Death and the Vibrant Architecture of Rebirth

by goldenyuusha

A century had passed since Zero had sealed himself away. After being awoken by the Neo Arcadian king X, Zero finds himself in an unfamiliar, perfect world with no one to turn to but his old partner. But cracks start to form in the perfect things he once held dear, and Zero must accept that they may be set in stone forever. An MMZ AU where Neo Arcadia finds Zero before Ciel.

12. Chapter Eleven

AN: well hello. new davaor chapter, enjoy.

in all seriousness, been very busy writing my thesis, so davaors been on the back burner. still, i find time to work on it, lol.
this chapter got out of hand quick. its 17k words, but doesn't really feel like it. anyway, hope you like this one.

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

Before the Elf Wars, the city of Bosaso was a bustling port city, the municipality, seated on the tip of the Horn of Africa, was regarded as the region's major economic and educational hub.

Now, the seaside city had been reduced to rubble, xeric shrubland overtaking what had been. In comparison to the rest of Africa, it seemed lush. The Maverick Hunters, or what was left of them, had no choice in finding refuge in the vast Somali grasslands along with the rest of the population, ever since North America had been bombed into all but an arid, shattered peninsula. The region was the cradle of mankind, and as news slowly filtered back to the Hunters from around the globe, it would soon be its grave.

X had ventured far from the modular building they called Maverick Hunter Headquarters and the ramshackle shanties that housed survivors of the war, through the shrublands and through the foothills of Cal Madow, where the mountain range's shadow offered cool, windy reprieve from the scorching heat. Their rudimentary teleportation system could only take him so far before he had to make the rest of the hike on foot. It was probably why Zero decided to hide there, amongst lavender bushes and beneath a juniper tree, staring into the distant hills and valleys in its shade.

"Zero!? Zero!" X called out, his voice the only thing that could be heard for miles. With the sun in his eyes, he could only see the silhouette of Zero sit up at the sound of his partner's voice.

X clambered up the hill Zero was perched atop batting away thorny brush and shrubbery, kicking up rocks and dust in his wake.

Zero cocked his head as X appeared on the hill's peak. "X? What are you doing here?"

"Oh nothing, just looking for you," X replied when he eventually got to him, his internals running hot and loud as he briefly caught his breath. "You didn't show up for Signas' address. Alia was calling for you, but you didn't answer."

"...That was today?" Zero asked, though it didn't sound too genuine. "Must've slipped my mind."

He didn't look at X when he spoke, staring listlessly into the vast nothing. X collapsed down beside him with an exhausted huff, leaning up against the trunk of the juniper tree. He plucked a leaf from a nearby shrub and wrung it in his fingers.

"It was a pain in the afterburners getting here," X bemoaned. He flicked the crumpled up leaf into the breeze, slowly closed his eyes, and sighed. "What brought you all the way out here, anyway? You've been totally AWOL for a week now… we were all worried about you. Especially me."

"Just… just needed some time alone," Zero replied, "to think. That's all."

The solemn tone in his words wasn't lost on X. He nudged his hand with his own, lacing their fingers together. "You want to talk about it?"

"I don't know. But…" Zero turned around to meet X's gaze again, lips forming a tired smile. "Ah, X, I don't know. Just talk to me."

Locks of his blonde hair fluttered in the breeze and caught the sunlight, like stalks of golden wheat drifting in the wind. X made a soft laugh and leaned into Zero's side.

"Well, you got me. I don't know what to talk about either. To tell you the truth, I haven't been able to think about much besides the Elf Wars. It's nearly been a year now. It's hard to believe it," X admitted, his smile falling from his face as soon as he spoke of his reality. "I mean, I'm still waking up at four in the morning in a cold sweat, hearing those damn emergency sirens in my head. I don't know if I'll ever really believe that it's over."

Zero knew that feeling well. Even now, the clear skies overhead made him uneasy, the cloudless expanse still carrying the threat of airborne vollies from Weil's forces. "But it is over."

With Omega defeated and Lord Weil exiled, it was all over. Weil's dark hold over the world had been lifted, and only time would tell if the Earth would persevere. Regardless, there was hardly anyone left to fight his war, and what was left of the Earth was hardly worth fighting over.

"Feels like it's cost us everything," X said. "There isn't enough time in the world to mourn what's been lost. Sometimes, I wonder if there could ever be a world where us and humans can coexist peacefully."

Zero shrugged. "Humans couldn't even coexist with humans. If humanity won't repent for their past sins, history will just repeat."

Maybe it was true, but X was tired of fighting. So was Zero. "Maybe it's up to us to build that world, then. There's nothing left, but… but that means we can start over from the beginning. We can give these people hope. Create a new world we can be proud of."

Even in the face of an ending world, he still thought about the future of those he fought for. X's optimism made Zero's heart glow with admiration.

Abruptly, X sat up, straightening himself and clasping Zero's hand in his own tightly. Zero took notice of his sudden change in demeanour and offered him his undivided attention.

"Zero, I've been thinking about the future… about our future, I mean. We've been together so long, and now that the world is at peace again… nothing's in the way of our relationship anymore. We're free to do whatever we want now, we can have a home, a family. Our own children," X said, cadence slowly growing ever passionate as he went on. He couldn't stop himself from pouring his heart out now. "Zero, I love you, I love you more than you know. More than all the stars in the sky and every grain of sand on every beach, and nothing will ever stop me from loving you. Would… would you ever consider being my husband?"

For a moment, Zero was too stunned to react. When he did, his eyes widened, breath caught in his throat, frame stiffening in shock. X's hazel eyes glimmered with hope, his gaze roving across Zero's face as he nervously waited for a response.

After a while, Zero deflated again, slumping back down. A proposal had been a long time coming. They had been together for centuries, and at that point, it was only the war keeping them apart.

Zero tore his hand away from X's grip, and rolled away, getting to his feet and turning his back on X. X's heart sank.

"X…"

That was a no. Zero crossed his arms over his chest, like he was protecting his heart.

"...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought this up so suddenly. Especially so soon after the war."

He tried not to show it, but that was never his strong suit. He was gutted.

"Don't be sorry. It isn't you, it's… it's me," Zero insisted. His arms dropped to his sides, and he threw his head back. "X, I've been thinking of ending things."

X slowly got to his feet. "...You mean, like… us?"

"X, I mean everything. I love you, I really do. I wish we could be what you want us to be, but I just don't know if I can go on like this," Zero said, "all of this was my fault. All that's ever been born of me is evil. As long as I live, I don't think it's ever going to get any better. I've watched too many friends die because of what came out of me. For the sake of everyone, I think this world's better off without me."

Words were thick in X's throat as he stuttered a response. "Zero, that isn't true! If it weren't for you, there wouldn't be any world left. The virus is gone, Weil is gone, we can–"

"What, be normal? X, you know I can't be what you want me to be. I'm a machine for war. This cycle of violence will continue for as long as I continue functioning. I want this as much as you do. I wish I could live a normal life with you, X. I want to get married, I want kids, I want to build a home with you, but it just isn't in the cards for me. It's not a life for me. I don't want to hurt you anymore."

X stepped forward, his eyes beginning to grow wet with tears. He shook his head, unable to believe what he was telling him was true. "But– what about your friends? And Axl- and- what about me? I love you, Zero. I don't know what I'd do without you. The only thing that would hurt me is being apart from you. I'm nothing without you."

"I love you too, X. I just can't stand doing this to you anymore. These wars, they're ruining you."

X just stared at Zero's back. He sniffled, wiping away the tear falling down his cheek. "P-please. Come home, at least. We can talk about this."

"...I'll see you soon, X. Just promise you'll wait for me."

"I'll do anything. Come home…"

But Zero had no home. No leash or cage or wedding ring would ever hold him down. He began to walk away, disappearing behind the slope of the mountain, and X fell to his knees.

He had left behind his sabre where he once sat. X collected it in his hands, holding it as gently as he would a butterfly.

"Wait! Zero!"

X clambered onto his feet, running after Zero, but when he looked over the hill, he was gone, a gust of wind billowing where X last saw him.

"X?"

Maybe, if he knew it would be the last time they would speak for a hundred years, he wouldn't have let him go.

"Master X?"

X could still remember that day like it was yesterday. The breeze ripping through the sparse leaves of the shrublands, the dryness in the air, the smell of lavender. Zero's warm presence, his silky hair cascading down from his head like an amber gossamer curtain. Now, he sat on a balcony overlooking his kingdom, cold and alone.

Moonlight was shimmering off ivory white towers. Up on this level, the air was thin and chilling, the wind howling and ruffling the long, colourless tresses of hair that spilled from the brims of his helmet. He stared into the night sky from a round table with only the hardest thing he could find in his cellar to medicate his despair. He mused, inebriated and tired, that even though he had Zero again, he felt as alone as he did the day Zero left.

Why did he let him go? Why had it been his friends who had to tell him Zero was gone? His glass was empty, so he poured himself another drink.

"Dad?"

"What do you want?!"

Some time ago, Harpuia had landed on the balcony, having flown in from a patrol on the outer sectors. X knew he was there, but he didn't feel like addressing him. He was too busy reliving that same painful memory over and over, dulling the agony in his chest with all the booze he could take. Harpuia shrunk back and bowed his head, knowing to err on the side of caution when his father seemed so out of it.

"S-sorry for disturbing you, father. I must report that Rebellion terrorists have intercepted a freight train carrying dangerous weapons out of the West Sector next gen artillery manufacturer. They've occupied a cargo station. Fefnir wanted your permission to move in."

X grimaced, breathing hard through his nose. "That's all you wanted to tell me?"

"...Yes, father."

X looked aside again, slouching in his chair. "Could've been an email, Harpuia."

Harpuia frowned. "...sorry. Then what do you suggest we do?"

Taking a hearty swig of his drink, X waved a hand haphazardly while his mouth was preoccupied. The alcohol burned on the way down. "Do whatever. Kill the bastards, I don't care."

It was foolish for Harpuia to stay any longer, but he couldn't help but feel concerned for his father. It looked like he hadn't slept for weeks. He took a tentative step forward, slouching to make himself look smaller than he already was.

"Sir… is there something bothering you?" Harpuia asked in the most innocent voice he could muster. It didn't matter how sweet or rude he was, though, when X was in this state.

There was a deep silence as X mulled it over. It was short-lived, and X slammed his glass down hard enough to make the table rattle, Harpuia flinching away at the impact.

"Goddamn it! Fucking everything, Harpuia, fucking everything is bothering me!" X snapped, his booming voice shaking Harpuia to his core. "I have everything I ever could've wanted in my life, I have this city, the love of my life, loyal children, and yet, I'm still as fucking miserable as the day I lost Zero. I don't know what I can do to make things better. It isn't fair."

