Some action, the confrontation, but this is just the start. Saving X won't be easy...and yet, everything is simple and clean when one remember's the Lord.

or the lords devotee's in this case.


'Well, that was easier than expected.' Draupadi commented as she traversed the maintenance corridor of the Neo-Arcadia tower, scaring whatever human employees were there and rushing as fast as she could to the next stair wells. 'You knew it would happen…and you knew what type of password I needed, didn't you Krishna?'

Sure, she could take the intended path filled with spikes, pit, mechaniloids, and some challenging pantheon and of course the obligatory gauntlet of half-repaired Mutos. But Draupadi simply did not have the time or the desire to fight them.

To be honest…she was sick of fighting. Mechaniloids were ok as stress relief and as a source of resources, since those were just mindless machines, toys really. But other reploids, other souls?

Never again…if circumstances permitted.

Besides, it had been hilarious to see the four fearsome generals freezing in place at the big reveal of her licit relationship with their master. Even Leviathan, the most perceptive of the three had failed to realized how serious it had been... not that X knew, for once, something of human culture having flown past his helmet at high speed.

The mechanical Vaishnavi managed to find the second stair well, idly wondering why the emergency exits were split in different sections, all in different parts and height of the ivory tower. 'At least there are tele-pads at the bottoms, not that any of them are working right now.' Since, obliviously, the guardians had activated the anti-intruder protocol…but not after Zero had by-passed the trap entrance and entered the Human-only zone like Krishna entering in Princess Rukmini's retinue to Kidnap her.

'Krishna…maybe I'll go through the trap for nostalgia sake…what do you think?' Draupadi asked her Lord as she casually vaulted over a barricade, shooting a few Pantheons and impaling the others with her triple rod, boosting over another barricade with the excess energy and slaying the rest with a shield-sword- buster combo. 'Or maybe not…let me get at X first and then see how I can save him.'

Save him… Draupadi had absolutely no idea how to even start. And her track record for saving reploids was abysmal when it came to those she cared about.

'I have God at my side and the blessings of my Gurus…its God's will. It will work…. Oh Krishna, Please…please guide me, control me, and make me your instrument of mercy.' The legendary hero prayed as she burst trough the fifth stair well, jumping from floor to floor as she did her best to dodge the buster shots turrets flooded the stair well with.

Obliviously, in such a close quarters, Draupadi did soak up some damage. But nothing too bad... in her opinion.

Eventually, she reached the last floor in record time…and groaned.

"Oh Krishna…don't tell me." The room was circular, and no windows were in sight. There was a lift in the middle; the contraption was connected to eight doors.

Draupadi bit back a curse and five oaths. "It's a gauntlet…like Sigma would do."

If she needed a proof of her Husband's state of mind…

"Let see… This one must be Ganesherif…the zombie master…the ice deer, Hanumachine…and the four guardians ending with X." She rubbed her chin…she knew she could go through it with relative ease. Especially now that she could remember the centuries worth of wars and combat experience.

Realistically… She was just tired of all the senseless violence. He current body may have been designed as the world's ultimate war machine, a self-updating system for mass destruction but…after more than a hundred years of the same song and dance…and discovering the ultimate goal of life, Draupadi was more than ready for retirement.

As was X, obliviously.

Suddenly, she felt a request for radio transition. Zero speaking, who is it? She asked as she studied the way the room was wired, the lift seemed to be connected to each and every arena.

Zero, this is Leviathan. the ice General answered. I did what you told me…I'm in my private quarter, the room is locked and it's dipping everyone in acid. I think even master X is mad since-

Since you will not be part of the gauntlet. Draupadi finished for the replicated 'mermaid' that's good. And if you think you made them mad, wait until you I pull my next Vaishnavi smirked, noticing how flimsy the firewalls protecting the lift were, and what to say about the wired connection. Leviathan…before I proceed, I just wanted to thank you. You didn't have to bring me in the city proper…or label yourself a traitor.

