Alouette stood at attention between two soldiers she didn't know, 'recruited' from the civilian barrack by Elpizo himself.

Ever since Draupadi had left, the other bleached blonde had practically taken over the resistance, turning it into a 'proper' military force. Training became mandatory and the civilians all had to learn how to use guns and how to kill. Even Alouette and Ciel were not spared.

That was until Ciel began to show sing of stress related illness. And Elpizo had instead stuffed he back in the lab...were she was more needed since she was was on the cusp of solving the energy crisis that plagued them all.

The scheduled was strict, waking time was at five and they were force to function until Elpizo was satisfied. He ran drill after drills...and they were rumors that some reploids had broken down during a morning run in the desert.

Most were now starting to regret their decisions to make Elpizo the high commander in chief...realizing that the civil-build was greedy for power and revenge. Unfortunately for them, the few that truly shared Elpizo's view were strong arming anyone they suspected were against they Fuehrer…

And no one could fight against the expert fencer. Only Draupadi could teach him a good lesson.

It was Coucou who managed to stick the name onto they rabid retriever's back. It fit him like a glove.

Speaking of which, there he was, once again inspecting all of the reploids he had forced to join in his effort to topple Neo-Arcadia...now with both X and Draupadi at it's helm.

'Oh Lord Sri-Sri Rahda-Krishna...please, I want to go with Draupadi again...I want to leave this place.'

"well, well, well." The oily voice of Elpizo intruded in Alouette's prayer, and the little reploid froze.

She had slackened her pose...and even is she now stood straight, she knew what was coming.

It was not her fault, he batteries were had a terrible capacity...and she was running low.

The riding crop ripped across her face four time, by the fifth one, she fell in the scorching mid day sand.

She needed to recharge...but being useless in the eye of the commander, she would received but mere scraps and broken e-crystal.

"What a useless reploid you are..." Elpizo gave a nasty sneer. "Too small to hold a gun properly, too weak to hold a blade...you would work great for infiltration tough." he hummed as he roughly nudged the little girl with his pristine boots. "But...we simply do not have the resources to...efficiently train you." He sighed. "Alas...another dud...just return to you storage area A-13, and don;t come back for a drill, we do not entertain lost causes here."

She got of from the desert ground...she wanted to cry...she wanted Draupadi…

'Oh Draupadi...why did you leave...what have we done to lose you association?" The sorrowful reploid thought as she picked herself up from the ground, limping as fast as she could back to her room.

Ciel...poor Ciel had managed to convinced Elpizo to let Alouette keep Draupadi's room, now a sanctuary for the reploids eager for the shelter of the Lord...or just wanting relief from their Princess's hourly blasphemy. Alouette's old room having being taken over by more servers, since Ciel wanted to expand their network.

Alouette opened the door, not looking at the raunchy graffiti defiling her Heroine and all but collapsed in the room...now expanded to accommodate a small altar hidden behind a wall of fake servers, really, just a bunch of flashing light and an RF generator made to imitate the usual radiation and heat one would expect from so many machines in such a small room.

It fooled everyone.

"Alouette!" Hibou quietly exclaimed as he rushed to the smallest reploid on the base. He picked her up and deposited the smallest android on her cot and plugged her to the converter… Thanking Krishna for Draupadi's generous donation of E-Crystal.

Eventually, Alouette booted…

"Miss Alouette?" Hibou asked quietly. "What happened this time?" It was well known that Elipzo would gleefully bully anyone who he saw as useless and inferior.

The little blonde opened her eyes, and grabbed Socrates… "He...he made us stand in attention for four hours..." Her legs were giving her error messages...her nanite confused about how to deal with the perceived damage. "I got too hot...and...I almost ran out of energy..." She spoke.

Hibou let out a growl. "Damn that Pisser, damn him to the lowest pit of hell." The usually jovial and kind reploid cursed. "He knows your energy up-taker's shot, and your battery life's abysmal! What...why? Just why?"

Alouette closed her eyes, and consulted the sacred filed she bore, Draupadi's parting gift. And then came with a good answer.

"I did this to him in one of my previous life." she explained. "Sure, It's painful for my body, but that's justice happening."