He took a deep breath, shaking his head and clenching a fist tight. "When the war ended, before I built this city, before you were born, Zero told me that for as long as he lived, the cycle of war would never end. And I didn't think he meant it, but when he left, he never came back. Why didn't I stop him, Harpuia? None of this would've happened if I hadn't let him go. Axl, everyone, they wouldn't have betrayed me, they would've been alive. But I was weak, I was stupid. I let him go, when I should've chased after him. And now he's back, but he hates me. I know it, he doesn't even look me in the eyes anymore. He's trying to run away, Harpuia. He's trying to leave me. I can't take it. I miss him. I miss what we could've had, you know, kids of our own, a life together. I miss how he made me feel… I mean, I have you four, but…"

He put his head in his hands. "I tried as best as I could. I can see his features in your faces, his fierce spirit, his desire for justice, but it doesn't change the fact that you aren't our children. You're just mine. I want more, but he refuses, again and again. I don't know what else I could possibly give him to make him mine. Just for once in my life, I want to be in control, and I just don't know what else I can possibly do to make him mine. I've given him the world! This was what he wanted. I know it is. And still, even after I've given him everything, it's not enough. How could he be so ungrateful? Did I give him too much at once?" He hissed through gritted teeth. "I've seen how he looks at Craft, how he cherishes the lives of mavericks over me. The other day, he pushed me too far. I almost hurt him, Harpuia. I didn't mean to. I just wanted to scare him. But– but when I think about him leaving me, I just can't take it. I don't want anyone else having him but me, and I know that's wrong, but it's the truth! It's messed up, but if I let him go again, he won't come back. I can't take it anymore. I just want him. I miss him. Even if I'm hurting him, I just want him back…"

Fury and grief were eternal bedfellows for X. He sobbed into his hands, shuddering and weeping. Harpuia swallowed hard, nerves balling up in his throat. "We could… take him to the processing unit, sir."

Such audacity had X lurching to his feet, his chair kicked back by his momentum as he threw his glass in Harpuia's direction, only narrowly missing him before it shattered against the wall. "And lobotomise him? Turn him into a mindless toy? Harpuia, do you hear yourself? Let me tell you something right now. I could have anyone I ever could've wanted. Every human and reploid in this city belongs to me. And still, I haven't. You wonder why I never took another lover? Because Zero was one of a kind. You think I liked him because of his looks? There must be a thousand white, blonde, blue-eyed reploids in a ten mile radius of us, and any single one of them could be mine. I loved him because of who he is. His soul. His fire. I never stopped loving him, even when he hurt me. I love everything about him, and I always will, even if it kills me! Even if it kills him!"

His anger slowly dwindled as he was too exhausted to stay mad. Harpuia's eyes were wide, his wings coming around his body to shield himself.

"I'm sorry, father. I shouldn't have asked."

"Don't be. It's me. I mean, look at me. I'm old, Harpuia. I don't even feel at home in my own skin. When I look in the mirror it's just like– who the hell is this? When did my hair go this colour? Guh. I messed everything up. You know, I got the world, but there's nothing left to have. I just wanted to feel something for once, but nothing's changed. I'm still the same sad, lonely man I was before." X's gaze was distant and empty. "Sorry, kid. You don't deserve to see me like this."

Harpuia tried to fight through his uneasiness. "Sorry for disturbing you."

X shook his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He let out an exhale that shuddered on the way out his vents. "Run along now, Harpuia. You got better things to do than watch your old man waste away like this."

Though Harpuia wanted to leave, his feet remained plastered to the ground, refusing to move an inch. X narrowed his gaze and looked towards Harpuia.

"That was an order."

That triggered his innate sense of duty. Harpuia stood at attention, standing upright before bowing his head slightly and turning, making a running start before taking off from the balcony and into the night sky. X watched him go, the green dot that was Harpuia was lost to the empty expanse above.

He was alone again, and his only comfort was the half empty bottle before him. What could he do to change things? He still loved Zero, but he didn't know if Zero loved him anymore. It felt like he could give him everything he could ever want, and yet, Zero would still be unsatisfied. He was always a free spirit, unable to be tied down by destiny and the whims of those around him, and that was why X loved him. It just meant Zero would never be concerned with settling down and just accepting what he's got either.

X drank straight from the bottle. He had enough of conceding with that fact. Nothing would change if he let Zero escape his grasp again and again.

Years ago, Zero told him to wait for him. X had grown impatient. He was done waiting.

---

They left for the Resistance at the break of dawn, just as the golden sun started peaking over the horizon.

Craft sped down the highway on his ride chaser, Zero clinging on tight to his massive frame. At this hour, the roads were empty, save for municipal services like waste disposal and construction vehicles. The air was cold and still as it passed them by, Central Neo Arcadia's white and gold surfaces glistening with sunlight caught by the morning dew. A faint moon hung overhead in the turquoise sky.

Zero knew he was testing the give on X's leash. He was shocked he was even let out of the citadel after the incident yesterday. He supposed that if X had given an order, there would be a delay before it reached the lower echelons of his vast military force, and Zero would have to take advantage of what little freedom he still had left.

The cool wind rippled through Zero's hair, his jacket fluttering in the wind as he watched the city pass by in a blur. The hum of the ride chaser as it sped down the highway was strangely nostalgic in a bittersweet way, it made him feel young again, imparting memories of driving through Abel City as Maverick Hunters alongside X. Those days were over, but he was still hesitant to let them go. He'd have to, eventually.

The pristine white towers of Central Neo Arcadia thinned out the further they ventured, replaced by sterile and bleak apartment blocks. Luxury, compared to the outer sector flophouses. As they approached the dividing great wall between Central Neo Arcadia and the outer sectors, the air around them gradually became thicker with the sulphuric stench of industry. It was a horrible miasma, collecting in Zero's nose and lungs like sludge, but he had come to associate it with the sweet relief of freedom.

[The Wall is up ahead. I gotta take a detour.]

Craft had been mostly silent for the duration of the trip. When he didn't have to necessarily speak, Craft did most of his talking through touch and gestures. Zero appreciated the silence, but on the other hand, it made it easy to get too caught up in his own head.

[Where are we going?]

He drifted into the exit lane, where the exit ramp led him from the highway to a wide road that wound between drab concrete buildings.

[Underground. Gotta evade the tolls. They'll be checking IDs, and we don't have halo scramblers,] Craft replied. [After yesterday's mess, there's no way in hell we're getting through, no matter what excuse we come up with.]

Three lane roads became one lane streets, and Craft had to take care to weave between the glut of pedestrians that wandered the lower city streets. The delay was a small price to pay for privacy from Neo Arcadia's prying eyes. Unlike the outer sectors, here, Zero could pick out rare humans in the crowd, filtering in and out of tower blocks and market centres. Zero leaned into Craft's back a little closer, obscuring himself in his thick jacket and large frame.

[X must be looking for me by now,] Zero lamented. [Even now, after everything he's done, there's still a part of me that feels guilty for leaving him again.]

[It's for your own good,] Craft reassured. [It isn't safe for you back there. It's a hard thing, trying to let go.]

In the concrete labyrinth of apartments and roadside market stalls beneath the shadow of the dividing wall, there was safety from the omnipresent eye of the state, but at the expense of municipal services and freedom to leave the slums. Even then, the people seemed happier here, children happily waving at them as they rode by as if they had seen Craft drive by countless times before. It was dark, the highway overhead obscuring the sun's light from ever reaching the denizens of the block, but the people's spirits lit up the streets without it.

[What can I even say to him? I don't know if I can keep pretending,] Zero wondered. [I love him, but… I don't think he loves me the same way anymore.]

[You don't owe him an explanation,] Craft said.

[But I do. I owe him a lot. I owe him my humanity. I wouldn't have known how to live like all the others if not for X. I've never really thought about what life would be like without him.]

Craft hummed lowly, a sympathetic noise. [I can't force you to leave. If you decide to stay with him after I've compromised our location like this, then it'll be my burden to carry. But if it's freedom you want, the Resistance will be glad to have you. They'll treat you kindly, no matter what circumstances you came from.] The wall crept closer, an imposing slab of concrete painted with massive white letters designating sector names.

[How could you be so sure that they'll accept me? This mess was my fault to begin with. I sat back and watched Axl die, too weak to save him.]

[They took me in, knowing well of my past in Neo Arcadia's armed forces. Our past is irrelevant, it's what we do now that matters.] Craft said. They were at the very foot of the wall now, where they pulled up to a small garage guarded by a single reploid, dressed in old world combat gear and brandishing a Neo Arcadian rifle. The hair on the back of Zero's neck bristled, and he shrank back behind Craft, wary of the analytical look the stranger was giving them. The man took a second to give Craft a scan up and down, before he smiled and bowed his head.

"By Jove, it really is you! Never thought you'd come out of there alive, Commander," he said, stepping out of the way and unlatching the garage doors. They opened with an echoing creak. "...Who's that you have with you? I can't get a read on them."

"A refugee from central. He won't be in our databases," Craft answered succinctly. "I owe him a favour."

"I see. Right this way." He gestured into the garage. Craft gave an appreciative nod before venturing within.

It was dimly lit by flickering fluorescent bulbs, only barely revealing the interior, though the occasional sparks of a welding torch offered flashes of light. It was like a warehouse, work tools hanging from every wall as soot coated reploids and humans alike rushed to and forth purposefully as they worked on fixing up vehicles and weapons. He could only just make out their features, and they were colourful underneath a layer of soot. Some wore second-hand combat vests, some were dressed in forest green uniforms with a bright red triangle adorning berets, and others were marked with a blue band around their sleeves decorated with the letters OSA. It was only when Zero toggled his infrared view did he notice that in the shadows of the building were a cramped group of civilian reploids, families with young children, huddled around a tall human man with dark green hair and dressed in a yellow jumpsuit. He wielded a sizable rifle, tucked into a holster in his back.

[Where are we?] Zero asked. Craft laughed, his tone rumbling in Zero's core.

[This is a Resistance encampment,] he answered. [They run this town, right underneath Neo Arcadia's noses.]

That explained the odd sense of harmony amongst the outside apartment blocks, unlike anything Zero had seen in the oppressive outer sectors. The organisation of the operation all seemed staggering, rivalling the Maverick Hunters' own back in its heyday. [There are humans here,] Zero noted.

[They aren't all bad,] Craft said. [Without them, we reploids have no voice. X can paint us as mavericks, but he can't say the same for defiant humans.]

He arrived at another gate, a large rolling door guarded by a humanoid reploid with warm, dark skin dressed in green garb and a ursoid animaloid with an OSA armband wrapped around his sleeve, standing at attention like diligent watch dogs as they approached. The reploid in green's eyes were covered by goggles, but even then, Zero could tell his eyes widened with how his brow disappeared behind his fringe.

