READERS NOTE: This chapter does not occur on the Code Geass timeline. It is an in-between for Episodes 7-8.

"Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work." Ralph Marston

"I see." Ciel said to Lelouch while she repaired Zero. "So that's who they meant when they were talking about Zero. I thought it was about the Zero I knew…I guess I couldn't have been any more wrong."

Ciel, C.C., and Lelouch managed to get away from the battle that had occurred just a few hours ago. Zero had picked a fight with X that left him severely damaged. He was knocked out and unable to respond to anyone; same with Leviathan. They had retreated to the Ashford Mansion basement and Ciel had begun her repairs on him in the night. Since Millay and her parents never really went down there (except to get furniture for special holidays and events), it would be safe to repair him here. Besides, Zero had already brought his capsule to the basement that held him in there anyway. Lelouch poured her some tea while she sat down with him. They had not stopped talking when they got back.

"Thank you." She said as she sipped some of it.

"When I first saw Zero…" Lelouch said. "I thought he was the most powerful thing ever produced. That I had the key to destroying Britannia right in my hands. But I see now that sometimes the key just doesn't go through."

"Mega Man X is far more powerful than Zero…at least that is what history entails." Ciel said as she began to patch up some wires. "Zero won that fight during the Sigma Virus incident years ago, but barely. And he was also defeated at the same time. He just didn't go down right away. X however locked away most of his power away during that fight."

"I saw Mega Man X before." Lelouch said. "But I did not think much of him. All I knew is that Britannia was securing reploids as well. I never knew how powerful that one was."

"He's the original." Ceil said. "The first Reploid ever produced. He's also a very kind and gentle soul. That's why he isn't intimidating. He has the weaponry needed to solve any situation, but he will do what it takes to keep himself from using it."

Ceil made a loud yawn. Lelouch looked at her eyes to see that they were bloodshot with bags under them.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"I…" She said. "I've been so tired. I haven't slept in three days now thanks to being a prisoner of war."

Lelouch turned his eyes away from her.

I should have had them keep her there.

"I'm sorry." Lelouch said.

"What?" She asked.

"That was my fault." Lelouch said. "I should've had the resistance in Shinjuku take you back earlier instead of wait on it. I brought you pain that was not necessary."

"It's all right Zer…I mean Lelouch." She said.

"Here…" Lelouch said. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

"But I should repair him." She said. "I mean he's saved my life now three times. I can't owe him anymore than I already do. Besides don't you need a fresh soldier at all times?"

"Will he be fine?" Lelouch asked.

"Well…" She said. "None of his vital components have been damaged. So…"

"He will survive." Lelouch said. "I say we let him and her rest for a bit. They deserve it for my foolish arrogance. I let myself become over confident and cocky in that fight and got my pride and them injured. You need sleep. You can stay here for the next few nights."

"But you're supposed to be hiding!" Ciel said in surprise. "And…it's just…"

"Uncomfortable?" Lelouch asked. "May I ask where else you can go?"

Ciel thought about what Lelouch had said.

"Millay's parents do not live in the manor and do not come by often." Lelouch said. "And Millay herself has gone on a little trip for the next three days. The only ones here will be Nunally, C.C., and Sayoko. It will be okay for you to stay when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work."

"I see." Ciel said, with obvious fatigue. "Thank you for your kindness."

"I will have a room prepared for you." Lelouch said. "Please stay here for a bit."

Lelouch left the room. Ciel continued to do some work while he was gone, sipping the tea once in a while. After about a few minutes, Lelouch returned down in the basement.

"I called Millay and cleared it with her." Lelouch said. "Sayoko will prepare a bath for you and the room is all set up. Zero will be fine for tonight. We can work with him tomorrow."

"Thank you Lelouch." She said. "I'll go get ready."

Ciel put her tools away and then got up from where she was. She went upstairs and closed the door behind her. Lelouch sat there still and scratched his head.

