Chapter 32: On The Doorstep

The world was a frying pan, but X was freezing. The virus had knocked his cooling systems out of whack.

"Commander X? Come in, Commander…"

X raised his hand to cut the voice chattering in his ear, then decided just to phase it out best he could. He braced his body against its physical miseries and looked back at the boy in front of him. "So you were saying your little brother's stuck under Cabin 15?"

The little boy nodded. He was smeared from cap to toe with a rapidly-crusting mixture of sand and mud. He began to chew on his fingernails, and the grinding of dirt under his teeth was audible over the background noise of the refugee camp.

X shuddered and lifted the boy's fingers from his mouth. "Stop that. How'd your brother get stuck under the cabin in the first place?"

The boy shrugged. "He crawled. I dunno."

"Commander X? Cain requests an audience at your earliest convenience--"

For God's sake. X yanked off his helmet and handed it to another boy nearby. "Hold this for a second," he said, and resisted the urge to give chase when the boy immediately took off across the sandy lot with his prize.

The first boy took X's hand without any affection. His fingers were wet. "I'll show you," he said.

The walk through the camp was short, but lasted forever. Many of the displaced humans were braving the hot day outdoors, and they broke off their conversations to look at X with hostile eyes.

The humans were quiet now, but X knew the next time he came through, they'd be shouting. After that, who knew. But he hadn't denied the boy who'd stopped him and asked for help finding his brother. He never would.

"Here," the boy said. He pointed at "his" cabin, though every cabin in the camp was boxy, grey and weather-blasted. Each one was raised off the sandy ground by several inches in case of heavy rain, and the loose soil made it an easy squeeze into the underworld.

X dropped to his knees and peered into the darkness. "You all right under there?" he called.

A small childlike chirp was his answer. He'd forgotten his rescue probably wasn't old enough to talk in complete sentences. Negotiations having failed, X abandoned subtlety. He groped blindly under the cabin, caught a handful of clothing and pulled gently. The toddler accepted the game's end and came easily. He blinked owlishly in the sunlight and shook his head intensely, brushing at his hair with his fingers.

"Hey, he's covered with ants," one spectator announced.

X sighed. "Better take him to the showers. Even though he seems pretty amused by all this."

"Tickles!" the toddler giggled. He pinched one ant out of his hair and brought it to his eyes, fascinated by its death throes.

The baby's brother tucked his charge under his arm and departed without saying anything else to X.

A few of the spectators still hung around with their hands in their pockets. They had the colour and expression of ghosts, and X's heart ached to see it. He said, "Anyone know where my helmet walked off to?"

Nobody answered. X didn't hear another human voice acknowledge him until an hour later when he retrieved his helmet and received a call about someone who wanted to see him. X visited the Medical Unit and walked into the hospital cell belonging to Kincaid, the warrior boy he'd injured two days prior during the longest night in history.

Kincaid saw him and said, "X."

"Hello," X responded lamely.

Kincaid watched him for a second. His face was covered in bandages and what little flesh showed was puffy and discoloured. He was propped in an upright position to keep him breathing. One arm was crooked above his bedspread, locked in a splint. X realised he was the reason for the splint, the tubes, the white, bitter smell of medicine that was seeped into the fortified walls. Every bruise and cracked bone had his name on it. Not some other Hunter. Not even Zero. The last thought came with a flash of resentment and shame and X tucked it away quickly.

Kincaid continued. "You're an old Reploid. Fought like hell."

It all sounded like mush, but X wasn't interested in the human's threats. "I'm sorry," he said quickly.

Kincaid's eyes glittered. "You're … sorry?"

"Yes."

The boy laughed, and the attempt ended with a small moan of pain. When he recovered he said, "We fought." His muffled voice still sounded amused.

"I'm not supposed to tell you I'm sorry because you're the enemy, but I am. I hurt you. I should have restrained myself. I--"

"We fought. It's the way."

X didn't know what the boy was getting at, and he felt sick to think that maybe he'd rattled his brains. "You don't understand--"

"You're … not listening," Kincaid said slowly. X could see it was a big job for him to form every word. He breathed in labourously before each attempt like a dragon taking in fuel for its fire, but what he had to say was important enough to keep trying. And X suddenly realised he was stomping over every attempt Kincaid was making to communicate with him.