"No way," the green reploid muttered, his shoulders slumping as he took off his beret and held it to his chest. The OSA reploid staggered back in shock.

"Commander!" the bear reploid exclaimed, "you're alive!"

That made everyone in a 100 metre radius look their way. Craft dipped his head and chuckled, almost cheekily. "Any louder and you're gonna bring a pantheon patrol our way," he said. "It's nice to see this place still working like a charm."

It took a moment for the shock to wear off on the two. The green reploid spoke. "Ciel was almost certain Neo Arcadia had you executed. The only reason to think otherwise was that there was no record of it," he said. He had a thick accent, like he had hailed from this region long before Neo Arcadia was established. "How'd you manage?"

"It's a bit of a story. I need to get back to homebase," Craft said, "what's things like on the ground?"

The humanoid reploid shook his head. "Ma fiicna, my friend," he said. No good, said Zero's universal translator. "X's upped surveillance 'round these parts. They're doing halo checks for everyone passing through, and the soldiers got orders to shoot to kill any registered mavericks they see, no questions asked. I'd avoid the highways for now, 'specially if you're fresh out of the brig. If you're planning on goin' to the Outside Lands, you're gonna need a tugboat. Outer wall's on high alert, they shootin' all unauthorised civilians on sight."

"I supposed as much," Craft said. "Saw about the massacre in the NE plant on the news."

The bear reploid took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Aye. Sad end to it. OSA and Rebellion got folks occupying the West Sector freight station right now, one near the canal. Was comin' out an artillery research station, hear that boss is handin' the tech over to Ciel's RIAOT crew so we can get 'em reproduced and distributed to the force–"

He stopped mid-sentence, like his train of thought drove into a wall. He peered over Craft's shoulder.

"Who's that?"

He was obviously referring to Zero. The ursoid and the man walked around Craft's bike to get a better look. Craft sat up and gave them a narrow glare.

"New friend I picked up from Central," Craft replied. "I owe him."

"Ah. Not a Neo Arcadian mole, I hope?" The man said. "He looks familiar…"

Craft sighed. "A refugee," he explained. "Wasn't safe, where he came from."

The man and the bear stared Zero down for another beat. Zero swallowed through the sudden lump in his throat. "Right. Should we let Ciel know you're comin'?" The man asked, still staring Zero down. Zero kept his gaze fixed elsewhere.

"Nah. Don't wanna make her worry anymore than she has to," Craft said. "I won't keep you any longer."

"If you insist, boss. You stay safe out there. Stay outta the west, got word from there that General Fefnir's army's movin' in," the bear advised, opening the roller doors. They revealed an underground tunnel bored underneath the wall, protected by a series of gates that opened up with the push of a button and a few passcodes. "Keep on your toes. They got patrols all over the place. They've scrambled surveillance drones and shit, the whole lot. Never seen anythin' quite like it. You know, I reckon it has to do with Zero. I heard he ain't too happy with what X's done to the place."

Zero's breath caught in his throat. Craft made an exasperated, breatry laugh.

"You don't know the half of it," he said. His bike rattled as he revved it up again.

"I think he's on our side, Zero," the bear said. "Just a matter of time before X gets his penance."

The man gave him a critical glare. "How would you even know?"

"Eh, I don't. But no harm in dreamin'."

Craft began to creep away into the tunnels, offering the guards a grateful grin. "Thanks. You keep on fighting the good fight."

The two jolted upright in a salute, barking out an affirmative warcry as Craft sped away into the tunnels, the gates slamming shut behind them. Zero let out a sigh of relief, no longer subject to their scrutinising stares. The low thrumming of the bike's engines bounced off the walls, bands of lights passing over them as they drove through the tunnel system.

[They didn't recognise me… guess losing a couple kilos of muscle has its perks,] Zero said, breaking his silence. Craft made a small, pitiful laugh.

[These people only know what you looked like with the helmet on,] Craft explained. [Got to remember, they've only ever seen your face in statues.]

[Oh. So, were they all Resistance?] Zero asked after the first set of doors disappeared into the distance.

[Some of them. The ones in green uniforms, they're the ones affiliated with the Resistance. Some are Rebellion. Some are from the Outer Sector Alliance. Different names for the same cause; freedom from Neo Arcadia,] Craft answered.

[It's incredible. I didn't expect such… synergy, I guess, from a grassroots movement,] Zero confessed. [How does X not notice all this?]

[Simple. The true operation stays underground, while Neo Arcadia preoccupies itself with public terrorist acts and petty crime,] Craft said, [the people here, a lot of them are disillusioned military or policeforce. When they return to their day jobs, their silence pays dividends.]

[...I see. We aren't alone, then.]

[Far from it,] Craft assured. [There's more of us than you know.]

---

From the peak of a hill, Fefnir stood before his army as they looked over the train station under siege, the derelict freight train still left standing at the railway platform. From here, Fefnir could see the sizable hole blasted into the side of the carriage, the charred edges still billowing smoke even after a day.

Overhead, Harpuia circled like a hawk scanning its hunting grounds. Fefnir crossed his arms, itching to fire up his gauntlets.

"Hey, Harps. What's it look like from up there? My guys are gettin' jumpy here,'' Fefnir spoke into his transceiver. The soldiers in his stead shuffled nervously, waiting eagerly for their leader's orders. From the sky, Harpuia came barreling down to the ground like a torpedo, before unravelling the full expanse of his wings and unfurling every bladed feather to bring himself to a stop, right before setting his talons back on solid ground. Fefnir grumbled, dusting off the dirt and pebbles Harpuia graciously kicked up all over him.

"Thanks, birdbrain…" Fefnir groaned huffily. Harpuia remained straight-lipped and strict, wings folding back against his back.

"Heatmaps don't show anything. Can't see anything on LADAR," Harpuia reported, professional as always, "they've already left."

"Great. We're too late. Well, let's go and check it out anyway," Fefnir turned to his men, motioning to the first row to come with. "You lot come with me. The rest of you can stay, just in case it's a trap. I'll tell you when the coast's clear."

They saluted, and followed Fefnir and Harpuia down the hill, leaving behind the rest of his platoon. Fefnir sighed his exasperation, shoulders drooping.

"Should've moved in the second we got the emergency call," Fefnir lamented. "Totally missed the boat. What's so important about a train anyway?"

"What's so important is that this train was carrying a cargo of next-gen artillery, which is now in the hands of terrorists, Fefnir," Harpuia explained, a little snippy. "And what's more, this train was supposed to have the utmost security onboard. How the mavericks found out about this cargo and how they managed to take out our top guns is the question."

"Agh, you're overthinkin' it. They probably just went and attacked a random train and struck gold by chance," Fefnir said. "Whatever happened, we shouldn't have spent so much time dealin' with that stupid water refinery when we had a train full of four dimensional nukes or whatever to worry about."

"It would've been in our best interest to not bring attention to it," Harpuia said, "the train was protected by cloaking tech. Wouldn't have shown up on radar or thermal imaging. It was invisible to anyone but those who knew it was coming."

Fefnir punched his palms with want for a fight. "Well, anyway, it's no big deal. We'll just have to kill those maverick scumbags before they get a chance to use whatever they've stolen. Besides, they're just OSA. Hardly a challenge."

Harpuia harrumphed, brow creased. "This is serious, Fefnir. There might be a spy in our midst," he said. "These secrets aren't easy to come by. We have to remain vigilant."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Fefnir insisted. They stopped at what remained of the train station's gates, now reduced to twisted metal and concrete rubble. "Now what do we have here?"

Fefnir put his hands on his hips and scanned the ruins, snapped wires hanging from the ceiling like sparking snakes and broken panelling, cracks running through its surfaces like tributaries, yawning as they threatened to break in two. Embers still smouldered, the dust yet to settle. He ventured in, reaching for one of his gauntlets as he did, hydraulics hissing as he psyched himself up for confrontation.

Such confrontation would never come, even when he ventured further into the wreckage, his men scattering in close behind with rifles at the ready. They'd reached the platform, the train's carcass standing idle where it had last stopped. Around him lay the bodies of pantheons, the vacuous soldiers enjoying their second round of death with plasma bolt holes littering their chassis and leaking pools of blood at Fefnir's feet. He grimaced and shook his boot dry.

"Man! What a mess…" Fefnir mused. Harpuia quickly came to his side.

"Indeed. I suppose we were foolish to assume the mavericks lost their bite with Axl and Craft out of the equation," Harpuia said. As he strode forward, the toe of his boot caught on the body of a pantheon flyer, its wings sheared in two with precision that could only be achieved with a sabre. He gave the room a swift multi-spectral look-over and interrogated the local security server for any incriminating evidence, all to no avail. "Doesn't seem to be anyone left. Appears that they covered their tracks well, I can't get any footage off the security cameras' storage cloud." He looked at the dead pantheon flyer at his feet. "Perhaps, you could tell us what happened here…"

Harpuia grappled the pantheon's head with his talons and dug in, his claws piercing metal like a knife through butter. He tore out a blackbox from the confines of its skull, wires and metal skeleton coming along with it. Fefnir shuddered at the shrill noise of metal being crushed.

Kicking his foot back, he tossed the blackbox up behind him and snatched it out of the air. "Now, let's see what you've seen…"

Before he could plug into its data recorder, the device was severed in two by a projectile moving as fast as a blur, sending Harpuia staggering back as whatever hit him flew right past him, narrowly missed Fefnir, and lodged itself into a wall.

"Shit! What in the world…?" Fefnir followed the projectile's path, only to find a red card buried in the wall. He pulled it from the concrete and inspected it, flipping it over to reveal an ace of spades. Fefnir frowned at the novelty. "Well, now this is just bad comedy."

"Really, I'd consider your incompetence to be bad comedy."

That wasn't a voice neither Fefnir nor Harpuia were familiar with. Like a dog returning to its master, the playing card ejected itself from Fefnir's grip and tore back to its rightful owner, an adversary hidden in the shadows. Harpuia unsheathed his sonic blades and raised his wings, Fefnir's launchers glowing with an imminent charged shot. The room echoed with the clattering of firearms as Fefnir's soldiers took aim, the red beams of their laser sights crisscrossing as they searched for the intruder.

"Harpuia, you said there was nobody here!" Fefnir whisper-shouted into his brother's audial.

"Don't blame him. Blame your instruments," the stranger continued. From above, perched atop the beams, the form of a reploid began to emerge from seemingly nothing at all, slowly appearing on Harpuia's heatmap. "Here I thought Neo Arcadia would be better at dealing with new-type technology. Bad move, driving away all those RIAOT scientists, hm? All your tech's ten years out of date, I'm afraid…"

The reploid fell from the ceiling, the laser sights of countless rifles all training in on his head. He was a neatly dressed man, clothed in black armour with a wide hat shading his face. In the dark, his eyes flashed with a red glint. Before the soldiers could get any shots fired, the man moved in a blur, drawing the weapons in his cuffs and firing a volley of projectiles from hidden launchers, cards shearing the barrels of the soldiers' rifles in twain before coming right back to him, slotting back into his cuffs with a thwip.