As it turned out, Draupadi had made an ally out of the flirty guardian, for leviathan was not as blind as the rest...only powerless and ignorant as to how to pull X out of his... Maverick Phase?

'Yeah...let's go with that,'

Oh, it's fine. I'm not sure about my other sibling-unit, but I do know that's something's dead wrong with our Master…and you've just confirmed It.

On the way to the ivory tower, Draupadi had taken the time to explain to Leviathan the entire situation…gathering more information of her husbands state of mind and how was Neo-arcadia. And she had to admit, for someone so mad, her husband had done a great job with his city! There were artificial field for growing grains, vegetables and any other product that was needed. The whole city was built in a way that gave most of its citizen enough space to live and all had the facilities for sense gratification with very few restrictions.

In other words, the place was spiritually dead, a few churches were scattered around the place…but people would rather pray to the Over wrought and fallible master of Neo-Arcadia then the unlimitedly potent and unfailable Sri-Krishna…even in his most impersonal form.

Everyone was in it for themselves, they would consume, abuse and exploit all they could see, since for them, once they were dead, it was the end.

They had no goal in life...and no hope for the future. Only sand and the illusion of normality.

At that moment, Draupadi knew exactly what the great Acharya felt as he gazed upon the Boston sky-line at the end of his two-month trip across the sea. Having left India on the Jaladuta at the age of 70 with the order of his Guru to spread the Glories of Krishna in the West.

He had succeeded beautifully, not even three hundred years of war had managed to erase his legacy, Draupadi was the proof of that.

Draupadi sighed as she grabbed a generously drooped Energen can, offering it as the best of mango juice to her Gurus…hoping They would accept it. She suspect that it may have been left there by Leviathan…or her husband. Yeah,…X…I really don't regret my decision of staying in the under-net for so long. But maybe I should've contact Xiu Ying to make sure he knew I was fine. Hind-sight…always too late

Mah…it's in the past. It's not like you could've known he would…go crazy without you.

The mechanized Vaishnavi remained silent. She may not have known, but she had been forewarned. 'Never ignore a dream...ever.'

And I wasn't the most sensitive of reploid back then. she winced…oh, she had been such an idiot, just rushing and killing 'irregulars' and following the 'human' loving X around, following his utopian ideals as his sanity lowly but surely eroded over to many wars.

'I was acting like a machine…a dumb, dull, stupid machine.'

when you were the manliest piece of reploid ever manufactured? she heard leviathan purred at the other side of the connection. Definitely teasing the legendary Hero.

Fairy leviathan…I wasn't manufactured like that. This was one subject she would rather not dwell upon.

It's alright…I don't mind.

You know, X, your Master is my husband…

yes…but we all know that he's…not fit for you.

And you're any better? Draupadi scoffed as she felt her eyebrow twitch. Where she in the same room as Vaishnavi probably would show the tease some of her awakened power…just enough to scare her.

and beat some sence into her.

Well technically, I'm his closest copy appearance wise…so I wouldn't say I'm better than my master but...

I'm sorry Leviathan, but I aim for the Original…No matter how broken he is. Thus was the vow of the chaste wife.

To be honest, her aim was the Lotus feet of the Lord, but there was nothing wrong with serving her husband until her time would come. And try to bring him back home, even if it meant dragging him out of his body screaming.

Aw phooey! Well, if you change your mind.

I'm ending the transition…stay safe Leviathan. She closed of her connection and sighed. 'Two out of four guardians are clearly attracted to me…and their Master is none other than my husband... Krishna, I just want my one husband.' She wouldn't place it beyond Him to have arranged the same marriage situation as her namesake.

'I'm supposed to show the example, not the exception.' She grumbled. Maybe centuries ago, she would be giddy at the prospect but now?

She knew the goal of life, and unlimited conjugal enjoyment was not it.

Leaving the subject of worldly attachment behind, she called upon her subtle potency, and connected her-self to the machine, opening all eight locks without much trouble. Draupadi let her grin take over, this Virus made things almost too easy. 'It's still like puzzles though…at least it has its use.'