"I'm living in a house with now three women; one of which who sleeps in the same bed as me." Lelouch said. "I must be really skilled at this or really unlucky."

Lelouch made a small chuckle.

"Perhaps both." He said.

Ciel took a bath shortly after she had talked to Lelouch. She had not taken a bath in so long that she almost fell asleep on how good she felt. Sayoko came in and managed to make her alert so she never reached that point. Since her clothes were now being washed, Ciel instead took a bathrobe and decided to sleep in that. She crawled into the bed that Lelouch had prepared for her, and fell asleep instantly.

Zero…stay away from Repliforce.

No…not again!

Zero, let's go to a society without humans.

NO…PLEASE….NOT AGAIN….

I know that…but I still wanted to believe in that…with you…

NNNNNNOOOOOO!

"IRIS!" Zero shouted, waking up in his capsule.

Zero looked around to see that was in his capsule. After the battle of Shinjuku, Zero had returned to where Lelouch had found him and had hauled his capsule to a hiding spot for some time. Once he figured out more about Lelouch, he moved the capsule into the basement of the Ashford Manor discreetly. Zero woke up to find that he was in a cold sweat and his shoulders burning. Sunlight from a window shined through on his eyes. Zero was breathing heavily for a few minutes, before wiping his face and beginning to recover.

"Another dream..." Zero said. "Same one as before."

He pressed a button on the capsule allowing it to open up. After the capsule had opened, Zero got out of the capsule and went to a mirror that was stored away in the basement to observe the damage. Ciel had done a good job in repairing what was damaged. His auto repair function had activated at some point and began to repair the rest. The hole in his shoulder was almost all gone. Although his body still had a lot of cuts and scars that directly showed wires still. But nothing serious.

"Leviathan." He said.

Zero ran around the basement. The Basement had lots of antiques all around it. Some old furniture as well. But mostly it contained boxes. Zero found Leviathan on a couch. She was still out, but alive. She didn't have auto repair systems like Zero so she still needed to be repaired still. Zero sighed with relief to see that she was alive.

He spent most of that hour finishing up the repairs Ciel didn't get to, finishing patching up all the lacerations on his body, fixing the wires that were still severed. By the time it was 11:00 o clock, Zero was completely repaired.

"Can't believe I lost." Zero said. "X…you've gotten better. I guess you really are the most powerful Reploid…but…I'm not going to stop."

Zero pressed the crystal on his head and activated disguise mode. The layer of Titanium on his body became data and the bio metal reacted to the program and became flesh. Zero sighed when he saw his human form.

X was taken back into the command center after his battle with Zero. Because his victory was an overwhelming success against Zero, Dolton felt the need that X needed a promotion. In the presence of several guards and Gilford, X was being awarded a silver star along with Harpuia.

"For great service in the eyes of Britannia," General Dolton said to X. "We award you with this silver star for the disabling of the Zero weapon. As of now you are a first class lieutenant. Harpuia you are promoted to Sergeant as of now."

"Thank you my lord." X said as he allowed a soldier to pin in on him and Harpuia. Of course, X's armor was made to resist even Knightmare bullets, so the solider found it hard to actually pin him. Even as Dolton continued to speak, the man tried as hard as he could to pin it on him.

"You have done well." He said "Of course, you only did chase him off. If you want to further your rank, you'll have to eliminate him next time; or perform a service of equal or greater value in the eyes of Cornelia."

"I will do what is commanded." X said.

Finally the soldier gave up, after yelling some profanities. He then handed the medal to them both.

"Figure this out for yourself." He said.

X and Harpuia left the room. X and Harpuia walked through the hallways of the hallways of the base.

"You seem a little on edge." Harpuia said.

"Zero is our enemy now." X said. "The only other Reploid who comes remotely close to my full power. I have reasons to be tense…still…for the enemy to be him. I just hoped that it would not have come to this."

"But you can defeat him…can you not?" Harpuria said.

X made a small laugh.

