Chapter 37: Evening Plans

Caillou sat quietly in the warren he once shared with his mother. He broke apart chunks of the hard cracker-like substance the mess hall distributed for Edenites to snack on between meals, and he dipped the crumbly chunks in his tea. He chewed on the softened bread, but it just tasted like glue, and he assumed the stuff was in fact cementing his intestines shut. Caillou pushed aside the bread, flicked at crumbs, and tried to take stock of his emotions.

He felt like a cipher, a dark hole oozing mud, a bloody, empty socket that was once home to a tooth.

Worst of all, Caillou could remember his white-hot jabs of fury, his chuckling joy on the rare occasions he found something funny, and the spells of lust that seemed to awaken all his senses at once and light up the world with colours and scents that were otherwise impossible to experience. But it was all gone, replaced by thoughts and feelings that were the colour and flavour of oatmeal.

The harder he tried to think, the blander his thoughts became.

Caillou sipped his lukewarm tea. The brass band on his wrist was to blame for his tepid state of mind, he knew it. Nytetrayn knew it too, or at least Caillou was pretty sure of it. The Ouroboros band wasn't merely in place to sterilize his body; it was there to sterilize his thoughts, his will, his desires and drives.

Despite Caillou's flatlined emotions, he knew he was on the verge of a ferocious change of some kind. Not an hour ago, he had entered his warren and walked on a scrap of toilet paper that was blotted with spartan orders to meet up in the Hollow during the quietest moment of the fourth quarter. The notice's handwriting had been devoid of any distinguishing features-and seemingly written with some kind of ink, thankfully, instead of a less hygienic fluid.

All the better, as the note was currently being boiled away to nothing deep in Caillou's gut, along with that godawful bread. No sense in leaving evidence around, he thought mildly. Though evidence towards _what,_ he couldn't exactly say.

What fun.

Jody Loy wiped his greasy brow with the back of his arm. He willed his belly to shed the dull, yellow aura of fear that weighed on it like a thin coat of lead. It wouldn't budge.

So Jody scratched through his memories, tried to recall the elation he felt when he first entered Eden with Zero as his prisoner. Nothing. It was like trying to draw up the last few drops of milk through a straw, and getting only a wet rattle.

The roar of Eden's river rolling by almost caused him to miss a salutation that came from under the thick canopy of trees along the bank. Jody whipped his head back and forth in search of the source of the voice until it said, "Right behind you, you horse's ass."

"Crap!" Jody barked while executing a nimble 180 degree turn. Zero grinned at him from his seat: A large rock by the riverbank.

"Hey, Jody," he said. Even in the dim light, it was easy for Jody to take stock of Zero's dents, scratches, and scars. The Reploid's one good eye glittered; the other was now wholly shut, seemingly by the furrow that ran down it. Jody couldn't remember where Zero had gotten that scar from, and moreover, he didn't care. He dropped his hand over his chain sickle.

"Oh don't even try it," Zero chuckled. "I'm screwed beyond belief down here, but I'm starting to think my status is worth more than yours. I'm useful to Asmodeus, at least. You're an okay warrior, but he has plenty of those. You're caught in a lie, besides."

"What do you know about it?" Jody hissed.

"I may be beat up," Zero said, "and I'm fed only just enough Energen to keep me out of stasis lock, but there's nothing wrong with my hearing, Jody. I catch enough of the gossip around here, including the tittle-tattle about your own mother not believing that you have the stones to take me prisoner." Zero grinned. "I _told_ you it was a terrible plan."

"K-keep your voice down!"

"What happens if I don't?" Zero unfolded himself and stepped out of the emerald shadows cast by the foliage alongside the river. "Are you a bit frightened about what Asmodeus will do to you when he finds out we're in cahoots? Is Eden above torturing its own warriors? I've heard a little about that subject, too-about how the ghouls in charge of _that_ operation favour psychological tactics, since you're all conditioned against pain." Zero crossed his arms and tapped his finger against his mangled arm canon. "So what's your Room 101, Jody? Broken bones left to mend crookedly by themselves so that you'll never fight properly ever again? Being blinded? A sliced Achilles tendon?"