She was about to step in the teleported…when she realized what she was about to do.

This was not Sigma she would face. It was not a maverick to kill… But X, her mentee, her partner, war buddy, her saviour, the legend, the real Hero, the King and master of Neo-arcadia…her Lover …her husband. The one she had been willing to die for again and again…to change her fate, to learn from him… To understand and…become as close to human as her codding, her cage would permit.

X…had been the one to crack the Wily codding and free her. He had taught her how to deal with difficult situation without violence or anger, how to deal with humans and how to love and emphasis with those around her. Thus opening the door back home, back to Sri-Isopanisad's heart and home. And Back To God...To Krishna.

She…owed so much to him.

And now…she could finally start repaying her debt.

She kneeled to the ground and began to pray.

She prayed for the Lord to guide her, to protect those she held dear, and to save her husband from the clutches of insanity. She prayed to Gauranga and His divine brother Nityananda to kindly forgive whatever offence X could've done and would probably do…like they forgave the offence perpetrated by Jagai and Madhai.

She prayed to Srimati Radharani, the queen of Vrindavana, and she who control the supreme controller with her crooked glance for her sweet mercy.

Finally, Draupadi prayed to her Guru's…and the disciplic succession and Krishna, the Supreme controller, the supper soul in everyone's heart, the source of Sri-Narashima deva and all the innumerable spirit souls in existence for a drop of causeless mercy upon X.

Out of anyone to pray to and knowing she could not postpone it anymore, Draupadi got up, thanked the Lord for whatever he had in plan, and finally entered the lift, she could feel the cameras on her… Her Beloved X had been looking at her ever since she had entered Neo-arcadia.

'Don't worry Echo…I'm on my way. I will…no, we will take good care of you."

After what seemed to be an eternity and a half, Zero walked out of the lift and onto the final floor, creatively called 'area X'.

'Thank God there's no place called area Zero…that would be so embarrassing.'

in her heart, she swore she could hear the lord stifle his life giving laughter.

She walked trough he long, corridor, noting the ridiculous amount of explosive's hidden in the walls, connected to X like the lift had been connected to the guardians and their Mutos.

'Oh Xiu…' Draupadi sadly thought as he disarmed the system, and instead connecting the array to a dummy, as so to hide her act for her husband.

She knew X could get a little…desynchronized if things didn't go as plan. 'And he's about to get his with Gods plan…Oh, Lord Gauranga, have mercy.'

Eventually, she came to the door…she stopped.

'Alright…Let's do this.'

"Vande Sri Krishna-Chaitanina." She murmured under her breath as she boldly strode forward…

This would work, her guru had blessed her.

She had God at her back…nothing was impossible anymore.

She was not the red ripper anymore, but an instrument of God, her success of failure was in his hands only, she could only endeavour for Him.

The moment she entered the windowless room…she finally caught sight of her husband.

He wore the same armour as his guardians, but his resembled a blue leotard over a pitch black synth-skin. He had retained his height (not that he was very tall to begin with.) and his eyes…

Draupadi's fan's choked as she stifled her instinct to draw her blade.

His eyes had taken the distinctive red hue of a Maverick.

X looked at her with neutrality…only betrayed by micro spasm, a sign that something had gone terribly wrong with the blue bomber.

The wide room was built out of iron panels, giving the entire atmosphere a very heavy, depressing mood. Especially with all the C4 that hid behind them.

'Oh Krishna…he look so tired.' Draupadi could not help but notice as she moved ever closer to X.

Suddenly, the guardians' (sans Leviathan) teleported in, their weapon trained onto the Vaishnavi, who side stepped an air slash, courtesy of one boiling Harpuia.

'Don't take a step more, sinner! Your life ends here!" he roared as he prepared for another devastating attack.

"Enough" X voice…now clearly digital in nature, resounded in the hallow room. "This does not concern you."