"All right, Kincaid. This is about you, not me. What do you want to tell me?"

The boy's answer struggled in his gut and died as a mumble on his lips. He closed his eyes and sank back into his pillows.

"He's not dead," Genesis told X before he had a chance to panic. "Just very tired. He only woke up a few hours ago, after all. But he made it clear he wanted to see you."

X looked at the fox. "Did he say why?"

"No, he can't say much. Frankly I'm surprised he got as far as he did. See, this proves what most Reploids say is generally crap; that humans are resilient little buggers." Genesis looked around him quickly. "Now get out of here. I'm already in a lot of trouble with Cain. He's in Private Room C since the ward is nearly full and I don't want everyone jumping up and down like idiots if they see how bad off Monroe is."

"Morale is bad enough," X agreed glumly.

"Lifesaver's keeping him distracted, but if he shakes him off and finds out I've let you see a prisoner without his clearance, it'll be my ass on a platter."

"I'm supposed to talk to Cain anyway," X said.

"Great timing." Genesis poked X in the back. "Go out through the Emergency Exit and walk on back in through the main door so he doesn't get suspicious. And listen. I don't know much about these Warriors of Eden, but I know enough that Kincaid doesn't resent you. An honourable enemy is more useful than a wishy-washy friend."

Zero grudgingly expended extra energy to keep his exterior armour as cool as possible under the killing sun. He decided it wouldn't do to pan-fry Jody, who was being carried piggyback and enjoying himself too much for someone who was supposed to be weak with hunger and dehydration.

The first task was to find Eden. Battle damage came next.

"Am I getting heavy for you?" Jody asked his mount for the seventh time in four hours and the fiftieth time in two days.

"No," Zero responded shortly. "I'm a machine. I don't get tired. I have done my best in these years to learn something about human anatomy. Please take the time to learn something about Reploids."

The hilly terrain was not any cooler than the grasslands had been. Loose rocks rolled away under Zero's boots and threw heat in his face like a startled animal spraying musk. He was exhausted. Reploids were capable of running for a significant amount of time on minimal amounts of Energen … if they were well maintained. If they weren't compensating for a damaged eye. If they weren't doubling as an air-conditioned limousine for a full-grown male human. He didn't want to ask, but…

"Jody?"

"What?"

"Does Eden have … you know … Energen?"

What for?"

Zero barked, "So I can have a centrepiece for my tea party. What kind of question is that? I need Energen to keep functioning!"

"Oh, Energen!" Jody drew out the word. "Sure. Eden has its own supply and plenty of recharging beds. The Mechadrakes need some on occasion. Are you having an emergency?"

"I'm not a five-year-old who needs the bathroom," Zero said, "so don't talk down to me. I just need to be in fighting shape when we get to Eden. We should make a plan to sneak in. Maybe I can recharge on the sly for a couple of hours, somehow--"

"I don't think that'll be necessary," Jody interrupted.

"I know you'd love for Asmodeus to kill me outright once you present me to him, but my half of the plan involves me staying alive."

Jody coughed and gathered what was left of his dry voice. "He won't kill you. He'll be happy to see you."

"Let's rest. You're delirious."

There weren't many trees in the hills, and the terrain became rockier and more treacherous with each passing hour. They happened upon a rough clump of bushes that still offered a thin shade. Jody slipped from Zero's back and pressed himself into the dark margin. He looked up at the tough branches. "There's fruit."

The sun was almost directly overhead so there wasn't enough room for Zero in the shelter yet. He peered at the branches. "Huh. I guess there is."

Jody's eyes filled with longing. "I'd love some, but someone might know we came by if I start messing around."

"Well, we did leave a much clearer spoor by abandoning the Ride Chaser, but I don't think anyone's coming after us --" Zero stopped suddenly.

"What is it?" Jody said in a low voice. "Someone here?"

"No," Zero said slowly after some careful thought. "No, not at all. But you're right. We can't take chances. Leave the berries alone."

"Damn," Jody sighed. He curled up in a tight ball and Zero knew his belly was probably gnawing itself from the inside out; but to the boy's credit, he had complained very little about his hunger and thirst over the past two days and nights. He was tough.

