Chapter 9

The next morning, Iris began thinking of ways she could help around the base. She couldn't ask Lumen for advice since the Cyber Elf was undergoing her weekly research session, and she had already made Ciel breakfast. She felt just as lost as she did during her first days in the Resistance. Back then, she had been so desperate to have a purpose that she willingly took up cleaning duties until Ciel gave her a proper job.

She froze as an idea suddenly struck her. Most of the Resistance Reploids were too busy to put a lot of effort into cleaning. This was a perfect opportunity for her to help. She nodded to herself determinedly and hurried towards a broom closet in order to gather cleaning supplies.

The first thing she covered was her own room. She hadn't realized how much she had neglected it until she started cleaning. Dust had settled on her furniture, and the floor was covered in dirt that she had tracked in from the rest of the base. Iris removed her beret and tied her hair back with a piece of cloth to keep it out of the way as she dusted and swept. Her sheets were dirty as well, so she took them off to be laundered. However, she found the laundry room to be just as much of a mess as her own room. She had her work cut out for her.

With a washing machine taking care of her sheets, she began to work on cleaning the laundry room. She busied herself sweeping and mopping the floor and wiping the dust off the washing machines and dryers. By the time her sheets were clean and dry, the rest of the room was sparkling.

After making her bed, Iris made lunch for Ciel and moved on to sweeping the halls. The base was too big for one Reploid to clean by herself in one day, so she focused the lowest floors for the time being. Her route took her near Cerveau's lab, so she decided to take a short break and pay the engineer a visit. She knocked on the lab's door, but there was no response. Iris frowned, figuring that Cerveau was probably absorbed in his research. She turned to leave, but the sound of an explosion stopped her in her tracks. Iris released a silent sigh. She was certain Cerveau was going to kill himself one day.

She opened the door to the lab and waved wildly at the cloud of smoke that billowed into her face. She could hear Cerveau cursing at his failure, which was a good sign. One time, she and Aigel had to carry his unconscious body out of his lab after a failed experiment. Iris didn't think she could accomplish that on her own.

The smoke cleared after a few moments and revealed the frustrated Cerveau. "Gah, I can't believe this! Just a little more, and I swear I would've― Wait, Iris?"

Iris smiled awkwardly and waved at Cerveau. As always, the engineer's body was coated in soot from the explosion. Luckily, he didn't seem to be seriously injured.

"How long have you been standing there?" Cerveau asked while lifting his visor. "And what's with the bandana?"

Iris shook her head in response.

"What's the matter? Oh, right, Alouette said you lost your voice. In any case, I'm sorry about the mess. When I get involved in my research, things end up like this."

Iris shook her head again, trying to convey that she didn't mind.

"I see Zero made you wear the tracking collar."

Iris frowned and tugged at the accursed choker. She had nearly forgotten about it in the midst of her work, but now it felt as confining as an iron shackle. While she appreciated most of Cerveau's inventions, she was more than willing to make an exception for this one.

"Don't be like that. It looks good on you," said Cerveau. "And if you came to ask me to take it off, forget it. Zero took the key with him."

Iris crossed her arms and pouted. Zero always seemed to be two steps ahead of her. She hadn't even thought of asking Cerveau to remove the necklace until just now, and he had planned for the possibility days in advance! While she mentally cursed Zero, her eyes landed on the remains of Cerveau's experiment. Curious, she approached his work table. All that remained were some partially melted white metal fragments.

"Oh, did you want to see what I've been working on?" Cerveau asked. "The other day, Zero retrieved some data from the underground laboratory we found him in. Unfortunately, most of it was damaged, but we were able to retrieve some weapon data from what we managed to decode. I've been using that data to construct a new weapon for Zero."

Iris resisted the urge to sigh. Zero was a one-Reploid wrecking machine as he was. She shuddered to think of what he might do with another new toy. On the other hand, Zero was almost always fighting by himself, and having multiple weapon options would be nothing but beneficial in his battles with Neo Arcadian forces.

"The technology is similar to Zero's Z-Saber," Cerveau continued. "I managed to successfully replicate the energy blade, but the output was too strong for the weapon's frame to handle. I'll have to make some adjustments and try again."

Iris looked between the weapon's remains and Cerveau before gathering the fragments into her hands. When Cerveau asked what she was doing, she presented the fragments to him. After a moment, the engineer caught on.

"You want to help me?" he asked. When Iris nodded, he sighed and scratched his head. "Well, I suppose there's no harm in that. Just try not to get in the way."

