of Yggdrasil, none of them were in any mood to be dealing with their elusive Master's strange experiments. Fefnir was the first to voice his outrage.
"How are we supposed to do our jobs if he keeps locking us away? What the hell was he dragging into that lab?" The Red General snarled and paced back and forth, his body rigid and eyes wild as his usual fiery temper flared. Phantom, not opening his eyes nor changing his serene sitting position, spoke next.
"Trust the Master's judgment."
"That's easy for you to say! You didn't see this thing. It was so filthy I didn't notice what it was until I really thought about it." Leviathan threw her voice into the mix, but she got no response from the calm Phantom. Harpuia also remained silent, his thoughts inwards.
X's sudden activity was, yes, a bit confusing, but deep down, was that such a horrible thing? For years, X had hidden himself away, emotionally and physically… perhaps whatever little pet project he had found would lift what little spirit's the old, sick-at-heart Reploid had left.
If he heard Leviathan and Fefnir's continued ranting, he didn't show it.
===xXx===
The Guardians would not receive answers to their questions any time soon.
X, on the other hand, was seriously regretting that he had not taken a proper rest in more time than he cared to count. He pulled himself up from an overstuffed chair, limping to the very center of his personal lab, where he had the day before set down the item that had caused so much fussing.
All four of his Guardians had tried to gain entrance to the lab, and each one had been turned down with the same excuse. X was busy. He did not want to be disturbed, or he would call to them if he should need assistance.
X smiled weakly to himself as he placed a hand on the front of the pod, dismissing these thoughts from his mind completely. "They'll see in due time, won't they?"
Receiving only a quiet hum from the pod's internal workings booting up, X sighed, pulling his fingers away. It wasn't until he looked down at his hand that he taken away several coats of mud and rotted bits of foliage, which clung to his fingers. Grimacing, he shook his hands in air, realizing once more just how long this device had been hidden away from the world. Forlornly, its occupant had been sleeping through the ages, alone and silent in it's forest domain.
"But no longer," he murmured, placing his small palm onto the glass cover once more. "I should have done this a long, long time ago… you deserve so much better."
Wasting no time, X went to work cleaning the pod first, his hands meticulously rolling about in circles with an old rag. Sludge and slime came away in thick layers as the rag made its way from top, to bottom and cutting through the mess to leave smudges on both the metal and his sleeve, but X's expression remained focused all the while, even when his hands shook and a strange chime began to sound.
At first, the noise started as a dull hum at the back of his head, an afterthought he ignored and had little importance to him. It wasn't until its intensity increased that X looked up, wincing. He stood sluggishly to shut down whatever annoying computer had set off the alarm… only to realize it was inside his own head.
Startled, X brought up his internal energy levels to see what had caused the sound, and as the bars, lines and waves depicting his inner workings flashed over his eyes, he winced at what he saw.
Processors working at 25%. Core temperatures over maximum levels. System maintenance required. Shut down in 3 hours or system failure will occur. Please respond and cease functions.
Sighing, X blocked the warning from his thoughts, murmuring all the while once his hands found the rag again. "Almost done… 3 hours should be enough… the body's already done…"
Pressed on with new vigor, X's shaking hands frantically began to pick up the pace, but as he finished cleaning the scum from the pod's exterior, he stepped back to admire the work. The machine was still scuffed and streaked with now dry mud and clay, its once glistening surface dull and dented. That hardly mattered, as long as it would open.
Opening it was another issue X paused to consider. If he did release the locks, and began the process of waking its occupant… would she be salvageable? He had already considered these things and determined the outcome positive, but X was nothing if he wasn't a profound worrier.
He glanced once more at his shut down timer; two hours, thirty six minutes and eleven seconds left- he paused at the familiar counting habit and chuckled, but the mirth did not last long.
It would have to be enough, he though, and with a faint sigh, his fingers found the now operating keypad, and tapped in a sequence only he knew. He then stepped back, watching lights flicker and the glass raise ever so slightly…
===xXx===
All systems online. Operations at 45% and counting. Mobility rate, 0%, rising in calculated time of: 10 minutes, 5 seconds, and 46 nanoseconds. Brain functions coming online. Optical and motor skills coming online.
All systems go.