"Master X…" Harpuia turned slightly to face his master, still keeping Draupadi in his sight. "Please let us retire-"

"This does not concern any of you."X spoke with a shadow of slight annoyance. "This is between me and Zero…leave. I will contact you when it will all be over." He spoke more 'calmly'.

"But…" Harpuia was about to protest, but X silence him with an empty glance.

Draupadi felt her nanite freeze. X was worst then she expected… 'Out of the two, my Xiu always had the most expressive face plate…it's so wrong to see him act and move so mechanically.'

"Yes master…" Phantom inclined his head…and Draupadi noticed the reploid had kept his gaze on her feet.

'Huh…'

Harpuia gritted his teeth as he almost shattered his blade by his mere grip. He teleported away, but not before sending a good simulation of a bhairava at the Vaishnavi.

Fefnir follow suit after he let out a curse… ruefully gazing at Draupadi.

Finally, the reunited couple were all alone in the room. X red glance never leaving Draupadi as he took her in. she could detect some longing…but it was faint, faded. Covered by a heavy curtain of madness taking shelter behind a vault of indifference.

"Zero…you look well." X began with no emotions.

"You look terrible." The red eyes, the doll like face plate…He wasn't even blinking. X had given up on looking Human...as his creator wanted. "X…listens. I'm here now. I'll-

"How do you like Neo-arcadia…?" Her husband asked with a tilt of his head.

'So…your just shooting the breeze…you must've really missed me then.' she internaly snarked while she shrugged. "I don't know. Heard the place was nice and that the Eden dome was the best sun protection humanity could affords…I'm just not sold on the whole 'all reploids are Maverick' policy." She spoke without any heat…she had never been a good diplomat, this had been X forte.

A smile drew itself on X, face…it was not a nice one like he used to do. "Yes…a necessary step. Mother-elf proved to be inefficient in neutralizing the Maverick…steps had to be taken."

A shiver went up Draupadi's nanite tube…this…this was not her husband who was speaking. It was not X, who would suffer the worst of injuries if it meant one reploid could be salvage. 'Oh how our roles changed.'

"And what did doctor Light think about this plan?" Draupadi asked as she began circling X… She could feel Param-atma warning her that the blue bomber had given up his pacifist endeavour long ago.

"It's irrelevant…" X dismissed, still keeping his red glance on the red legend. "The world had entered a great crisis…Neo-arcadia is the only safe heaven left for humanity at large... it is where they are the most happy…where they can grow and thrive." X opened his arms as if showing his city. "So many sacrifices had to be made for them. But in the end…"

Draupadi snorted. Sacrifice were necessary, but only to the lord of sacrifice; sri-Vishnu…Krishna. 'Offering oblation onto pigs and chickens will only result in a dirty porch.' "X…sacrificing reploids for the pleasure of humans…your making Lumine and Sigma right about freeing the reploids... and us being slave to 'humans'."

"In the end…humans have to be maintained." He dropped his arms…his voice dead.

"Yeah…and why did you try to kill your precious humans?" Draupadi challenged with an impetuous tilt of her head.

X stared at Draupadi…his gaze reminding the Vaishnavi of a pair of empty camera lences.

"X…You hacked the resistance base, you tricked Ciel in believing she had to destroy those vital computer." She finally accused, tired of those games. "This…you're acting like a maverick."

"No...I never told her to."

"But you did hint to it." Draupadi countered. Causing X's eyes to bloom somewhat. "You not the only one who learned how to hack Echo."

"then why Didn't you?" X accused, finally, his thick veneer of stability cracking. His eyes fully bloomed and his so-called smile gone.

"Because my destiny changed. I'm not a force of destruction anymore." She declared instead, stopping her circling.

Her declaration echoed within the cavernous room, her position fully stated.

X stared, his entire frame unmoving, rigid as he computed what the Vaishnavi, the one know as the red ripper had just said.