Besides, it could have been much worse. Zero looked at the holly bush again from the corner of his eye. The berries were as red as he was, and they were both loaded with poison.

Humans had done a decent job at decimating certain plant and animal species, but holly was still common enough in gardens at parks, not to mention some wild regions. Even the dumbest kid knew enough not to eat the plant's poisonous berries. Zero knew Jody wasn't stupid, so why would he grab blindly for his death?

The answer was pretty obvious. Inexperience. Eden evidently did not include overworld botany in his lifelong brainwashing sessions.

Zero looked thoughtfully at Jody. The boy said he had far more experience on the outside than most of Eden's warriors, and he was smart enough to tread carefully when he wasn't sure of the world's rules. It would cost him far more than normal folks to leap before he looked. But when the chips were down…

How many more of Eden's children would pay a hefty price for being careless?

How serious was the organisation about the well-being of humans?

Jody narrowed his eyes. "What're you staring at?"

"Oh? Nothing. Just thinking of our plan. How far are we from Eden?"

"Listen. Don't make me talk to much." Jody closed his eyes and swallowed dryly. "You've been carrying me, so we've been going fast. If we keep up our pace, we'll reach the northwest tunnel by tonight. After that, a few hours'll do it."

Zero nodded. Carrying Jody had been his idea. Not only had it cut their travel time considerably, but it saved the boy a lot of wear and tear. Their ruse was going to be shady enough as it was. Jody, Zero's "capturer," had to look half-presentable to even have a chance of fooling Asmodeus.

"Don't look so worried," Jody told him. "We'll have a few people on our side by default."

"Like who?"

"My Mechadrake, for one thing." Jody drifted into some memory and smiled. "Atticus."

"Atticus?" Zero echoed. "And he'll help us?"

"Absolutely. Well, I hope so. He's a bit unstable."

"Oh, good!"

"It's not his fault. He's a Bronze. He--" Jody halted and doubled over abruptly as he was seized by a spasm of retching.

Zero ran forwards for a few steps, then hung back. "Uh, are you okay…?"

Jody opened his steel-coloured eyes and breathed heavily through his open mouth. He looked angry with himself. "I'm fine."

"I guess the trip is starting to take its toll."

Jody didn't answer.

"It's time we moved on, anyway." Zero kneeled near the boy. "Can you get up?"

"I don't need pity," Jody rasped as he pulled himself away from the bushes. For a second he readied himself to spit off to the side, then thought better of it. "Time to go home."

Zero helped him get to his feet, and they both left the bush behind as they trudged deeper into the mountains. Neither of them had any way of knowing Celeste and her father had camped out at the same spot nearly twenty years ago while fleeing from Eden.

Overdrive Ostrich looked at the abomination standing before him and said, "We're going to hell, aren't we?"

"Absolutely," Torrent said. And he smiled.

Overdrive had never been a big admirer of the human race, nor was he above tinkering with genetics--though he didn't happen to be very good at it. But even he had to fight hard against the scream that kicked up his long throat every time he dared to set eyes on what Torrent referred to as "The new and improved Paul."

The "soaking" was done. A chubby baby had gone into the tube now, heaped on the filthy brick and cobblestones, was something that might have passed for an adolescent alien creature: Hairless, bony, mostly toothless and pale enough to glow faintly in the dim depths of Torrent Leviathan's domain. His eyes were still green, which was an unusual colour for a human but was the one sliver of normality remaining on the boy's tortured hide. Of course, that wide-eyed baby stare was long gone; there was a sinister, undeniable intelligence now, and Paul cocked his head like an animal as he looked at his place of birth, as if he had forgotten how to control his eye-muscles--or simply lacked the ability. Overdrive thought about the human tendency for parents to gush over the colour of their children's eyes, and suddenly he felt a little woozy.

"There!" Torrent brushed off his big scaly paws and put them on his hips. "A grand creation, if I say so myself. And surprisingly quick, too. I knew I made a good move when I replaced--" the Mechadrake rambled off a string of biological jargon that was even lost on Overdrive. Paul kneeled down and scratched slowly at the ground with his long fingernails.