For the next several hours, Iris played the role of Cerveau's assistant. She wasn't directly involved in the work, but she obediently retrieved tools and materials for him. While Cerveau tinkered with the weapon's inner workings, Iris quietly dusted and swept the lab. She was so focused that she nearly jumped when Cerveau announced that the weapon was complete.

Iris inspected the finished weapon on the work table. It was a small white hilt that closely resembled the Z-Saber, but she couldn't tell exactly what it was supposed to do. Cerveau picked up the hilt and warned Iris to stand back. The female Reploid eagerly obeyed and waited with bated breath as Cerveau pressed a button on the weapon's side.

Iris jolted as the hilt extended to around four feet in length, and a green triangular energy blade that stretched another foot or so appeared from its tip. Cerveau grinned wildly and pressed the button twice more. With each press, the weapon extended another foot in length. A final button press sheathed the blade and caused the hilt to retract to its compact size.

"Success! A resounding success!" Cerveau exclaimed. "Everything's in perfect working order! Now, all it needs is a name. A rod that extends thrice… I'll call it the Triple Rod."

Iris made a face. She had a hard time imagining Zero using the Triple Rod. It was so different from his Z-Saber that he'd have to adapt an entirely different fighting style to use it. Still, Zero had surprised her multiple times already, and Cerveau seemed confident that Zero would pick up on how to use it quickly enough.

"Thanks for your help today, Iris," said Cerveau. "I'll give this to Zero later. You should get some rest."

The female Reploid nodded before gathering her supplies and exiting the lab. She was surprised at how late it had gotten. She was still nowhere close to being done with the hallways, but it was nearly time for dinner. She put her supplies away for the day and brought Ciel her food just as Lumen was released from her weekly research.

"What have you been doing all day?" the Cyber Elf asked. "You're filthy!"

Iris looked down at herself and saw that her dress was covered with dirt and oil smudges. She smiled sheepishly and shrugged, feeling foolish for not realizing how dirty she had gotten. Once Ciel was done eating, Iris headed for the showers. Lumen let her bathe in peace, saying that there was something she needed to do. That concerned Iris, and her concern increased when she returned to her room and did not find Lumen waiting for her. She had no doubts that the Cyber Elf was up to some form of mischief, and she dreaded the chaos that was going to follow.

Lumen arrived in Iris's room two hours later, red-faced and looking positively giddy. Iris frowned at her in an attempt to demand what was going on.

"What's with the angry look, Riss?" Lumen asked. "Sorry I'm so late. I didn't expect my business to take this long."

Iris crossed her arms and glared at the Cyber Elf. Lumen was acting too suspiciously for her "business" to have been anything good, but Iris had no proof and no means of voicing her concerns. Working all day had also left her exhausted. She didn't have the energy to squeeze a confession out of Lumen, so she turned in for the night and prayed that she wouldn't wake up to the sound of angry Reploids.

By some stroke of luck, her prayers were answered. The morning was quiet and peaceful. Her initial relief evaporated when she noticed that Lumen was missing. She hurried to her vanity to get herself ready to find the Cyber Elf, only to see a suspicious envelope lying on it. She had a bad feeling that Lumen was behind the envelope's appearance, but curiosity got the better of her and she opened it.

If Iris had not been mute, her scream would have shattered her mirror. She dropped the envelope and its contents and covered her eyes, shrieking a long string of silent no's. She knew Lumen was fascinated with male bodies, but she never would have guessed the elf would go this far.

The envelope contained several racy photographs of Zero taking a shower. Iris had no idea how Lumen got away with that, but at the moment, she was too mortified to care. Worse yet, the envelope included an order form for more pictures. Did Lumen actually think she was willing to buy such vulgar material?

Keeping her eyes firmly shut, Iris shredded the photographs, but the damage had been done. She feared she never would be able to get those images out of her head. It didn't help that Zero actually looked kind of good without his helmet. Iris balked at where her thoughts were going and violently shook her head. She swore she would wring Lumen's neck the next time she saw her, but before she could hunt the Cyber Elf down, she needed to make breakfast for Ciel.

The scientist's face looked slightly flushed when Iris arrived with her tray of food. At first, she was afraid that Ciel had gotten sick, but then she noticed the open envelope lying on Ciel's computer desk. Against her better judgement, she picked it up.

"Wait, don't open that!" Ciel cried, but it was too late. Iris's eyes were assaulted by the same photographs she found in her room. Her reaction was much the same. She dropped the envelope and covered her face with her hands, cursing Lumen with every fiber of her being. Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, she heard the lab door open.

"What's going on here?"

Iris wondered why Zero always picked the worst times to show up. She wanted nothing more than to curl up and disappear. While Ciel gave Zero a nervous greeting, Iris fell to the floor and tried to hide. It proved to be her undoing as she only drew Zero's attention.