"Not a force of destruction?" a spoke after full five seconds as A twisted smile marred X doll like features "You?! Not a force of destruction…?" He started to chuckle, low and quiet. And his whole frame began to shake and his mirth took over to room.

Draupadi hunched over, her battle algorithm taking over, she could feel her temperature rising as the five war mainframe booted at the critical threat warning.

She bit the inside of her motuh hard...no...no...she could not kill him.

"and how about my guardian's force? The supply train…and Eurasia…" X cackled "you destroyed more than just the orbital station Zero…your always destroying Zero…your destiny is to bring everything to zero...for you are the infinite void, the end...MY END!." . He raised his buster to his wife, his shot already charged and primed. "Don't run away from your fate". He changed his armour from his usual blue to something more angelic. Completed with six bladed wings, their 'feathers' made from hard light.

This…oddly reminded Draupadi of Alouette's' drawing about her.

'Oh Krishna…that's not a good sign...' She prayed as she grabbed her sabre, dodging the buster shots. 'Oh my Lord, oh Saviour of the most fallen, please use me as your instrument of mercy.'

X took flight, shooting the short range fighter as he tried to invade her space. aiming a kick at her core.'oh come on, that's a rookie mistake. He knows how to beat the spent nanite out of my frame-"Draupadi sneered as she dodged his second charge, a very sloppy one at that. She could already see the weak point in the wings joint, she could very easily lop the off at X third pass to make him crash in a steel wall and into the hidden explosives.

'That's too easy...X is making it too easy for me! Krishna! He Gaura! Why is he doing this?!' Draupadi's prayed as she clamped down on her battle algorithm, batting away the five buster shot aimed by her quarry...she was not...she had to save him.

She could not let loose like she did with Iris... The divine order dancing on her head.

"My dear, have you considered that his goal is not victory." She heard the lord's deep tone resonate in her heart.

Draupadi dispatched her chakra (boomerang shield) as a cover from the rain of bullets. She shot at X, knowing that her buster didn't pack as much punch as his. '…Oh start my pyre.' How was she supposed to save him if he himself had no desires to be saved?

Draupadi could try to decommission X by beating him until he went to emergency shut down...but with her beserker code on the cusp of activation, she'd rather not take any chances.

And then…

"Remember Hari Das Thakur, The Namacharya. Born a Muslim, but practising Bhakti-yoga, he was persecuted by the Kazi of the time. The demon (* no... Muslims are not demons, just persons who would attack a saint.) send his man to kill him... they whipped him in eleven marketplaces, but the Thakur did not protest, he didn't even raise his voice or tried to escape...he chanted the Maha-mantra... he took complete shelter of it. "She remembered the words of her spiritual master. "And the Lord, Sriman Mahaprabhu was force to lay on his back. For Srila Haridas begged the Lord to spare his would be killer...thus the Lord, Sri-Krishna Chaitania protected his devotee, taking his wounds on His divine back. "

'Turn the other cheek huh?' It would be…suicidal. But she was no stranger to suicidal missions. "Alright. Let's do this then." She surrendered to her Guru's instruction, doing the opposite of what her codding screamed at her and dropped her sabre. 'I'd rather leave this piece of junk then fail her order.' Besides, she had left a copy of the sacred data she bore within Alouette …and the instruction to spread them would she fall in battle.

It was obliviously super compressed, but she knew the relatively recent reploid could figure out how to extract them. And re-encrypt them so that all could have access to the ancient, supreme knowledge.

"What's the matter Zero? Why aren't you destroying me? Why do you hesitate?" X goaded as he managed to strike Draupadi with his bladed wings, sending the old model flying across the room as it left a deep gash across her chest.

"YOU DIDN'T HESITATE WHEN YOU LEFT ME!" He shot her with five charged shot.

She braced herself, and took them all. The sweet Names dancing on her lips.

"YOU DIDN'T HESITATE WHEN YOU BOARDED THE SHUTTLE...WHEN YOU SHUT ME DOWN TO SUICIDE" He teared her apart with a haddoken, sending the red and black Vaishnavi flying.