Torrent asked Overdrive a question and the big bird came back to life. "Huh?"

"I said, do you think Phoenix will be pleased with what we've made?"

Overdrive couldn't take any more. He threw his hands into the air. "What the hell is IT?"

Torrent considered that for a second, then shrugged. "I call him 'Rover.'"

"Just a second ago you were calling him the 'new and improved Paul.'"

"He's Rover now."

"Can I go home now?" Overdrive's question came suddenly and forcefully, almost in a wail.

"Soon enough," Torrent said. "I'm tired of you." He frowned. "Soon as we can figure out how we're going to get you and Rover home without attracting the hordes. There's been Maverick attacks on the surface, did you know?"

"N-No. What--"

"Hybrids. Questing Beasts. Old corpses cobbled together to make … something functional. It's no wonder you Mavericks will never win a bloody war, if that's the best you can do. The Hunters are throwing a hissy fit, though."

"Hybrids." Overdrive crossed his arms over his chest and a memory shivered through him. "That was me! That was I. I was supposed to build an army out of whatever scraps I could, and I came here instead."

Torrent asked, "Were you out of your mind?"

Sunset came early in the foothills and the day cooled down quickly; it was enough of a reminder that autumn was starting to nip a little at summer's tail. Up on Zero's back Jody said, "Wait a minute."

Zero stopped.

"Let me down."

The Hunter let go and Jody slid to the ground. He dropped to his knees and felt at the ground in front of him with his open palm. Zero straightened what he could of his hair.

"We're close," Jody said, "but not close enough that I'm worried we'll be discovered--as long as we don't linger."

"So it's time to get the next bit over with."

"Yep."

Zero looked at Jody. The boy, the mountain and the rough vegetation were all drenched in orange. "The light's going fast," he said. "I can see in the dark. You can't."

"Then you didn't notice."

"Notice what?"

"When Eden attacked Maverick Hunter Headquarters, they attacked at night."

"Son of a bitch. I guess you're right." Zero put his arms to his side and he tensed a little. "If you're fine with it, then…"

"It's fine. I was born in the dark and raised in the dark." Jody smiled. "That's how I like it. So many parts of Eden are like that, you know. Just … dim. It's nice. It took a lot of time for Celeste to adjust her vision when she came to Eden."

Zero slowly drew his sabre and cut the air a little. A lime-green trail held in the twilight for a nanosecond. "She was a little girl born in the same manner as normal human beings. She wasn't bred in the corner of a bog like your ilk."

Jody already had his chain-scythe in hand. "Bred, regardless, to kill your kind."

Zero swallowed his hate. He breathed slowly for a few seconds and said, "We have to be careful here. We don't want to … kill each other."

"Of course not. That would screw up the plan."

"God forbid."

The sickle sliced a wide arc but Zero slipped away in time; he immediately held fast to the instincts that frothed and twisted at the end of a frayed leash. That had been a real attempt by Jody to take a chunk out of his left side.

"Watch it!" Zero barked. "I told you to be careful! You have to understand the way I am--I have trouble controlling myself."

"Oh, listen to Mister Grand Morals," Jody tried to say laughingly, but his voice cracked. "Didn't you give me some big lecture back at Maverick Hunter Headquarters about how I need to 'control myself?' Because I love Celeste?"

The word didn't match Jody's face or the weapon in his hands. Zero said, "You 'love' her the same way a breeder loves a prize pig."

Jody's scythe blade hit Zero's shoulder, cracking the already-damaged armour like a clamshell. His world wheeling with pain, Zero used the heartbeat of delay to try and cut through the silver chain with his sabre but it glanced off and slipped out of his numb hands. For one bizarre half-second longer he felt let down when the weapon rolled away mindlessly.

Then there was no time left to think. Jody didn't pull at the scythe chain but instead flew at the Hunter, holding it taut in his hands. Zero's neck burned for a second when Jody flung himself around and garroted him, but then Zero figured it was bloody well his turn to do his part for the "plan." He reached behind him with his undamaged hand, seized the boy by the scalp, and ripped him off and away from his back. Jody panted in the dust for a split second and Zero automatically swung his boot into his ribs--remembering, at the very last moment, to soften the blow.