"JU-" Hibou caught himself, returning his voice to a harsh whisper. "Justice?! How do you call torturing an innocent justice?!"

"We all have a past...I did something to this soul...the same thing to this soul in the pass, and now, I'm reaping the result. But don't worry, I'm fine!" Alouette assured the heavy set reploid. The poor man looked to be about to cry.

"You may be 'fine'...But I can't stand what he's doing to you..." He got up.

"Hibou! Wait!" The girl in pink managed to catch Hibou sleeves. "Please! don't try anything stupid! Just let him be!" She begged from her bed.

"I'm not doing anything stupid!" Hibou snapped. "Egret took over the entire resistance, he executed those who where suffering from desperation, forces Ciel into slavery and now..." He clenched his fist. "Now...he's torturing you!" he raised his red eyes. "We can't lose you Alouette! You...you're our only link to Draupadi and God!"

Alouette remained silent. It was true, she had also tried to upload the files in Andrews and Cardinal's system, but it seemed the files were encrypted in such a way that only Draupadi and Alouette (for some obscure reason) could read it.

It would not be such a big deal if Draupadi would have come back and killed Egret and remained at the resistance...but now with X being alive and...better, The Legendary hero of Old had chosen to remain in Neo-Arcadia to keep him safe…

Alouette had at first felt angry at Draupadi, but after chanting for a little bit and Asking God why, she got her answer

Draupadi's duty was with X, her dearest person, and to bring X in the resistance base was the same as putting her blade to his neck. And while she could retire all of those who wanted X dead…

No...The result would be even worst then what was happening at the moment. Draupadi was not meant to remain in a small settlement of reploids, her ultimate mission required her to be in Neo-Arcadia.

"Hibou...You can't kill Egret. Your not made for fighting." She told the rotund reploid, quite an interesting Model for sure.

The 'fat' reploid puffed his cheeks unhappily. "I can always try!" he groused.

"Trying implies that you may fail, and if you fail, Egret will come to know of our groups, and once this happen..." One could not speak of Radha-Krishna and Prabhupada without a mantion of Draupadi...and even if the Hare-Krishna reploid could hid the fact that their founder was none other then The Betrayer…

"We can't run this risk Hibou...Draupadi's first order is to spread the holy names and the teaching's of Krishna and Prabhupada. If...If we get caught, then Egret will kill us all."

"Just because Draupadi-Zero left to Get X off our back..." Hibou sat back down beside Alouette. "By the way...did she replied to you? She contacted you two days ago, right?"

Alouette nodded, and then shook her head, Clutching Socrates to her quivering chest. once again, concern for Draupadi's well being nibbled at her mind.

The little reploid had woken up alone, the entire base in turmoil over the saint's sudden departure...Egret, being the terrible reploid he was, had taken this opportunity to defame Zero, Exposing her as X's illicit lover and…

plenty other words a little reploid like her shouldn't hear...not that Alouette wanted her heroine get destroyed by an upstart.

Alouette had tried to contact Draupadi many time after that, She was mad at the legend for having hacked her into sleep mode...and leave her and the rest of the base.

Then Draupadi contact her back three days after, telling her friend that she was fine and that her mission was well under and couldn't wait to Bring X back to the resistance to have Cerveau work on him…

This plan had changed the moment she had heard of Egret's mutiny…

Still Saintly Draupadi had been trilled to hear about Coucou, Paon, Andrew, Cardinal, Hibou and quite a few more were interested in the path of Bhakti, and even more so when the majority of the elves were chanting.

And then...radio silence once more, and Egret became even worst now that he had loyal followers.

'Draupadi told me she would contact me soon...it's almost three days now.' And knowing that she was in enemy territory didn't do anything to ease her worry. Even if X was supposedly better now.

Alouette closed her eyes and began to pray. Without Draupadi, she only had Krishna left.


Back in Neo-Arcadia, In X's seldom used room, in his bed, most precisely, one would easily excuse the scene for something else.

Draupadi was on her back, bolstered on a pile of opulent pillows while she cradle X in her arms and legs, his face was hidden from view in her golden heat sink. His whole body shook as if from the cold.