"Sorry. It was a bit one-sided. Just needed to be on the same playing field," he said. He cocked his head, remembering something. "Oh. No peeking."

He fired off cards to his sides, projectiles soaring around in a flurry and slicing through the skulls of the dead pantheons and their blackboxes, rendering them useless. Harpuia was caught flat-footed, too offended by his audacity to do anything about it.

"Who the hell are you?" Fefnir roared, lunging forward. The stranger tipped his head back, revealing his face from behind the shadow of his hat.

"What, didn't daddy tell you about me? I guess you Neo Arcadians are fond of erasing history," he said. "Who I am isn't important. What's important is what you're transporting on this train."

He procured a cylindrical storage container from his coat jacket, a glowing rod wedged within. It shimmered in and out of the three dimensional plane, its form surrounded by a rainbow of light like a weakened cyber-elf. "Supra-force metal is a hard thing to come by these days."

That shook Harpuia out of it. "You hand that back, maverick scum!"

His engines roared to life, wings flaring outward as he rushed forward, sonic blades lashing out with devastating speed. The stranger was quick to move, evading Harpuia's strike with a moment to spare, the air general's blades cracking together to send a shockwave into a wall.

"With everything going on in the earth, you forget our origins in the stars," the newcomer mused, inspecting the rod of force metal in his possession. "You know, they say this is the stuff Duo was made from. An extra-dimensional metamolecule that can rewrite three-dimensional space, sent our way by an advanced alien civilisation. Could've been a bridge between those worlds, if they didn't suspend the research on it. Did you know that? Or did your dear father hide that from you too?"

"Keep his name out of your mouth!" Fefnir snapped, bounding forward with launchers flaring, firing a cascade of blindingly hot plasma rounds in their adversaries direction and reaching out to grab a hold of him. The reploid barked a laugh, vaulting over Fefnir's barrage and firing a card as he hurdled overhead, the projectile grazing Fefnir's cheek. He grunted, blood welling from the shallow cut, and whirled around to face the reploid as he landed behind him, anger blazing.

"Sorry, but I'll be taking this. Dr. Light's work must be seen to its end, and that ain't gonna happen if this stuff stays with you," he explained. "You know, for the progression of mankind."

He stuffed it away in his coat. Harpuia's lips were pulled back in a snarl, eyes little more than slits. "What do you possibly have to gain from cooperating with terrorists?! Why waste your skills aiding mavericks?!"

The reploid smirked, and he chuckled under his breath. "Why? Because I happen to be a reploid living in Neo Arcadia."

Fefnir, stumped by the enigmatic reploid, shook his head to snap out of it. "Oh, just shut up!"

He fired a rain of plasma in the maverick's direction, but just as he did, the gambler was gone, vanishing in a beam of light as he warped away, Fefnir's attacks hitting the wall behind where he once stood and melting the impact crater to red hot slag. The destroyed station was quiet again, save for the rattling of armour as reploids nervously shuffled and looked around, left confused and a little humiliated. Fefnir groaned, wiping away the warm blood bubbling from the cut the maverick left him with.

"...Dad ain't gonna be happy," Fefnir said, setting his gauntlets back in his back holster and flexing his fingers to crack his knuckles. "Did you scan him?"

"...I did. MeReAD says he's a 23rd century reploid. New-type," Harpuia said. "It looks like somebody manually erased a good chunk of his MeReAD log a long time ago. I'd have to ask Volteel if he has anything in the archive."

"23rd century, huh? Where do these old bastards keep comin' from? I swear…" Fefnir kneaded the bridge of his nose in exasperation, before sighing, supposing there wasn't much else he could do. He opened his comms console in his wrist and spoke to his men waiting on the brow of the hill. "Come on down, could use your help with the clean up."

Harpuia harrumphed, his sonic blades powering down before they were slotted back in their sheaths. "How troublesome… it's like when we cut off one head, three more grow back," he bemoaned, crossing his arms and bowing his head. "Hm. How could they have possibly known about this cargo? Not even you knew of this. To think there could be a double-agent in our ranks… I'll have to discuss inducing our breach containment protocol with our father."

"Yeah, I think dad's already got you beat. He's beefed up security all 'round the place ever since Zero recruited that Craft dude," Fefnir said, sitting himself down on a chunk of rubble and crossing his arms behind his back to cushion his head. He splayed his legs, much to Harpuia's dismay. "He's got me running around like a headless chicken trying to corral his boyfriend when I could've been here, stoppin' that asshole from stealing the Supra-force metal. Really, sometimes I don't get it… maybe I just haven't found the one yet." His rolling eyes could be heard in his tone.

"It's not our place to question his reasons," Harpuia scolded. Just to add salt to the wound, he kicked Fefnir's spread legs shut. "We should be focusing on how this information could've reached the mavericks. I'll need to get Phantom to review the comms logs for all those in the know, perhaps interrogate them, so this will never happen again."

"Well, you're gonna be runnin' in circles forever then. You know how Resistance folks are, they don't talk. Your best bet would be to just round up everyone who did or could know and shoot 'em, and that's overkill, even by our standards," Fefnir said. "I say we track that weirdo down and see where that takes us. Ain't much we can do now. Ain't a problem in the world that can be solved with panic."

"You're awfully blasé, Fefnir…" Harpuia said huffily, eyes narrowing.

"I'm just tired, you know," Fefnir said. "I've been firin' on all cylinders ever since Zero came back. Thought things would get better, but they just got worse…"

"You're sounding like Phantom, now," Harpuia accused. "Don't tell me your loyalty is wavering, too."

"I'm just telling it like it is. You really think Zero likes it around here?"

Harpuia didn't say anything. He knew what the answer was, but he wouldn't dare speak ill of his blessed Neo Arcadia. Fefnir shrugged, resting his case.

"I gotta be honest. Dad's got his priorities all fucked up. I just don't wanna be the one to tell him that," Fefnir said, "if he wants to stretch us thin tryin' to chase Zero, then so be it. It's just that we're givin' the mavericks chances to exploit the cracks its puttin' in our security. You know what I'm saying?"

Fefnir cocked his head, provoking Harpuia for an answer. "Hm."

"Think about it. While that magic card guy was busting our guys' asses here, we were holed up in the office doin' paperwork, makin' sure our armies got the memo about Zero and ID checks! It's ridiculous," Fefnir exclaimed. "Look, I'm sorry to say it, but someone's got to set the record straight with dad. I know it can't be me, but someone's gotta do it."

The rest of Fefnir's men arrived at the pillaged carcass of the freight train before Harpuia could come up with a meaningful answer. Both knew that it was in their best interest to drop the conversation, even though it would linger in their minds for aeons after the words had been spoken.

Harpuia turned away, his voice softening. "I'll ask about deploying a golem unit here. Just sending foot soldiers to these battles may no longer be effective," he said, a little hastily. The soldiers rushed past, searching every nook and cranny of the site for any leftover traps or evidence. Fefnir nodded.

"Great."

"Indeed."

"Just what I wanted to hear," Fefnir said with a stiff smile, biting back the critical thoughts swimming in the back of his head. Harpuia began to make his way out of the station, with nothing of note left to say.

"I'll meet you back at the citadel. We can figure out our next move then," Harpuia farewelled him, swiftly disappearing from view as he took off into a hole in the ceiling. Fefnir stared at the vast, empty sky where his brother had been and let out a long breath.

Eventually, he heaved himself off the lump of concrete and joined the search and clearing force, his men grateful for his guiding hand. There would be plenty of time to contemplate what he confessed to Harpuia after the site was cleared.

---

With the wall left far behind them, the pristine white city of Central Neo Arcadia had long disappeared behind a skyline of drab, grey concrete towers. Yet, Craft had driven past even the outer sector Zero had familiarised himself with, through the maze of flophouses and tower blocks and out to the very fringes of Neo Arcadia.

They rode across a large, cantilever bridge that passed over an empty canal, the river having long dried up years ago until only dust, rubble and garbage remained as they made their way into the industrial district on the other side. Between factories and warehouses were remnants of warfare left in the form of demolished buildings, concrete reduced to rubble and mangled metal scaffolding twisting against the grey-orange sky. Smokestacks billowed ash, the dark, heavy clouds covering the sun and turning it a foreboding blood red.

It had taken a little longer to reach the industrial district than it would have had they taken the train, but Zero had to concede that they likely wouldn't have made it more than two stops from Central Station before getting caught. What the Resistance soldiers touted at the wall basecamp was true, even when Craft was taking the backroads the entire journey there. There were patrols all over, drones and helicopters buzzing overhead. Zero knew the uptick in surveillance was partly thanks to the recent maverick attacks on refinery plants, but he couldn't help but feel as if he had to shoulder some of the blame. X would be looking for him, and to a point, Zero understood why. Zero had left him too many times before.

They ventured further into the district, the road growing thinner, the asphalt littered with potholes until there was only a gravel path left to follow. The ruined husks of burned cars and bikes lined the sides of the road, their ruined chassis pock-marked with bullet holes from when they had been used as cover by cowering reploids. Ash fell from the sky like snow, coating the few reploid workers that were outdoors in a thick layer of it.

Craft turned into an alleyway behind a steel mill and parked in the shadows of a run-down garage.

[This is as far as we can go by vehicle. Rest of the leg is on foot,] Craft said, his bike powering down. He kicked out the stand and climbed off, heaving the duffle bag full of their armour over his shoulder. He offered Zero his hand and pulled him to his feet when he took it. [Sorry, princess.]

[I'll live…] Zero assured, setting aside the jab. They kept a low profile, hugging the alleyways and sideroads as much as possible. Smoke was thick in the air, the acrid smell of sewer drainage mingling with the sulphuric stench of burning garbage an affront to Zero's keen senses. He took the liberty of dulling his olfactory receptors. Rats scurried away into cracks in graffiti-covered walls as they walked past. The few weeds that could break through the concrete had long ago shrivelled up into brittle, dry twigs that turned to dust under Zero's footsteps. Zero's inbuilt Geiger-counter clicked away, offering him CPM that, although not strictly fatal for a human, was high enough to give him pause.

Craft stopped him regularly, hiding him behind pillars or crouching behind well used sandbag bunkers at every corner. Zero's combat systems buzzed with uncertainty. From between two pillars, they watched a couple ash-covered worker reploids walking across the road, carting away containers of metal scrap. They were herded by a canine mechaniloid, its fangs threatening their heels, and two pantheons flanking them and keeping a watchful eye on their subordinates. When they disappeared, Craft and Zero set off once more.