"You didn't hesitate when I gave you your sabre…YOU DIDN'T HESITATE WHEN YOU KILLED YOUR IRIS!, you didn't hesitate…you. NEVER. HESITATE!" X screamed as he struck Draupadi again and again and again...ending with his giga attack.

The red legend hit the far wall with enough force to kill a human, and enough force to dislodge the iron panel and the pipes attached to it. she gritted her teeth, her body had sustained more damaged than what she would have liked, but worst was the battle algorithm and Wily's berserker code commanding that she slayed the piece of scrap.

It was like a siren song, it would be easy, so easy to just let loss, to follow her original programming ,to rip Mega man X apart, to paint the walls red with his nanites and oil.

'No…that's not me anymore…I was never made for destruction, I didn't even have a buster…"I'm not e reploid, a robot master or even X wife. I'm the spirit soul in this body…the eternal servant of Gauranga…and my master, my real master desire me to salvage the glitch.' She painfully got up to her feet, she could barely stand. her whole body was wracked with sparking spasm. 'Once again…why did wily programmed pain in this body?'

'Because wily didn't make this body…'

"Fight! FIGHT ME! SCREAM…YELL! TAKE OUT YOUR SABRE AN-D DO AS YOU DID IRIS!"X demanded his voice box glitching as he aimed his buster at Draupadi again.

'Do as you did Iris…'

Slay me…

"No." She could feel some Energen mixed with oil and Nanite pouring out of her mouth. Her body having sustained more damage than what she had anticipated.

X eyes widened…and once again, insane laughter shook his frame. "I should have known…you're…you're not my Zero…" he giggled. "Zero never woke up…never woke up again…" He aimed his buster at the Vaishnavi. "You…you gave me hope…a painful hope…but the sinner can never attain salvation." He began charging his buster...was it a super shot? A Haddoken? Another attack more devastating then the rest?

Draupadi knew the state of her frame...she knew she would not survive the next volley. She could only pray that the Lord would let her remember Him at the time of death.

"Draupadi…move forward." She heard from withing the confine of her core.

She reopened her eyes, and took a determined step forward, ignoring the error message blaring in her UI. She knew some circuit had fried, she knew her helmet was cracked, she knew her oil was low, she knew she was in a critical state…she didn't need a machine to tell her that… Instead, she gritted her teeth and advanced on the maddened X, the berserker code almost activating itself as a last ditch effort for survival.

The closer she got from X the more fear entered his maddened eyes.

She took another step forward.

He took a step back.

She took another step forward.

He took another back, keeping his blazing buster fully charged and on her.

She took another step forward, feeling the oil filled nanite flowing down her unprotected feet, now damaged by the ruthless barrage and her impromptu flight and crash. Draupadi wasn't sure, but she may have gotten pierced by a random piece of iron stuck somewhere in her abdomen.

At every step, she remembered the Maha-mantra, letting each and every syllables dance on her bitten tongue.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna…

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare…

Hare Rama…Hare Rama…

Rama Rama…Hare Hare…

"St-stay away." X practically stumbled backward, aiming above Draupadi. "You…you…" He finally reached the back of the death room.

Gone was the ruler, gone was the Master, the legend…instead, she was seeing her mentee, scared like a cornered animal. Like a child caught with his hands in a butter pot.

She smiled…she felt no pain. And she could hear sweet sounding ankle bells behind her.

'Hey Shaksi-gopal…never expected you to be here …please forgive my husband…he's not in his right mind at the moment.' She walked forward she held her left arm, the thing about ready to fall. She was now right in front of him…mere inches separated them.

X's fully charge buster was aimed at her chest, and Draupadi, free from fear, walked right onto it.

If X wanted…he could very easily destroy her shell with a single buster shot.

He was staring at her…his eyes filled with fear.