It was still enough--more than enough. Zero knew Jody was conditioned against pain, but his eyes still bulged, his mouth flew open in a breathless gasp. Zero felt a little remorse until he realised his kick, though it surely cracked a few ribs, was only a small physical misery. What he had said earlier had wounded the boy far worse.

He almost moved to help Jody, then rubbed his hand against his side instead and said, "Sit up."

Slowly, Jody obeyed. His breath caught and he worked hard to control his breathing. He trembled violently for a second, swallowed hard then seemed to be in control again. Zero was surprised to see a moderate amount of blood trickling rapidly down his temple, cutting a red path through the smeared blood-and-dust mixture drying there already.

"Got a trophy I see," Jody said. He managed a small, tight smile.

Zero looked at the handful of silver hair he'd ripped from Jody's head. He felt vaguely disgusted but said, "Want it back?"

"Keep it. Bastard."

Zero brushed off his hands, turned away and retrieved his sabre. "You're lucky I dropped this," he said loudly to disguise his confusion. "I told you to watch it. I could have killed you."

Jody said, "How does it feel?"

"My sabre? Feels fine."

"No, asshole. How does it feel? What's it like to be a champion member of a 'superior race' who fights over a woman like any common dog?"

Zero sheathed his weapon. "Get over yourself. We agreed to do this."

"We agreed to damage each other in a fight to make it look like we scrapped before I 'captured' you," Jody rasped, "but you don't think anything of me."

"No, I don't. Why the hell should I?"

"You want to kill me. You want Celeste, and I'm in your way."

Zero slowly crouched down to Jody's level. "I want to protect Celeste. From Eden. From you. So yes, you are in my way."

Jody smiled again. "What could you possibly do with her, Hunter? Hoard her?"

"What could you possibly do with her, boy? Turn her into a mother fifty times over?"

Pain flashed across Jody's face again. Zero was suddenly interested. He flicked a pebble on the ground with his finger and said, "Well? I'm giving you a chance to convince me that you really love her. Ten seconds."

"You're stupid," Jody said slowly. "You have a brain like a computer, supposedly, but you're really stupid."

"That's five seconds gone."

"Don't you realise how easy it would have been?" Jody's voice was strong despite his dry throat and broken ribs. "Don't you see? If I wanted--only that--I would have done what I was sent to do."

"Oh?"

"I could have kidnapped her. I could have spirited her away to Eden, taken her as my wife whether she wanted it or not. I couldn't do it. I didn't do it. Celeste's my friend. She doesn't remember it, but I do. I want--I want her to walk with me."

His last words bounced off the black teeth of the mountains. Zero shook a little inwardly at the force of the cry but he said, "Big deal."

"I don't give a damn if you approve or not. I'm going to rescue her and you're going to help me because we have the same goal."

"And after that?"

"She can choose who--what--she wants."

Zero rocked back a little on his heels and gathered his thoughts in the silence that followed. He didn't understand humans beyond the How To's he had learned as a Hunter. Jody was ridiculous. Love was even more ridiculous. And he was the biggest buffoon of all for getting caught up in it all.

But for an instant Zero sympathised with the boy, almost connected with him. Giving Celeste the next generation would make him happy mostly because he believed it would make Celeste happy. Why was that? Ego? Jody was surely driven by Eden's patriarchal take on fecundity despite claims that he'd reformed. But maybe it was a general human stupidity as well.

"Maybe you'd better think about what she wants," Zero said.

"Maybe we'd better rest a little," Jody countered briskly. "Give our wounds a day to … age."

"Fine. Good."

Zero looked at the stars for a minute and reached into a shallow storage hollow above his left ankle. He slid out a small container and held it out to Jody.

Not surprisingly, Jody didn't take it. "What is it?"

"Water. Just a little. It gets recycled through my systems to keep me cool. Drink it."

"You want me to drink your runoff?"

"Take it or leave it."

He took it and sipped slowly, complaining about the flat, metallic taste. Then he said, "Why didn't you give me this sooner?"

"I didn't think you'd earned it."

"Prick." Jody's voice carried the smallest hint of amusement.

"I know what I am. Go to sleep."