"Iris, what's wrong?" he asked, kneeling down to her level. Iris immediately turned away and closed her eyes. She couldn't look at Zero without those damned pictures coming to mind. "Wait, what's this?" Zero suddenly asked.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that he had found one of the photos. An awkward silence followed, during which Iris sincerely hoped the former Maverick Hunter didn't think she was some dirty-minded fangirl. She halted her train of thought. Why did she care about what Zero thought of her?

"Damn that Lumen," he growled, and a crumpling sound revealed just what he thought of the photo. "I'll be right back."

Iris only dared to open her eyes when she heard the lab's door close again. Lumen was going to be in major trouble once Zero found her, and if he was as tenacious as Iris had heard, he wouldn't give up until he had caught her. Sure enough, within half an hour Zero returned holding a pouting Lumen by the wings.

"This troublemaker thought she could make a black market out of selling pictures of me to the female Resistance members," he said. "You two were just a couple of her targets."

"You're such a killjoy, Zero," grumbled Lumen.

"You're a perverted brat," he countered. "You were the one who took those lewd pictures in the first place."

"They are my finest work," Lumen said proudly, only to squeak when Zero squeezed her wings. "H-hey! Easy on the wings! That hurts!"

"Apologize. Now."

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry!"

Zero lazily looked over at Ciel and Iris. "What do you two propose we do with her?"

"Well, I don't think Lumen meant any harm," said Ciel. "Still, this behavior isn't something we should encourage."

A devilish grin spread across Iris's face as she got an idea. She snatched Lumen from Zero―being careful to not look directly at him―and stuffed the elf into her storage container. Then she presented the container to Ciel.

"What? No, Riss! I already went through that yesterday!" cried Lumen. "Don't hand me over to her again!"

"Actually, I think another day of research would be perfect," said Ciel. "I'll be sure to take good of Lumen."

"Nooooooo!" Lumen screamed as Ciel took the container. "Riss, have mercy on me! Pleeeease!"

Iris merely crossed her arms and grinned evilly, as if to say, "Tough luck." She waved good-bye to the Cyber Elf and left the lab, ignoring Lumen's cries of protest. She smiled to herself, immensely satisfied that Lumen had gotten her just deserts. A shiver ran down her spine when she heard Zero chuckle nearby.

"I like your style," he said with a smirk. Iris quickly averted her gaze in an attempt to hide her blush. There was a short pause, and she could almost see him frowning at her. "I'm sorry you ended up seeing…that."

She sighed and shook her head. It wasn't his fault that Lumen had such a dirty mind, and it's not like he could help that he was designed with an attractive body. She didn't bother denying it; Lumen's pictures made it clear that Zero was a stud. Unfortunately for her, he also happened to be a complete asshole.

"I'll be sure to keep an eye out for any more peeping Cyber Elves the next time I shower," said Zero. "You sure you're doing okay?"

Iris nodded, but still couldn't bring herself to look at him. She yelped when Zero grabbed her face and forced her to meet his eyes. "Forget about those damned pictures for a second, alright? I can't stand seeing you too afraid to even look at me!"

Damn those eyes, Iris thought. She was once again hopelessly lost in their depths. Everything except that beautiful blue faded away. She barely noticed herself nodding to Zero's demand, but his voice was as clear as ever as he said, "I promise will never, ever do anything to hurt you, so you don't have to be afraid of me, alright?"

Iris wanted to say that she was embarrassed, not afraid, but she was powerless under the intensity of his gaze. Not only that, she currently had no voice. So she nodded a second time, and he released her, breaking the spell. "Good," he said. "I need to get to ready for my mission now, so I'll see you later. Take care, Iris."

It was only much later when it occurred to Iris just how odd it was for Zero to be concerned about hurting her. As much as he annoyed her, she trusted that he would protect her and the rest of the Resistance. She had no reason to be afraid of him, so why would that concern him so much? Zero seemed to get more puzzling every day.

Iris shook her head and returned her focus to sweeping. She had no time to worry about him. She had a lot to do, and if she wanted to have any hope of getting her voice back, she would have to accomplish it all.

I've finally done it! For the last two months I've been busy with school, work, and my design project, but I finally got my butt back to writing. I managed to churn this out over the last few days because the longest and hardest part of my design project is over. I'm so sorry for making everyone wait…AGAIN. I'll try to keep updating, but I don't know how consistent I will be.

Originally I was going to have Iris walk in on Zero in the shower during this chapter, but I thought that was too unrealistic and cliché. I think what I did instead was a lot more entertaining. I hope everyone enjoyed this.