"I don't know." X muttered. "Even with my power, I still can't help but feel threatened by him. Zero carries about as unlimited potential as I do…meaning that there is always an apparent threat from him. I will do what it takes to fight him off, but I can't be too careless."

"Well it doesn't matter to me who he is to you." Harpuia said. "Me and Zero do not have a good history anyway. I look forward to seeing him again."

Ciel woke up to the morning light with complete satisfaction. The night's sleep had done her wonders. Never before had she felt as good as she felt now. Her body restored after lacking sleep for three days now. She desired to stay in bed and sleep the rest of the day. But she knew that she did have a job to do with Zero. She knew she had to get him up and running.

She got out of bed, still wearing the robe she had worn after her bath yesterday. Her clothes were all washed and left on the side of the bed. She decided to wait after she had washed her face first before she got them on. As Ciel was walking through the hallways, she looked in the living room to see a single figure there. A blond haired man wearing a black jacket, white t shirt, and black pants; wearing a silver necklace. She jumped right where she was in total fear and shock. Zero heard the noise from where he was. He turned around to see Ceil on the floor in fear.

"What?" He asked. "It's me Ciel."

Zero closed his eyes. Energy swirled around where he was and incased his body. When the energy cleared, Zero was revealed in his resistance armor looking at her.

"Zero." He said.

Ciel stayed in shock for a few seconds. But after that her eyes nearly sparkled with absolute joy. Overwhelmed with emotions of joy and gladness she rushed from where she was to Zero. Zero was expecting her to stop and talk to him when she got close, but instead, she rushed over to Zero and hugged him tightly. Zero nearly fell over for he was not expecting this.

"Zero…" She said. "You're…your alive. This is real."

Zero looked at her smiling face for a few seconds. He at first made no move toward her. But after he saw a single tear from her right eye form, he put his arms around her back and returned the hug. After a few seconds, they let go of each other.

"I never thought I would ever see you again." She said. "After Ragnorock exploded, I thought we would never see you again. Then we found you on the ground barely functioning. And when they told me there was a chance that you would never wake up…I…I…I didn't know what to do…"

"Calm down." Zero said. "I'm awake now. You did what you were able to do in your capability. It's not your fault."

"But how did recover so quickly?!" Ciel asked.

"My body has an auto repair function in it that allows the damaged parts to be repaired automatically." Zero said. "So any damage I receive as long as it not among the lines of fatal, I'll be able to recover from it. Even you should have remembered that."

"Oh…of course…that's right." Ciel said. "You are the most amazing Reploid ever created."

She grasped him a second time.

Zero hugged her again in return, completely unsure of what he was doing.

With the amount of money X was being paid now (an obvious attempt to keep the machines happy…seeing as they were starting to fear their powers now), X and Harpuia were now able to afford an apartment room. They decided to rent out a two bedroom apartment complex in order to help cut the amount of funds they would have to spend. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, and a rather large living room. The Kitchen to X was unnecessary as X did not require eating, even with the disguise mode activated. X right now was observing himself with the disguise mode active.

"Harpuia come see this." X said.

Harpuia left his room to see X. He shot back when he saw X.

"Master!" Harpuia said. "What happened to you?"

"It's something I took from Zero when we fought on Leviathan's ambush." X said. "Although the primary purpose is to disguise among humans, it makes me feel so…different. Like I'm actually a human."

"How so?" Harpuia asked.

X went over to Harpuia and touched his hand. The data of the disguise program entered into his brain. Harpuia activated the disguise program. After the effects that were generated when the program was active, Harpuia's human form was shown. He had a black hoodie on with a blue pair of jeans on. He had red sneakers and long green hair. Harpuia looked at himself in the mirror. Unusual feelings that he never had before began to enter into his mind.

"This is…" He began as he looked at himself. "Astounding. I feel…so different."

"It's spectacular isn't it?" X asked as watched Harpuia adore his new form. "It's primarily for disguise, but it alters everything. It alters a Reploid's bio metal so well, that the Reploid feels human."