"Wh-why are you afraid…X-Xiu Ying?" Draupadi asked as she held his buster, embracing in to her breast. "I'm here-here-here now…" She tilted her head. "Wh-why do you…you hesitate?"

She could Xiu's eyes quiver, his venting jittery. "You…no…no…You died…you…you're Not Zero…"

"Yours right….I'm Draupadi Devi dasi…and I'm here to save you." And with those words, The Vaishnavi, the servant of Gauranga bent's X's buster arm up to the calling, embraced her husband, called upon the Virus and did he impossible.

She hacked X.


More Pain… Familiar pain...welcomed pain flooded his system…the same pain the virus would cause him…the same harm…the same error message…the same warning, the same burning.

'It's my punishment…the maverick virus…is taking his revenge.' The maddened Hero smiled as tears of joy filled his eyes. 'Finally…all sins will be absolved."

It was the end….

Everything would end…

The Pain would be over...all over...

He lifted all firewalls…all doors, all the gates…he let the plague come in…X took it all, breathing it in, embracing it…drinking it like the best of energene from the lips of his Zero. Now sleeping in a lab lost to time.

Letting it burn everything that he was, incinerating the last remnant of doctor Light's sin, the start if the plague.

This Zero…was not His Zero…and yet…

And yet they had fulfilled the destiny of Zero…to kill him.

He wrapped his arms around the burning coal of the fake Zero…his copied lover…perfect simulacra now burning him with the poison of doctor Wily. He embraced her deeply, engulfing this petite illusion of his lover…

He remembered how they were on the battlefield, fierce, beautiful, powerful, ruthless...

And yet at home…away from the eyes of others… Sweet, vulnerable…Fragile and already broken…and loving…oh so loving and devoted.

Oh so devoted.

As the fiery blessing consumed his synthetic soul, a thought came in his mind…

What if…what if this was Zero?

Only Zero could carry the Virus…and Only Zero, once awakened, knew how to use it.

Not that it mattered in the end…for the Salvation of all was at end, his death but a mere first step. Idly, X wondered if the burning caused by the virus would be hotter than the flames of hell.

'Oh, you drama queen." He heard his beloved Zero mock as he slipped into blessed oblivion.


Alright…so what's your saying is that being a reploid or a human is only external, like a porch versus a truck, right? Paon asked Alouette via radio transmission. After Egret's…speech, around ninety percent of the base was now against Zero…if not waiting for death to come and reap them.

Andrew almost shook his head, those fools.

That's what Zero told me. You see, we have nothing to do with this body or our programing. We are the spirit souls, eternal, filled with bliss and consciousness. Alouette informed them all via conference call. just like how the driver's not the car, he drives it, and he can see outside the window, but we don't call him mister car.

I think. Therefore, I am. Piped Cardinal, one F-model who had been rescued by Zero. No…it goes deeper, I am aware, therefore I am.

Andrew …it makes sense, don't you think. And yet. I do believe it goes even deeper than that.

Oh, Mister Andrew, you're listening to us? The 'old' reploid could hear the little one's worry in her voice.

Yes I am…I believe little Totten told me about this 'Zero's loyal followers' fan club. And I thought I fit the bill. He liked Zero, the Reploid would always make some time to hear this 'old' bot rambling on about his wife, his old job and the like.

He'd even asked questions….sometime…rarely. But it was clear Zero had ears to listen.

You're not mad that she defected? Coucou asked wearily.

defected? No, If Zero's the lover of Master X, then I do believe he-

She

She would be the right one to bring him back to sanity…not only that, but I like what she thought you Alouette. It pleases the heart.

Definitely. He heard Paon.

Ya can bet your moustache on it. This was Coucou.

Yes…Zero really is our saviour…the saviour of our body, mind and soul. That was Cardinal.

Indeed.:Andrew agreed. But to return to what I was saying, I believe a way to verify the soul is by emotions. he elaborated. I have seen plenty of A.I in my life. And while some can emulate emotions... they can never trully emulate the spontaneous reaction and ilogical reasoning that acompany them.