Jody felt the blood drain from his face, and he swallowed back the plume of sour bile that rushed up from his stomach. "Shut up. Shut the hell up! What do you even want out of me?"

"You used me, so now it's my turn to get something out of you," Zero said in a low voice. He slid up closer to Jody, who automatically recoiled. "Your mother is that woman who spends all her time with Celeste, right?"

Jody hesitated, but said "Yes."

"Adina?"

"Yes."

"Does she love you?"

Jody jerked his head back. "_What?_"

"You heard me."

"Of course she loves me, you half-wit," Jody snarled. "Why would you even ask?"

Zero grinned again. "Oh, just curious. I've heard some of the things she calls you."

Jody swallowed. "She can be a little harsh, but nothing I can't endure. Nothing I don't deserve."

"Well, I can't argue that last point."

"What's it matter?" Jody hissed. "What's a bunch of circuits and wires know about mothers, anyway? Just tell me what you want before anyone sees me talking to you."

Zero glanced over one of his shoulders, then the other. "All right. I want to talk to Celeste. You'll need to pry your mother off her for a second."

"How do you expect me to do _that?_"

"I don't know," Zero said. "She's your mom. You'll figure something out."

"My mother is a very strong-willed woman," Jody sighed. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and silently cursed his inability to keep it from visibly trembling. "Why do you want to talk to Celeste?"

"I want to make sure she's all right. I want to let her know I'm here to help bust her out."

"She's fine," Jody said. "I can give you that much on my word of honour."

Zero looked at him hard. "Thank you, but I still want to talk to her."

Jody ran both his hands through his hair and grabbed double-fistfuls. "Goddamnit! Why should I even _help_ you?"

"Because you care about Celeste," Zero said, "but you're not in a position to help her. Neither am I, to be honest-but if we work together, we can all get the hell out of here alive."

"'We?'"

Zero hesitated, then he said, "I'll protect you. You, Celeste, and a few others I've met whom I won't name yet for their safety. This place is a crazy house, but I think we stand a chance if we put our backs together." Zero narrowed his eyes at Jody. "If you'd rather see what miracles Edenites can perform with a small, sharp blade, you can stay."

"I can't stay," Jody said, his stomach twisting. "It's...just not a good idea. I've been on the Outside. Asmodeus always said that the Outside corrupts; maybe he was right."

"Sure, blame it on Asmodeus." Zero retreated back to his rock and sat down. "I guess it doesn't matter, though, as long as I have your support."

"I don't have much of a choice."

Zero cocked his head to one side. "But if you stayed and you...got into some trouble, wouldn't Adina protect you?"

Jody thought of his tiny mother and her fierce, dual nature. "I don't know," he said honestly.

"If that's really the case, then I have an idea that might get her away from Celeste-and it'll cover your butt for a few minutes longer, too."

"What is it," Jody asked as he rubbed the sore spot under chin where Celeste had caught him the other day (_Speaking of small, fierce women,_ he thought to himself as a jumble of resentment, admiration, and love shot through his veins).

Zero's lightsabre awoke with a hiss. "I'm going to hurt you again," the Reploid said.

"Whoa! What?"

Zero's lips parted in a fierce smile. He pulled himself up on his rock and pointed his sabre at Jody. It hummed menacingly. "Welcome to my class. I know you can already mangle a Reploid, so we're going straight into the advanced stuff. Defend yourself."

Jody had just enough time to loose his sickle and use its sturdy chain to block Zero's attack. He blew a sharp breath through his teeth and tried to fade away from the abysmal pain in his cracked ribs, but Zero pushed on him without mercy.

"It's for your own good," the Hunter cackled.

Jody was wholly on the defensive. His stress, his previous injuries, and his lack of practise made it easy for Zero to spot his unguarded knee and kick it out. Jody gasped and crumpled. Zero's sabre dove like a bird of prey, and the smell of burning flesh mingled with a cry.

"You'll see," Zero said.