"This by far is amazing." Harpuia said.

"I can't believe that Zero programmed this." X asked. "Or…whoever programmed it. I'm not sure right now.

"If we gave this program to other Reploids," Harpuia said. "Why just think of results. Reploids would be able to think differently, more independently. This would allow us to evolve to even further levels than what we already are.…damn I look good."

"Hahaha…what?" X asked jokingly.

"Hahaha…." Harpuia laughed. "I honestly don't know where that came from. But that proves my point. Reploids would be able to have things they desire without having to fight for it."

"Your right." X said. "If we gave this to other Reploids, we could breach that gap. We really could. Maybe even because the bio metal becomes manipulated, the Maverick Virus code may not be able to infect the reploid. And the Reploid would be able to live a life like a human by his choice. A world where Reploids and humans could interact with each other on the same level. That's the kind of life I want to see."

But even as he said that, X thought about it hard and serious.

I can already see potential problems with this as well.

Meanwhile, Lelouch was busy having it out on C.C. for her not telling him about Mega Man X.

"I can't believe that you never told me about Mega Man X." Lelouch yelled at C.C.

"I did not believe that Mega Man X would have appeared around here." C.C. said.

"YOU SAID YOU BROUGHT THE OTHER REPLOIDS BACK ALONG WITH ZERO!" Lelouch shouted. "BECAUSE OF YOUR LACK OF PROVIDING ME THIS INTEL, ZERO AND LEVIATHAN BECAME INJURED!"

"Sorry." C.C. said.

C.C. sighed as she looked at Lelouch's complete angry face.

"All right." She said. "It's time to come clean a bit."

"Huh?" Lelouch asked.

So C.C. then began to tell Lelouch about the truth. How she never had truly taken the Reploids from their dimension. How she intercepted where Zero and Elpizo were originally being sent to. How she moved them to Shinjuku. And how she set up where Lelouch would meet Zero and Elpizo so he could get Zero on his side.

"And you mean to tell me that you never warped them here?" Lelouch said.

"I can observe both worlds because of the Geass being in both realms." C.C. said. "But when I draw objects from another world, I can only do it once at a time. I could never have been able to take all of them here in one go. Someone else on that side had a Geass ability that allowed him to rip a hole in the space time continuum to bring them all I swear to you I only brought Zero here…no one else."

"So I am not the only Geass user?" Lelouch asked.

"They are others out there." C.C. said. "Some with more frightening and destructive powers. Be on your guard Lelouch. This one that ripped that hole is probably the most powerful one of all."

While C.C. and Lelouch were talking, a probe that was recording them flew off before Lelouch and C.C. noticed.

"What should we do about them?" A voice said in darkened room as many different people watched the footage between Lelouch and C.C. "The two know too much about the world. And they know boss that you used the Geass now."

"Let them catch on." The old man said. "They have no idea of what were truly after. By the time Lelouch does, it'll far too late."

"Yeah boss." Another voice said. "You're always one step ahead."

"When you're defeated so many times in the past," The voice continued. "You have to learn how to think ahead. It's too bad you couldn't lure Zero in earlier."

"Meh." Another voice said. "The bastard blasted me off the support railing. And that damn witch drew him away."

"No matter." The Old man said. "He'll find out soon enough."

"You finished the human modification program!?" Ciel said as she looked at the disc.

"There was just some binary and C language issues." Zero said. "After I corrected those and modified the program to adjust to my armor, it worked fine. I guess you were closer to finishing it than you believed"

"I can't believe you finished it on your own!" Ciel said.

"Well it wasn't easy since I didn't have Cerveau or you to give me a hand." Zero said. "But I did manage to finish it. I sort of had an idea what to do. Otherwise…I wouldn't have lasted this long."

"Don't you know what this means?!" Ciel shouted in joy.

"Not really." Zero said.