[Hmph… where are you taking me?]

[It's an old surface city. After the Elf Wars, Neo Arcadia annexed it and converted it to an industrial district,] Craft explained. [It ain't pretty, but it's far enough from central to keep us feeling safe.]

He was testing how far the word safe really went. Zero's threat assessment could feel a hundred eyes watching him, their gazes boring into him like pin pricks as RADAR pinged off him, but there was no one around. Absent-mindedly, he dragged his fingertips over the metal railing of a fence they walked by, collecting a thick layer of soot on his fingers. He rubbed his fingertips together, grinding the ash in between them. Craft looked over his shoulder.

[I wouldn't touch that if I were you,] Craft warned, [there's an incinerator plant just up ahead. That's where they take mavericks to melt them down for scrap.]

"Eegh!" Zero couldn't help but vocalise his shock. He quickly dusted himself clean, but the thought sullied his mind no matter what.

[That… isn't right-]

"Hey!"

A man's loud voice cut that thought short. Craft hurried to hide behind a wall, Zero finding refuge behind a pile of rubble. The voice hadn't been speaking in their direction, however, and a cursory thermal scan revealed that it had come from an officer reploid overlooking a group of worker bots. Curious, Zero peeked over the makeshift bunker, finding the officer had pinned down one of the reploids with the butt of his rifle in front of a crowd of his soot and grease coated coworkers. Nearby, there was a crate of E-cans that the workers were lining up for.

"Do you think we're stupid? 'Cause you ain't tricking me. One can per reploid!" the officer shouted, thrusting the butt of his rifle deeper between the reploid's shoulder blades, burying his cheek into the dirt. "We ain't running a soup kitchen here!"

"I'm sorry, sir!" the hapless reploid begged, but he received no mercy from the officer. The tall combat reploid leaned down, setting his knee on the nape of the reploid's neck and stifling his pleas, his vocaliser crackling with the strain. The officer snatched two E-cans off the worker's person, stuffing them back in the crate.

"Look around you, shit for brains! You think we can afford double dippin'?" The officer stood at his full, towering height, casting the worker in shadow. He got to his knees and wheezed, his voice box crushed under the weight and arms quivering as they struggled to keep himself off the ground. He was gaunt and skinny, his metal skeleton showing through his thin skin, hardly capable of fighting back.

"Please, forgive me! It's just- I have a kid at home and she ain't in good shape, she needs to eat…"

"Well maybe you should've thought things through before you and your good for nothin' wife bred like rabbits, huh?!" the officer scolded, kicking him in the ribs and sending him back to the ground. "Get back to your assignment. I'll have your rations quartered for that."

Zero never tried to let his emotions get the better of him, but he felt fury rise in his chest. He reached at the holsters at his hips and grabbed for his Z-sabre, but his hands met nothing. Resigned to passivity once again, he shut his eyes and sighed, pressing his forehead against the rubble.

[Zero, come on. We've gotta go,] Craft said, urgently waving him along. [There's nothing we can do.]

[Argh… It isn't fair.] Zero's face scrunched in a frown, fists balling up in frustration. [I need to do something.]

[I know it isn't, but the only thing we can do for them right now is stay alive,] Craft said, scrambling over and pulling Zero from his bunker, dragging him away from the scene. [There will be a time where we can fight for them, but it isn't now.]

Soon, the voices of the workers and their overseeing officer had faded into the nonsensical cacophony of industry, Craft's hand holding his wrist tight as he lugged him to their destination. Zero tried not to let it get to his head, but after years of fighting his way to justice, to sit by and do nothing while he was witness to such transgressions ate away at him.

[And if that time never comes?] Zero asked. [Do you think it'll ever get better?]

Craft slowed to a crawl as they stopped at a clearing, surrounded by wire fences and disused garages. He breathed out hard through his vents, unsure of how to answer.

[To tell you the truth, I don't think it will. Not as long as Neo Arcadia stands,] Craft admitted, [not until we can truly end this world and let another grow from its ashes. Even then, as long as we can feel, I fear we will always harbour hate in our hearts. Regardless… We have to do what we can for the people who can't fight for themselves.]

Craft looked down at Zero and offered him a rare, warm smile, one he could barely muster after years of acting as Master X's butcher. He didn't say it, but the thought still rang clear- that's why I fight for people like you. It was fleeting, and the frown returned to his hardened features as he pointed his gaze to the clearing, gesturing Zero forward. [We're here.]

There were a few civilian reploids hidden in the shadows, their clothes ragged and torn and artificial flesh taut over their bones. Their eyes glowed in the dark, wide and hollow. When Craft walked forward into the clearing, they were quick to scramble away. Zero steeled himself, hesitantly following in Craft's footsteps.

[They're just civilians. Lots of reploids eke out a living here in the shadow of Neo Arcadia,] he assured. They stopped at a manhole, the cover sitting slightly ajar off the ground, and Craft kneeled down to push it aside. [Be my guest.]

Zero's frown deepened, but did as he said. He slid into the manhole, grabbing onto the ladder that fed down into the aqueducts. Craft followed, closing the manhole cover above him and diving both of them into darkness. Lights flickered on as they sensed their presence, bathing them in dim, low light as they stepped foot in the water systems.

[You stay close to me. There are feral mechaniloids around, so watch where you step,] Craft advised. Zero stayed close behind, clinging to his side as he led him away into the sewer systems. The drains were dry, only puddles of waste left at the bottoms of them. The lingering stench of industrial pollution and biomechanical waste was enough to make Zero wince. The walls were marred with dried blood stains and burn marks, telltale signs of the past battles that took place here.

They wouldn't remain for long, and Zero would have to thank Craft for that. Craft turned into a staircase leading further underground, where they'd be led to an emergency exit. Whatever was on the door's label had been eroded from years of neglect, and the lock had been torn off its frame. When Craft pushed his way through, they found themselves at a long abandoned subway platform, the train, a pre-Elf War model, had long since been stripped for its useful parts and the skeleton left on the rails to rot.

[Should be close to the assembly point now,] Craft said. Zero ran his finger over the old train's chassis, drawing a line into the dust and cobwebs that coated its exterior. Underneath was the Somali flag, the single white star on an ocean blue backdrop standing out like a beacon of the old world against layers of disrepair.

[Feels nostalgic, in a way,] Zero said, lingering at the sight for a moment before following Craft. They made their way up an obsolescent and broken escalator, where they ended up at the shopping centre that once housed the station. [Reminds me of how things used to be, before the Elf Wars. To think I'm one of few who remembers what this place once was…]

[I wish I knew. Neo Arcadia has been all I've ever known,] Craft confessed, heaving his way over the station's long disused fare gates. [I can only imagine what it was like, to live in a bountiful world.]

It wasn't perfect, but it was better than what they had now. Though the maverick threat loomed like a storm cloud over the old world, they at least had the Earth's natural riches to rely on. That reservoir had since run dry. Zero leaped over the fare gate and followed Craft into the ruins of the shopping centre and past empty, diverse storefronts that once serviced millions, now left to decay in the ground below Neo Arcadia. Most of the store offerings had been looted, but when Zero passed by a newsstand, he noticed newspapers still sitting in the rack, stained with water damage, but legible. He plucked it off the shelf and dusted it clean.

On the front cover was a sight all too familiar with Zero- a city reduced to rubble, twisted, weaving metal reaching into the dark sky towards a red sun. The article was written in Somali, but Zero's translator algorithm quickly went to work. 50% of mankind eradicated- 10 billion feared dead in grim report from the UN as reploid death toll climbs to 74%.

The date lined up with an Elf Wars era publication. Zero sighed, fingers flitting through the pages of the paper and opening it to a random page in the middle. He blew off the layer of dust to reveal the haunting image of a mushroom cloud, taken from a distance in the sky. The accompanying headline read The latest casualty of the Elf Wars– 62% of United States' landmass reported lost to nuclear warfare.

Zero dipped his head and let out a sombre hum, reliving that day in his head. The Maverick Hunters had escaped from their North American headquarters when the sirens first sounded, but there were still so many who couldn't. Death of such an unimaginable scale was still difficult for Zero to really comprehend.

It was all born from him, in the end- the Maverick Virus, the Dark Elf, even Omega's existence. So many innocent lives, lost to creations born of him. Causing such devastation was in his nature, and he had to wonder if there was anything he could do to pay the world penance for him.

[Zero?] Craft called for him, stopping ahead when he realised Zero was no longer following. "Zero!"

Lost in his thoughts, Zero had neglected the warning sirens of his threat assessment programming. He jolted to attention, dropping the newspaper and veering around, coming face to face with a swarm of spider mechanoids, skittering towards him and descending from the ceilings from their web nest.

Zero cried out in astonishment, stumbling back. Against his better judgement, he didn't run, but reached for a Z-sabre that wasn't there as he did so many times before. If Craft wasn't there, he'd be paying for his recklessness.

When one of the spiders leaped at him, Craft lunged forward, grabbing the mechaniloid out of the air and tore it in half by its spindly limbs. He hurled the carcass at the descending spiders, knocking them off their webs and sending them tumbling back, buying them time to turn and run.

"Son of a bitch, they're gonna start swarming!" Craft cursed, hurrying Zero along. Zero took the hint, sprinting away alongside Craft deeper into the derelict shopping centre as the hoard of spiders grew larger behind them. "Stay with me. Can you keep up?"

Zero panted with effort, his whole body feeling weighed down by the restraining bolt around his neck. It felt like his legs were made of lead, his vents were like stone, unable to keep the air moving through his systems at this speed. His internal system checks were telling him his energy reserves were depleting fast as they outran the spider swarm, dying quickly like an old, overworked battery. "At this rate? N-not sure…"

It felt like they were going in circles, running through the maze of corridors. They couldn't keep this up, for the hoard was only growing greater and Zero grew ever tired. There was no escape- all the entrances had been sealed by fallen rubble, and the only way out was through the swarm and back to the subway.

"Shit!"

Craft slid to a stop, Zero coming to his side as they ran straight into a dead end. "Get behind me!" Craft commanded. Zero didn't need to be told twice, taking cover behind Craft as he caught his breath, leaning against the wall, his stomach turning and his world spinning as delirium overcame him. He was running on fumes already.

With nothing else to protect himself, Craft squared up, the mechanoids crawling closer until they were in pouncing distance.

"Argh, stupid bugs!" Craft roared, kicking the closest few away, the fragile mechaniloids shattering into bits and pieces at the force. What they lacked in durability they made up for in numbers, and no matter how hard Craft fought against the endless wave, they just kept on coming. He stamped the ones at his feet into shrapnel, punching the ones that leaped at him into smithereens, but it wasn't enough to resist their overwhelming presence. They crawled up his legs and pounced onto his chest, their fangs ripping through his clothes as they tried to pierce his sturdy frame.

