Gamma was beginning to wonder if in his 'old age', X had become a bit too gullible.
Then again, hadn't he always been? Even if he had put a few decades under his belt, he was still, under all that fuss and proper etiquette, the blue blunderer, and she knew all of his weaknesses.
Once she had left his little office behind, Gamma trotted straight to the elevator, already formulating a plan in her quick mind. It was simple really; ride the elevator itself, all the way down to the bottom floor, quickly slip into the garage, and find a vehicle to escape with. She didn't need to see the city to know how to get out, having already purged a computer database within X's lab to find a layout of the surrounding areas. If he thought he'd keep her out of his business forever, he was sorely mistaken. And he was entirely at fault, she had told herself, feeling no remorse.
She must have had a very concentrated look on her face, for she completely missed the fact that the elevator had stopped on the incorrect floor. The amused comment she heard a moment later snapped her from her scheming.
"A zenny for your thoughts, Gamma?"
Trying not to curse her bad luck aloud, Gamma turned her most charming smile she could on the Shadow General.
"I'm not sure what you mean, Phantom. I'm flat broke."
Phantom made a sound in his throat, more grunt than chuckle. "If I did not know you any better, I would assume you are up to no good." He turned his gaze on her, a look that made even the surliest of men—or Reploid—uneasy. "Where is it you are headed in such a hurry?"
Trying not to get caught by someone of Phantom's merits was difficult, even for her. Inwardly cursing X for giving his Guardians such nosey talents, she stared down at her hand instead of him, falling into old habits. She let her hand twist a full 360 degrees, then let it twist back into its proper alignment, repeating the process many times before she spoke. It often helped her concentrate, and sometimes was a great distraction to others. "Oh, you know. Just wandering around… as usual."
"Mmm," He made the noise again, watching her actions a little too closely for her liking. She'd have to give X a piece of her mind about this later, his Generals were just too curious. Especially concerning her. "And is that all you have planned for today?"
"X said he'd take me into the city today." Gamma frowned lightly, knowing her little plan wouldn't allow for that at all, and wondered just how furious he might be when he found her missing. If he found her missing, she mentally corrected, and he didn't usually get furious at anything. He just worried. X would get over it, wouldn't he? She had to remind herself of that. Despite her huffing and grumbling, she was desperate to get out of the tower, and not even Phantom, or any of the other cronies were going to stop her.
Not when it came to seeing what was left of the city she once called home.
Phantom continued to analyze her face, oblivious to her inner thoughts, but his musing was interrupted when the elevator halted. Smiling at her good luck, Gamma glanced at him, and had finally noticed he was carrying several stacks of papers, folders, and manila envelopes. It was almost comical, realizing such powerful Reploids, capable of flattening their enemies were reduced to desk jobs and pushing paperwork. Even more so, she was appalled they hadn't quite upgraded to paperless paperwork. She wasn't sure if X was trying to keep them busy, or bore them to death with the menial labor more suited for secretaries. Maybe it was a bit of both. "You have fun with those, I wouldn't want to keep you from you work," she finally smiled, then without warning, lifted a shoulder to shove him.
Phantom pitched forward, eyes widening just a fraction, and his arms scrambling to hold their precious burden together. By the time he steadied himself, he was outside. He barely had time to protest, much less turn around, before the door shut fast behind him. Gamma smiled for a minute, the elevator continuing on its merry way, leaving her once more to her thoughts.
Home.
Could Abel City really be called that, at least now, that she resided here? It wasn't home, it couldn't be anymore, its once soaring skyscrapers and bustling highways having been flattened and turned to little more than twisted debris. If that was the truth, she told herself logically, why did it make her so nervous to see? Why did it make her… sad?
She had once struggled with such emotions, but with time and experience she had developed a much clearer view of the world. And all of her memories, all of her experiences that made her who she was, had been fostered and born in Abel City. She wasn't going to just let X tell her she couldn't go. How was he going to stop her? He had never been good at pulling rank, after all. Gamma could only stare at her reflection in the glass before her, the lines of worrying in her brow and lips suddenly reminding her of her worrying friend. She eventually averted her eyes, knowing she'd begin to have second thoughts if she kept that up.
The rest of the descent remained uneventful, and by the time she reached the garage below Yggdrasil, Gamma's mind was well safely made up, and she walked stubbornly across the smooth, too-white metal plating that made up just about everything in this tower. With that bit of unease behind her, and her first task completed, she focused on the next; find and commandeer a mode of transportation. She didn't know, however, that that would be a bit of a difficult romp.
Most of what she found were incomplete 'jeeps' and four wheeled monstrosities that she did not even want to bother with. Every cubby and parking space contained these lumps in different states of disrepair, beginning to make the cyan Reploid wonder if she'd have to make this trip on foot, and if that'd even be possible. Frustration made her eyes narrow, and like old habits, Gamma began to go over statistics. Neo Arcadia is hundreds of miles from the ruins, her mind ran over thousands of numbers at once, scrolling over her eyes like a sort of pulse, distance, speed… I'd never be able to run that far without them noticing me gone. It'd take days—Just as she began to pace, Gamma's internal scanners roamed over the wall, and to her delight, found the seams of something.
"Oh, X, you sly thing, you!" She smiled, running her fingers over the smooth surface of the wall. She was rewarded when a panel was revealed, which Gamma rolled her eyes at. "Don't think you can keep me out that easily," A few seconds of finger tapping later had the code cracked, and the hidden cubby hissing open to reveal X's custom made, sleek blue motorbike. The machine did not seem to reflect its owner at all, at least not how he was now.
The behemoth was streamlined, curving like the leaping body of a wildcat, and its seat perfectly molded to fit a Reploid of their shape and size. Its consoles were apparently holographic, and at the moment, dark and shut down.
"You never disappoint." The smile on her face was all too conniving, grasping the handle bars to pull the surprisingly light bike forward. Once the motorbike was free, the compartment door slid shut, Gamma threw a leg over the the seat, straddling the seat comfortably. "Now…" Her hands reached for the ignition, the tiny holograms blinking to life in front of her fingers with the bike's levels of energy, condition, and hundreds of other sensors she memorized in seconds. Her fingers danced across the holographic image, smiling with satisfaction as the machine purred, and ribbons of LED lights burned over its sides. The bike was ready, and so was Gamma.
Before too long, she was cruising along not the city streets—which she had only moments to look at—but vast oceans of desert, stretching out on either side of her. Gamma was leaned over the bike's low swooping console, the wind whipping her long hair back, just barely not touching the trail of sand dust that followed her like a veil. Her shock of just the amount of desert there was became a fading concern, focusing instead on the task ahead.
Home.
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OHEY, AN UPDATE.
How long's it been... uh. Yeah. I'M GETTING TO THE GOOD STUFF, YO!
I also have a question for my readers; yes, I'm aware of in Mimiru1618's story, she made it clear that Gamma would not be paired, and that she supported Alia x X... but this is a canon belief of our's. NON-CANNONLY, our views are much different after so much time has passed... ;3 And if readers want a bit more of a pairing sort of feel, they're free to interpret it that way... or by request, I could certainly suggest that. But you know, that's all up to you guys...~
Hope to update more soon! dun dun.