"For the longest time," Ceil began. "Reploids have always desired to become human. Even though Reploids have their own emotions and personalities, the mere fact of the matter is that we humans are limited to what we can give them. We give them so much. But the Reploids desire more. And more we should give. No person who has a mind show ever be restricted in their thought process. With the human modification program inserted, the bio metal that all Reploids are made from will be influenced, allowing them to form a simulated human body. A human body, even if simulated, still carries a brain that acts the exact same way. Meaning…"

"That a Reploid can have those extra thoughts and stuff that they desire." Zero said.

"And then the virus wouldn't be able to infect them if it still exists!" Ceil said. "You can't get a computer virus if you have a human brain! And that same Reploid won't choose to become Maverick by choice. He has everything he could want."

"Ciel you're a genius." Zero said. "If it wasn't for you, this program would never have existed."

"And if you didn't live…" Ciel said. "It never would have been finished."

Ciel made a large smile to Zero. Zero in return smiled back. But as she walked away, Zero turned around with a small worrisome face.

"But…I can't help but feel that this program will create more problems than fix." He muttered silently.

Later that day, Lelouch met with Ciel personally to learn more about the girl. Ciel had managed to fix up Leviathan so all she needed now was rest. Ciel and Lelouch met outside on the patio out there. Ceil personally thanked Lelouch for allowing her to hide at the mansion.

"Thank you for allowing me to stay here Zero." Ciel said to Lelouch.

"No it was my pleasure." Lelouch said as he poured some tea for Ciel.

"But I won't be able to stay here for long." Ciel said. "I mean once the owner gets back…"

"That won't be a problem anymore." Lelouch said. "Zero has decided to let you stay with him."

"Hmm?" She said as she sipped some of the tea.

"Zero is using this program along with altered data in the school system to allow him to be a student." Lelouch said. "He has a second bed in that dorm. You'll be able to stay there for a bit. And if that doesn't work, I have secured a command center for my army to be formed. You will be able to stay there as well. As far as I am concerned, you're safe now."

"Thank you Lelouch again." She responded. "Even though you were the one to order Zero to save me, you were still there to try and save me."

"Well I can't have someone who could possibly give intelligence to the enemy fall into their hands now can I?" Lelouch said. "Besides your talents as a scientist and knowledge of other reploids will be needed if we are to defeat Britannia."

"Well…" She began. "I don't really know enough about Britannia to know which side is right or wrong. But I do know that the way they dealt with those rebels was cruel, I fought once to stop stuff like that; and I can still fight."

"So you'll join me?" Lelouch asked.

"I will." Ciel said.

Lelouch went over to Ciel and shook her hand.

"Welcome in." Lelouch said.

Ciel looked at him and smiled.

She's a good person. And she has a kind heart. If I destroy Britannia, me and her could help rebuild the country. She knows her way around with things. However, for now, I cannot allow her to remember my true identity.

Lelouch activated the Geass.

Axl was busy wiping some of his guns. He hadn't been doing too much in the JLF since he joined (other than cleaning). He went on a couple missions once in a while and wiped out a couple guards. But all in all, he really didn't do too much.

Of course he really didn't care. As long as he had a purpose.

"Axl!" Tohdoh shouted as he walked in.

"Yikes!" He shouted as he jumped up. "Whatever it is man I didn't do it!"

"Of course you didn't." Tohdoh said. "That's why I need you."

"Huh?" Axl grunted.

"One of our own has taken several of our men and has gone to do a useless mission." Tohdoh said. "They have went to the Sakuradite allocation meeting at a hotel with plans of kidnapping innocent civilians and executing them to make Britannia suffer for it's injustices. I have warned everyone never to make foolish moves. I cannot have him going around and poisoning our ranks any further. A good number of men have already gone with him and our marching blindly towards their deaths."

"Uh-huh." Axl said.

"Do what must be done." Tohdoh said throwing Axl a silenced pistol.

"Eliminate the traitor." Axl said, catching the gun and cocking it into place. "You got it."