Craft was being backed into a corner, but he still did everything he could to stop the swarm from reaching Zero. It would only be a matter of time before they'd break through his diligent defences.

No way we're dying here, Zero denied. He collected his thoughts and, in absence of a real weapon, lobbed rocks and rubble at the spiders as hard as he could, hoping to buy Craft some relief from the relentless bots. Still, he was inching further and further back into a corner, the warbot unable to pry the drones off him faster than they were latching onto him. They were firing balls of silk at his wrists and ankles, pinning his hands and feet to the ground with the flimsy yet sticky webbing, slowing him down even further despite his best efforts.

Damn… there's too many of them! Zero admitted to himself, watching helplessly as the mechaniloids crawled over every inch of Craft's massive frame. Craft growled with adrenaline fueled anger, thrashing like an untamed bull and smashing his sides into the wall to crush the spiders latching onto him, leaving oil stains running down the concrete. The waves never seemed to end, and they were creeping closer towards Zero.

Craft kept them at bay when he could, but he couldn't keep it up forever. His skin was thick, but without his armour, the spider mechaniloids that lingered on his frame managed to drill their razor sharp fangs through his flesh, drawing blood and keeping a sturdy grip on his frame. It was the first time Zero had seen Craft bleed.

Without a miracle, Zero was sure they stood no chance of getting through the swarm, not unless they braved rushing straight through them. At that point, Zero was seriously contemplating trying.

The piercing shriek of a buster firing rang throughout the empty shopping centre, the hallways lighting up with plasma fire as someone came through and cleared the hordes of spider mechaniloids like bushfire burning through a dry forest. The spiders focused their aggression on the new adversary, offering Craft relief from their attacks and giving him time to rip all those that had latched onto him off his chassis, crushing them in the palm of his hand. He revelled in the sense of retribution over the mindless drones as they crumbled to pieces in his hands.

With the spiders taking their attention elsewhere, Craft rushed over to Zero, kneeling down and grabbing onto his shoulders, still wound up from the adrenaline coursing through his systems.

"Are you okay?" Craft asked, ripping away the fibrils of webbing left on him.

Zero gawked. "Are you okay? You're bleeding all over."

"I'm aware. You're burning up," Craft pointed out. That was true, Zero had neglected his rising internal temperature in the frenzy, but now he couldn't ignore it. His systems were primed to collapse, and he needed to stop and rest if he wanted to stay conscious.

As it was, however, that just wasn't feasible at that moment. Zero let out a long exhale through his vents, steam following the scalding hot air that he jetted out.

"You need to see a mechanic," Craft said, a concerned strictness lacing his tone.

"I'm sure. It's this damn thing…" Zero tugged on his collar. He shook his head and wiped the sweat on his brow, before looking out to the shopping centre, finding a sea of destroyed spider mechaniloids, the smell of molten metal thick in the air. The remaining spiders scrambled away, leaving the underground in silence once more. Through the smoke was the silhouette of their saviour, their buster still glowing hot through the haze. "That buster… it's X, isn't it?"

Craft looked to the person who saved them, squinting, before his eyes grew wide. "No. That isn't X."

"Hello?" the person called out. Her voice was high and youthful, to Zero's surprise. She trudged through the mess of dead bots, her form growing clearer and clearer until Zero could make her out in her entirety. She was a girl, looking anywhere between 14 to 16. A reploid? A human? Zero couldn't tell. She seemed to have features of both- her body augmented to the point it was more machine than flesh and bone, but underneath the pink armour, a human heart still beat. She stopped in her tracks when her gaze met Craft's, her jaw falling open in amazement. Craft beamed at the sight of her, like she was the first person he wanted to see.

"Ciel!" Craft exclaimed, getting to his feet and outstretching his arms. The girl- Ciel, laughed with glee, the buster in her arm retracting and giving way to a hand, and bounded into his arms, hugging him tight. Zero nervously stepped back and gave the two some space.

"Craft! You're alive!" Ciel cried out, squeezing him tight. "I thought you were a goner! Our inside guys said you were seen alive but I didn't believe them, I thought you were dead for sure!"

She stepped back, holding him by his forearms, like she was testing if he was really there. "How? How'd you get out?" She cocked her head, looking him up and down with narrowed eyes. "You're not a newtype tricking me, are you? Tell me something only Craft knows."

Craft rolled his eyes and let out a rumbling laugh. "Neige is an aquarius. Look, it's a long story. I can tell you everything back at base," he answered, "there'll be more bugs where those came from."

He kicked away the carcass of a spider mechaniloid. Ciel sighed and nodded. "Of course. Let's get out of here."

She let him go, before noticing the pale, skinny, exhausted blonde reploid taking refuge in his large shadow. "Who's that?"

Craft looked over his shoulder at Zero, who looked like he had seen a ghost. "Ah, I can explain later, but that's Zero."

Ciel must've thought he was joking at first, her brow creasing and smile widening into a bemused smirk. There was no way the sickly, feeble reploid at his side was Zero. Still, she gave him a good look, scanning him thoroughly and making Zero's threat assessment flare.

When her assay concluded, she leaned back in shock, brow disappearing behind her blonde fringe. "Oh my god, it is Zero…" Ciel muttered. She slowly approached the warbot like he was a wounded animal. "Craft, you're insane. Did you kidnap him or what?"

Zero broke his silence. "No. I came here out of my own volition," he said, "I need your help."

Ciel stared at him for a beat, unsure of what to make of the request. When Ciel compared a scan of his face to Zero's past records, they matched up nearly perfectly. All that differed was that the reploid she was looking at now was a husk of his former glory, all artificial skin and mechanical bone.

"He saved my life," Craft explained, "when I was being tried, he demanded X spare me in exchange for my complete servitude to him. I owe him my help."

Ciel remained silent, thinking through her choices. Her eyes flitted back and forth as she stared into Zero's blue-violet gaze.

"Hm… how can I be so sure?" Ciel had to ask. "I'm sacrificing a lot if I lead the state here."

Craft gave it a thought, then shrugged. "I suppose I can't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it isn't, but I assure you, it isn't. At least, I hope it isn't. Zero's promised to fight for us, just as I did all those years ago." he said. "He needs your help to restore his body to what it was before. He's been fitted with a restraining bolt, think a CNS-fixed lock. You and your lab are the only people I believe could help us remove it."

Zero clasped his hands together in his plea. "I know that to you, I'm just another spineless Neo Arcadian oligarch, but I need your help. You're the only people I have left to turn to."

"Zero's had it rough, Ciel," Craft said, backing him up. "It isn't safe for him in Neo Arcadia. X has been hurting him, believe me."

Ciel conceded at that, and bowed her head in solemn sympathy. "I see. I suppose I trust you, Craft. Don't make me regret this." She looked to Zero and stepped aside, making way for them to leave the dead end. "If that's true, I guess it'd be cruel of me to leave you at the mercy of him. Any victim of Neo Arcadia's reign is a friend to the Resistance. Follow me."

Zero let out a heavy sigh of relief. He took the opportunity, leaving the alley to follow in Ciel's lead.

"It's an honour to meet you, Zero. I've read so much about you in the history books, to see you in the flesh– it doesn't feel real. Like all those statues came to life," Ciel said. "It's just– I didn't expect it to be like this. My name's Ciel. I'm the leader of the Resistance."

"Leader…" Zero mumbled to himself. He wasn't expecting to see such a young face. "I should thank you for saving us. We were finished without you."

"It's no trouble for me. Those things can be vicious, especially if you're unarmed," Ciel assured, walking ahead purposefully. Ciel and Craft walked side by side like old friends as Zero trailed behind, still weak and light-headed from his depleted energy reserves.

"I had a peek at your halo-brain, Craft. I'm surprised those Neo Arcadians kept your mind intact," Ciel said to the large warbot. "Considering you defected before, I would've thought they'd turn you into a drone, or at least cut your vocaliser."

"I told them not to," Zero cut in. "I'm not that kind of person."

Ciel gave him a wide-eyed stare, before her lips quirked into a warm smile. "I knew you weren't. I appreciate your compassion, Zero, especially for someone the state paints as a Maverick," she said, "it's rare to find in Neo Arcadia…"

Zero knew it all too well. "Mmh. I guess an apology's in order, though…" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

They headed down a spiral staircase, wading through murky, ankle deep stagnant water. "Eh? What do you have to apologise for?" Ciel asked.

"Everything. I made a mistake, leaving X a century ago," Zero answered, "I never would've imagined it'd end up like this. I'm sorry, for everything. X became a monster because of me, and now the world is paying the price for my selfishness."

Ciel shook her head. "Don't be. What X has become is… is nobody's fault but his own," Ciel consoled. Her voice wavered on the last few words.

She stopped at the remains of an old server room and cracked open the metal doors. "Though, to be honest, there's so many things I want to ask of you, Zero. I'm sure you have a lot of questions for the Resistance too." She opened the door for them, letting them through. "It's probably best we get out of here first."

Within the server room were rows of headless computer systems, thickets of tangled wires hanging lifelessly from ports that hadn't seen use in decades. No lights came to life at their entrance, the three resorting to sonar to see through the shadows. Ciel led Craft and Zero down the halls of servers, trudging through dirty, grey water until they found refuge at a door at the opposite end from the entrance. It was fastened to its hinges a lot tighter than every other door they'd come across, a sure sign that it had been repaired recently.

When Ciel flicked on the door's lock terminal, the console monitor bathed the room in a deep blue glow. While she input a litany of passcodes, Craft turned back to Zero, noting his breathing had grown laboured, his balance wavering with each perilous step through the treacherous underground.

"Zero…" Craft placed a hand on Zero's shoulders, checking his vitals with an internal scan. Zero shuddered, feeling his analytical gaze creep under his skin. "Your energy reserves are critical. You're at risk of collapsing before we even get to the transerver."

Zero didn't need him to tell him that. "I have a secondary energy cache…"

"It won't be good on your systems if you abuse it," Craft warned. He reached under Zero's knees as his other hand drifted to support his back. "Come here."

"What– Craft, I can handle myself…" Zero insisted, though the strained raspiness in his voice betrayed him. Craft didn't care what Zero thought, and he collected the weakened reploid out of the water and into his arms, cradling him gently like a prized possession. Despite his sensitivity, Zero was not enthused by any stretch of the imagination. Unable to make much of a fuss, he settled with making a low growl from the depths of his respiratory vents.

"You're lucky I can't fight back," Zero murmured.

"Yeah, yeah. You're lucky I'm not letting you pass out in this sewer water." Craft harrumphed. "You're as stubborn as Neige."

Ciel wiped the amused grin off her face as she unlocked the gates, the doors sliding open and leading to a small staircase leading upwards that granted them refuge from the dirty water pooling at their feet.