Actually, it's simpler than that. Alouette interjected. Draupadi's notes said that the soul has an eternal ego, But because we've identify with matter, we think were a body . Basically, when we say 'my finger, my head, my brain, my heart.'… We are the 'I' and 'My', not the body were pointing to the child model explained. So, I am Alouette means the I , the soul, am in a body designated Alouette the reploid. Not that I am Alouette the reploid. And being a soul means I'm made out of eternity, consciousness and bliss.

The sound of many souls having their mind blown was heard across the waves.

O.K…now that's pretty amazing. Coucou spoke. I am in a body named Coucou…I'm not Coucou, I'm the soul. The soft spoken guard spoke with sheer wonder. Wow! Man, Zero really got us something great! See Paon, I told you she was a saint!

But. Paon interjected. If were not this body, not this designation. Then who are we?

We are all servants of God, sri-Krishna. And that's eternal, but because we wanted to enjoy without him, we got sent to this material world. Here, we have the illusion that Krishna, God's not here or…or he's not really involved . And that we are enjoying without him. But that's not true, Krishna's always with us…that's what Draupadi wrote, she also put some numbers beside it too..

Hmm...I see. Cardinal made a noise of accent.

Prabhupada wrote in his books how we are all servants by nature Alouette continued. But because we want to be the masters, we are forced to serve those who are not…err...basically, we serve bad masters.

But what if we serve ourselves? Hibou finally managed to get a word in. how can we be bad masters to ourselves?

We can't serve ourselves. Prabhupada write that we serve our mind and senses, and because we serve our mind and senses, then we serve more bad masters Alouette explained. the only way to serve the soul, ourselves, is by serving the supreme soul, the super-self...Krishna, or the servants of Krishna.

Why? This, even Andrew would like to know.

Because the mind's crazy, look at Egret, he listened to his mind, and now he's starting a riot against Neo-Arcadia and Zero. the little reploid put great emphasis. And Andrew could just hear the rest of their little group wince.

They knew Zero, they had seen her prowess, and they knew her strength…

So, the only one, the only best master is Krishna. But since we can't hear what he wants, we serve a servant of God, a Vaishnava. Alouette concluded.

Hmm. and where can we find a Vaishnava? Do they have any external signs? A special way of speaking asked. Then Andrew heard Paon chuckle.

Cardi, we already know one; Zero!

Yeah, Zero's like…totally a servant of God guys. She has this glow about her and this…this saintlyness. I don't know how to explain It. Coucou added with great enthusiasm. When I heard her Galdar, my soul...I got healed from despair. Like, like the sun was back in my life and...oh man, Alouette, after this class, can we have more Harinama? the tall reploid practically begged.

Sure! This was something Zero wanted me to do. we'll have to be sneaky though, otherwise, Elipso's puppet will make trouble for us...but don't worry, Zero gave me ways to have Sankirtana without attracting attention. And she also gave me everything before she... Alouette grew silent as this heavy feeling descended on the clandestine group. Before she left.

After some time, Coucou finally spoke again. do you…do you think she survived?:

Of course she did. Andrew spoke with as much conviction as he could muster. This is Zero were talking about, no odds are too great for her.

Yeah…but were Talking about Master X. the one who practically whipped out The maverick Virus with the Help of Mother-elf, the one who kept getting Upgrades to fight maddened mechalinoids and animaloid maddened due to irregular codding , the one who managed to seal the dark elf long enough to prevent neo-arcadia from blowing up… The one whose four copies, the guardians gave even Zero some trouble. Cardinal summed up. Zero may be strong… But X…

Doesn't have God at his side. Alouette closed that particular conversation. Zero will be fine! She has to… Some sobs escaped the little Reploid. She…she has too.

After that, the group held yet another chanting session in the private com. Channel Alouette had set up for this purpose, praying for Zero's safety.


Up in Nitya-Navadwip, in the yoga-pitha. Lord Gauranga smiled...