The staircase led into a small transerver room, clean, compared to the rest of the underground. The walls were absent of cracks and moss, and the lights overhead were bright and alive. The door shut behind them.

Ciel flicked open her wrist terminal, walking over to the transerver console and switching it on, the console coming to life with a whirr. Zero groaned, exhausted, unable to keep his head up. He leaned on Craft's wide shoulders, eyes growing heavy as his energy reserves neared terminal levels.

"Hello, this is XLN-028, that's X-ray, Lima, November 028, Ciel speaking. Hey, Jaune? Could you get me a temp-code for server U-02 to base, thanks?" Ciel spoke into her PET, her hand hovering over the console. As the operator recited an alphanumeric code to her, Ciel looked over her shoulder to see Zero slowly nodding off in Craft's arms. "Hey, if it isn't any trouble for you, could you clear the halls on the way to my unit? Don't make a fuss, but I've got Craft with me, and... Yeah, I know! But I've got Craft and a very important Neo Arcadian refugee with me and I don't want the guys to panic. Send Roci and a complete ELEM line, too, these guys could use some medical help. Thanks a million, that's all."

She shut her wrist terminal and punched in the transerver code. She waved Craft ahead.

"Get Zero an IV. I'll staple you shut later," Ciel ordered. Craft snickered, stepping into the transerver platform with Zero slumped in his arms, not yet asleep, but his eyes threatening to flutter shut.

"Thanks, doc," Craft said. "It's good to see you again."

Ciel gave a soft, warm smile. "Good to see you too, big guy."

She activated the transerver, and the two were gone in a flash, space warping around them as they were transported away from the decrepit underground. When their world settled, they opened their eyes to a clean transerver room, much like ones Zero had seen in Neo Arcadia, but lacking the air of grandeur that the citadel had in droves. It was dull, in a way, a typical base of operations- all grey fibreglass panelling and flashes of blue light from the monitors surrounding them, but there was life creeping through the militaristic atmosphere with leaves and vines crawling up and down the walls.

There was a single operator manning the transerver room, though there was a second unoccupied seat opposite her. When Zero locked eyes with the blonde operator reploid, she took a moment to suss him out, before the colour drained from her face, eyes hidden behind a visor widening and pushing her brow up behind her parted fringe.

"...Zero?!"

Zero tried to speak, but the words failed to form in his vocaliser. His world was getting increasingly blurry, his vision failing him in waves, the sounds of machines around him muffled like he was underwater. Ciel warped in behind him.

"Well, here we are," Ciel announced, outstretching her arms. "Welcome to the Resistance, Zero."

The doors to the rest of the base parted for them, where people he didn't know rushed to his aid. He was being carried away somewhere, his body poked and prodded by strangers who only ever knew him as a piece of history and more pressingly, as an enemy. He was on their turf now, and if they did anything to him, there was no way he could stop them- he was on the knife's edge of systems failure. As they walked him through endless dark corridors some place deep underground, in a strange military base Zero couldn't seem to locate by GPS, he had to wonder…

Am I doing the right thing?

There were voices around him, but they were slowly becoming unintelligible, their words all braiding together in knots of sounds. His world fell into darkness soon after, exhaustion overcoming him.

---

"WHERE IS HE?!"

X entered the citadel foyer like a raging bull, shoving aside the crowd of soldiers that had since aggregated there upon the call for bolstered security. In a second, the men were as quiet as a funeral procession.

"Where is Zero?!" X roared again, his frame encased in his angelic white combat armour. His wings flared with his temper, casting his men in a wide shadow. "Did I not make myself abundantly clear during this morning's notice?! Master Zero was not to be left to roam Neo Arcadia unsupervised! Not ever, and especially not now, not when maverick terrorists are infesting every little square inch of this goddamn city! I don't care if he has his maverick pet with him! I don't care if he says he's not going far! You were given orders! It's not good enough!"

He took a second to collect his thoughts. "Again. Let me make myself very clear, and listen carefully this time. Every single one of you will be held culpable for whatever happens to him out there, just because you were too fucking incapable of stopping one single reploid from walking out these doors! When he's kidnapped and tortured and murdered by those terrorist animals, I want you to know that it will be your fault."

The crowd quickly parted to make a path for X. As he neared, the soldiers bowed, getting to their knees and looking to the ground. Anything, as to not meet his gaze, burning as hot as hellfire. The weight of his footsteps and the clatter of his armour sounded through the hollow foyer, the air thick with tension and X's tangible aura of anger.

X stopped in front of the unit's captain. He was tall, with boxy blue-green armour. A powerful figure amongst his troops, but he quivered with fear in the shadow of the king.

"You…"

Just X's voice was enough to make the soldier flinch. He leaned down and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground with a punishing grip. The commander wheezed, feeling his air intake and vocaliser compress under the intense pressure.

"Your unit was assigned to Citadel entrance security this morning. Tell me, soldier. How did this happen?" X drilled.

"Ahkk- M-Master X, I'm sorry, I- argh, I don't know… I swear, it was a mistake! There's just– too much going on and-"

"I should kill you right now for your incompetence," X growled. "Your task was simple enough, and still, you failed me. How can I trust you with the protection of this city if you can barely protect one reploid?"

He huffed, dropping the soldier, the combat bot's legs crumpling under his own weight. X's gaze darkened, his brow furrowing. "You've grown soft…" he murmured, his tone thick with cruelty. "Then go. You will not rest until he's found. Understood?!"

The soldiers got to their feet and let out a chorus of hoorahs, speaking not a word of resistance. That was, except for one, a tall but thin reploid with a mess of black hair and a scar that split his face into halves.

"I apologise, sir… But… you have to agree with me that there has to be more important things to be focusing on, sir. The mavericks are growing stronger and more numerous by the day, Master X. We ought to be focusing our security efforts on thwarting the rebellion, for the betterment of all of Neo Arcadia," he argued with a small, faltering voice. His fellows steadily drifted away from him as X slowly crept towards the wayward soldier. "I'm sure Zero is fine, sir. He has no reason to betray us. He'll come back."

X didn't say anything. The foyer was deathly quiet, sweat beading on the back of the soldier's neck. X looked away, taking in a deep breath and holding it, before closing his eyes and letting it out slowly.

His hand disappeared into his arm, giving way to a burning white beam axe that burst from his buster cannon. In the span of a heartbeat, X swung his axe at the outspoken warbot, the plasma blade effortlessly shearing through the width of the reploid's chest and severing the soldier in two.

The crowd were too stunned to so much as gasp, but their silence spoke volumes. The soldier's halves fell to the floor in a heap, sparks sputtering from his exposed internal wires and deep red blood spraying from his fuel lines, raining down on his nearby soldiers.

X sheathed his beam axe back into his buster, his hand returning to its rightful place in lieu of his cannon.

"Now…" He whipped around to glare at the crowd of soldiers that cowered in his presence. "Does anyone else have a problem with my leadership?"

There was a nervous shuffle as they stepped back, looking meekly at each other and shaking their heads. There were a few no sir's and not at all's whispered from the sea of men, but most were too shaken up to speak, their leader's fury gnawing away at any boldness they had left. X's snarl gave way to a pleased, but deeply cold smile.

"Good. Now go on, find him! You're no use here," he commanded with fearsome authority, his smile disappearing in lieu of a frown, "search the inner city first. I will send a more competent unit to search the outer sectors. Don't rest on your laurels. If you fail to find him here, you will join them in their search. Don't leave any stone unturned. Raid people's homes if you must." His brow creased, anger festering in his heart. "Don't disappoint me again."

The unit was quick to take the hint, and without question, they were scrambling out through the grand citadel entrance in a frantic stampede. Soon, the foyer was empty, the glistening anteroom quiet and spotless again, save for the still twitching carcass at his feet, wires still cracking and sizzling as the last few involuntary nerve signals fired through him. Alone now, X came to realise he was breathing hard and heavy, blood burning in his veins, his jaw tightened and fists clenched.

He stopped to settle himself, shutting his eyes and drifting away for the moment, letting his muscles go lax and letting the tension in his chest leave through his breath.

"Master X!"

X snapped to attention and turned around, finding Harpuia and Phantom rushing in his direction. They came careening to a halt when they saw the vivisected remains of a soldier. Harpuia grimaced, and the colour in Phantom's face drained. The air general cleared his throat, looking aside to recollect his thoughts.

"Father," Harpuia began again, standing upright and saluting.

"My sons…" X greeted, warm and inviting, but severe nonetheless. "Ah, sorry about this. There was an incident. I've taken care of it." He nudged aside the soldier's carcass with his boot. "I trust you've analysed the tracking data on Zero's GPRS belt?"

It was a kind way of saying collar, and all three knew it. Harpuia bowed his head.

"That's the thing, sir. All recent tracking data has been corrupted," Harpuia solemnly reported, acutely aware of the fact that it was the last thing X wanted to hear. X's brow rose.

"Have you checked Craft's?" he asked. Harpuia nodded.

"Yes, sir. Same on his end."

"...Urgh… To think I refused to use his tracking data until now... Have you tried recovering the backups?"

"Indeed. The entries on our contingency data banks have been compromised. Phantom was unable to reconstruct the lost logs. We could keep working on it, but I'd say our time would be better spent elsewhere."

"Mmh. Did you investigate the surveillance footage?" X asked.

"High throughput facial recognition came up with nothing of note," Harpuia answered.

"How about body cam? Dash cam?"

"All police footage was included in our preliminary scan."

"Seriously?" X huffed passive-aggressively, laughing in barely contained frustration. "All those drones in the sky and we can't even find two reploids."

X groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "That… how is this happening? Our data security is supposed to be impenetrable," he lamented. "First the Supra-force metal, then Zero, and now this… we just can't let this happen again. As I see it, we've been compromised. I need a list of everyone with full access to our confidential data servers. Phantom, get your interrogation unit to process all possible candidates. Treat everyone like a suspect. There's a maverick insider in our ranks, and I need them punished. I'll wager a guess his maverick pet has a hand in this. Urgh, I was stupid to let him live.." he waved the thought aside. "Harpuia, I need your eyes in the sky. I'll have Fefnir take over the Golem deployment in the outer sectors for you. Leviathan has enacted a dusk to dawn curfew for all civilians. If you find any reploid unaccounted for, you're to detain them. Ah, look, just focus on finding Zero."

Harpuia and Phantom jolted upright, chins cocked in the air. "Yes sir!" they yelled in unison.

"Good. At least I can always count on you two," X said. He crooked his fingers, beckoning them in closer. "Look, Zero is not a threat. You know that, I know that, I think most of those soldiers know it. At least not physically. It's not about that. It's about the message it sends, hear me? Our forces have no reason to lose against the mavericks, but right now, they can barely stop a nosebleed. They don't have confidence. If the mavericks have Zero, they will. Even now, their attacks are getting more and more daring. We cannot allow them to be so bold, lest the people's trust in our command falters. Understand?"

Phantom and Harpuia nodded vigorously. X bowed his head in confirmation.

"Excellent. Make me proud out there." He patted them on the back and let them leave, the two generals scrambling away to see to their tasks.

When they were out of earshot, X let out a deep sigh, shaking his head. There was no one left to occupy his thoughts, just the dead body at his feet and the stained glass murals of Zero and himself, their grand portraits staring down at him with lifeless judging gazes.

"Got buzzard's luck… can't kill anything, can't find anything dead," X muttered to himself. "Zero…"

The sunlight shining through the stained glass windows was coloured red, yellow and blue, Zero's crimson visage bathing X in shades of him. The mosaic eyes were dark, his stare cold and calculated, but somehow, his Zero's image still brought X a sense of reassurance. Even now, when he felt as though he was about to slip through his fingers like a fine mist. X swallowed.

"What do I have to do to get you back, huh?" X asked, as if the windows would answer. "What happened to us? All of this was for you…"

He looked at his feet, feeling his emotions lodged in his throat. "Now what am I supposed to do?" he asked, the words feeling thick in his chest. "Why don't you just tell me if you don't want to be with me? Why do you have to lie to me? You've made this so hard for yourself."

Of course, the mosaic wouldn't give him any of the answers he was looking for. When he looked up, Zero's image stared back at him, lifeless. He rubbed his face, a growl rising from his throat, gritting his teeth and huffing in frustration.

"Zero…" he recited. "Zero, Zero, Zero…"

X narrowed his gaze. "I remember when I wasn't strong enough to stand up to Sigma. When I told you I was scared, that I couldn't do it, you told me something. Never stop, never quit, no matter what the world says you can do. What I think I can do. Even if I wasn't strong then, I will be. There would be a time when I wouldn't be scared if I just kept going. Well I ain't scared now. Not of you, not of what I can do either. And I know you must be angry at me. You've gotta be in a lot of pain. I know it. And I feel alright about it. I do. I do…"

He lifted his hand to the sky, fingers splayed out, until it covered Zero's visage. Slowly, he closed his palm into a fist over the window.

"I get it now. I have another chance. I'm not letting you go again."

---

To Hidden Phantom, the Neo Arcadian data centre was like a second home to him.

It was here where mountains of data came to rest. Where their satellites beamed radio back to, where seismic surveys reported back to. Where they kept a list of documented civilians. Where they maintain tracking data. Where they determined where resources could be diverted to. Where it was stated who was to be considered a maverick. It seems like that list was growing longer and longer every day.

It was protected by many and accessible to few. The data stored inside was understood by even less. Data analysis was a lost art for many. Just one of many artforms that had been lost in the mess of the Elf Wars.

The building was cold. -20 degrees celcius to be exact. The air was dry to prevent water and ice damage.

Phantom stood at the server anteroom, checking himself in past DNA locks. Security officers stopped him at the gates and clocking his halo ID. He was let through, when his ID matched his cassette. New generation reploids had been rendered extinct years ago, but survivors were bound to slip through the cracks, and so, Neo Arcadia was required to screen any new gen ID mismatch. Phantom knew it wasn't that simple. Axl had taught him how to obscure his halo years ago.

Axl was dead now. Phantom was sure that Neo Arcadia assumed his knowledge died with him. Yet, information never died, not in a world dominated by artificial intelligence.

Information didn't die, but it could be buried alive. At least, until someone cared enough to dig it back up. There weren't many in Neo Arcadia who cared, not when most were more interested in surviving another day.

That was why Phantom was here. A secret was a heavy burden to carry, but it was one he would have to shoulder if he were to help Zero.

Phantom loved his father, and to betray his trust was eating away at him more and more each step he took towards the Supermax server rooms. On the elevator ride down, he pondered the words Zero spoke to him. That he was not just a machine built to serve Neo Arcadia, not just a tool for his father's ambitions, but a person, and a person capable of making his own choices in pursuit to influence the path the world would follow. His entire life to that point had consisted of living as a reflection of his father's desires, and he had been so blinded by his desire to make X proud that he had lost sight of what was right for the world.

He hated that it took Axl's death and Zero's suffering to make him realise that. He couldn't bear to remain idle for much longer. He had to sever the chain X had Zero on, whether that would change the outcome of anything.

The high security server rooms were locked behind several layers of security- passcodes, biomarker checks, ID scans. At the end of the road was a single reploid guard, standing dutifully on watch with his rifle held flush against his chest.

"General Phantom!"

He saluted stiffly. Phantom nodded, and the guard fell at ease again. "What business do you have here, sir?"

Phantom shook his head as he punched in an ever-changing access code. "Classified. Won't be long. Is anyone else visiting?"

"No, sir. Why?"

"Security purposes."

"I see. Well, you know the drill, make sure you record your visit in eLabs."

Phantom hummed an ambivalent affirmative before leaving the guard behind in his wake, the doors shutting with a reverberating bang. The lights came to life in rows above him, the sounds of bulbs buzzing and the humming of computers filling the room.

Rows and rows of server cabinets stared him down, monoliths of Neo Arcadia's stringent surveillance state. He knew exactly where he needed to go, for he had been thinking of doing this for a while. Ever since Zero had confided in him following Axl's death.

He stopped in front of a server cabinet, one sitting inconspicuously at the end of an aisle, and used his authority key to override the cabinet's locking software. It was protected by one last layer of security- a simple padlock. Phantom kept his keys in 4D storage.

Phantom cast a wary glance around the room as he unlocked the server rack. The endless rows of server cabinets obscured his remote sensors, the racks casting shadows in his LADAR, their constant heat emission making thermal imaging impossible. The only sign of a witness he could be on the lookout for was the sound of their entrance.

He pulled out a server rack and flicked open his wrist mounted terminal. He unspooled an D-sub cable from his inbuilt console and plugged it into the server, physically accessing it by way of remote connection. Indeed, within the server was Neo Arcadia's individual tracking database server, where records of civilian locations were maintained, beit from tracking devices or data mined from personal devices.

Phantom spent most of his time alone in his room. His siblings assumed he was occupied with the many research tasks X had assigned him. Finding the Resistance's homebase, for instance.

Craft and Zero's tracking devices were denoted by a string of numbers that meant nothing to the average Neo Arcadian official. Even his own trusted intel corp often had to study an identification tree to analyse their tracking data. Phantom had been gifted accelerated learning and a photographic memory, though he had to admit, it was in lieu of much social tact. In the chase for information, enabled by his father, he had forgotten to consider if what he was learning was for a just cause.

The truth of the matter was that Phantom knew where the Resistance base was. He had for a while. It was in the outskirts of the Outside Lands, near what used to be the Kenya - Somalia border in the underground ruins of the Badhaadhe district. A sizable distance from Neo Arcadian territory, but nothing that couldn't be reached in due time.

In his free time, Phantom had designed a trigger that obscured incoming data from tracking device clients, rendering them incomprehensible noise by the time it was stored in the database. He injected it into the server, waited for a minute for their devices to update their location data, and breathed a sigh of relief when a new row of complete nonsense appeared on their location log sheet, with zero footprint to indicate he had any hand in the matter.

He unplugged the connection, reset his terminal and removed the trigger from his own personal documents. For peace of mind, he remotely connected to the database server for the centre's visiting logs and removed any traces of a visit at the current time.

The Resistance base was all but invisible. They emitted no discernable signals, couldn't be detected by seismic survey nor underground utility survey, and when observed by drone or satellite, no activity or signs of life could be observed. Still, when Resistance members disappeared into their transserver system, they'd have to go somewhere. That somewhere could be determined with enough scrutiny.

X would've loved to hear it. Yet, despite everything, Phantom was not going to tell him.

The doors closed behind him as he left the server room, addressing the guard with a gentle bow of his head.

"Welcome back, sir. Everything went well?" he asked.

"Yes," Phantom replied curtly.

"Good. Remember to record the details of your visit in eLabs. Have a good day, General."

Phantom stopped mid stride. He slowly looked over his shoulder and cocked his head at the guard. "Say, could I ask a favour of you?"

It caught the guard by surprise, the soldier's lips drawing to a line. "Ah, s-sure, sir."

"Thanks. Come here for a minute."

He beckoned him over with a wave. The guard followed his orders nervously, and Phantom cupped his head between his hands gently. He steadied his breath, shut his eyes to collect his thoughts, and set two fingers over his forehead, right against his AI core.

Phantom cleared his throat.

"Authorisation code X-12282- FULL INTEGRATION - MEMORY CACHE ABLATION, HALO, DURATION 600 DEGREES."

With that, he stepped away. The guard blinked the blurriness from his eyes like he had just woken up, before jolting at the sight of Phantom right in front of him.

"General Phantom! I'm sorry, I didn't notice you."

He gave a stiff salute, the same one he gave him when they first met. Phantom gave him a cursory look up and down, before leaning back, feeling a glowing sense of triumph swell in his heart.

"I don't mind. Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Do you remember if I visited this server room today? I feel like it's slipped my mind."

"Huh? No, no sir. You haven't been here today."

'...That worked!' he thought to himself. 'I must thank you for your research, Iris. Wherever your spirit resides...'

"Hm. Well, that's all I wanted to ask you," Phantom said, turning around again. "Thanks for letting me know."

He promptly left for the exit, double checking if he had left anything unaccounted for in his head. The guard stepped forward, reaching a hand out to ask for his attention.

"Sir. Were you planning on doing anything here?" He asked. Phantom shrugged.

"No. Just had to make sure of something," Phantom replied.

The guard mulled it over for a moment, but in the end, he just accepted it as one of the mysterious general's many odd behaviours. "Ah, Alright. Have a good day, sir."

Phantom gave him a kind smile before he departed, the researcher within infinitely pleased to find his readings on Iris' centuries old halo manipulation studies were worth something. A reploid with a weak grasp on his sense of self was increasingly susceptible to halo reengineering. It was why the Dark Elf managed to corrupt so many. Maybe wiping someone's short term memory wasn't the most ethical thing, but Phantom had done much worse. Besides, he knew he wasn't capable of doing anything more complex than that. He still had much to learn when it came to his halo brain.

Regardless, he was gone from the data servers, his mission accomplished. The tracking collars would send back nonsense, letting Craft and Zero roam free if they so desired, their location lost in corruption.

Phantom wanted to do more, but he couldn't. He was X's son. He had to remain, for he was one of few who could help change things. He had to fix things. For himself, for his siblings, for Neo Arcadia. For Zero, who reminded him of who he was, and what he could be.

He couldn't sever his own familial ties, but he could cut Zero free. Even if it meant betraying everything he ever thought was right.

Just like a phantom, he disappeared from the data centre, leaving not a trace in his wake.