"...Sorry." X mumbled in the crook of Draupadi's neck as he laid on top of her, he was back in his ceremonial cloak, the only thing missing was his Data crown, something the Vaishnavi was extremely opposed of.

"It's alright Echo." The blonde whispered as she gently and lovingly caressed X's back, rubbing comforting circles as she tried to chase away his panic attack. The other one, the one missing a thumb, massaging his short hair.

"I don't know what came over me I...I'm not like that usually." he held his wife tighter. As his body trembled uncontrollably.

The reason for this pathetic scene was rather simple. Despite Draupadi's demands, The humans council and the eight 'gentle' judge had requested Master X's presence in the assembly, strongly hinting that he should return to his server-throne in order to prevent some sort of hinted at disaster that must not even be real.

Seriously, they had nothing better then the treat of the maddened yet seldom seen ellipse and her clones, the Baby elves.

Oh, and the energy crisis...something easily debunked by a simple search about how E-crystals were manufactured.

Those were sun and heat reactive stones that had the amazing ability to store an energy. And once depleted, they would be spat out and put in the sunshine again.

No, Reploids had no such thing as saliva saved those who wanted. And...it was the only way not to suck upp too much gift from the overwrought mother Bhumi.

Draupadi had been about to remind them all that she was viral ans that she held the faith of Neo-Arcadia in her palms and could easily turn the entire city-scape maverick at a mere thought. but her husband had told her that no...it was his duty to the humans...and the reploids.

After a short argument...X had prevailed and made his way to the main council hall.

She had followed him to this big room trial room, her husband was standing at the bottom of the pit.

The entire image had sickened her to no end. And not,t he fact that she was shackled and surrounded by the four guardians as if she would be tried herself had nothing to do with it.

She had let them decorate her body with those fancy electronic cuffs, they would give her some more trouble then most electronic locks, but not by much. And, from what she had observed, three out of four guardians were actually favorable to her. Especially Leviathan who had given the Vaishnavi her full support...and thinly veiled flirting.

But those three were not the reason why she had been infuriatingly serene when surrounded by numerous pantheons and golems. She knew Krishna would protect her no matter what.

The overly inflated councils had piled X with ludicrous accusation of consorting with the enemy (Hah!) and trying to sabotage the beautiful and clean Utopia that was Neo-arcadia by letting a viral reploid alive. Reminding him that all maverick had to be decommissioned...as X had desired.

It was...pitifully funny to her. For she had the feeling that the council men were making all of those allegation up...and yet somehow being more right then wrong. Expect the last part, she had a feeling her hubby had been coerced...and would believe that until proven wrong.

X had always desired to see if maverick could be talked to, cured or...reprogramed. Unfortunatly, Draupadi now knew that mavericism was basicly of reploids hitting the limit of how much abuse they could tolerate.

And The zero virus removing whatever morality and sense-control they had.

Then the Gentle Judge ruled that X had to destroy Zero for good and her parts taken for analysis. Obliviously to mass produce her frame for the next line of pantheons.

Sure, those puppet could be extremely deadly when pitted against the civil build. But for facing an actual, battle grade reploid desperate enough to ignore their moral code and commit suicide by hunters, it was exactly the same as chucking paper dolls at a pressure washer.

Then...as she was ruminating how she could possess one of those fancy new pantheons. X had done something Draupadi never expected him to do…

He got mad...at humans.

As in...She never saw him so wrathful before. Like, biblicaly wrathful.

Needless to say, the sight of X in full seraph mode, his six wings fully flare as he floated above the demoniac council like Garuda over a pit of snakes was a sight Draupadi would never forget.

And it was just to protect her...someone who was, by definition, a criminal.

While she didn't consider herself a servant of the Lord, she was sure Krishna would bestow his causeless mercy upon this particular soul.

The dressing down he had then given them all reminded Draupadi of the time when X would train the cadets. Especially when it came to bring down a few inflated Ego.

Oh, and the absolute verbal barrage he had given Sigma when he finally managed to delete this poor souls false Ego with...with…

Yes, so her memory was still a bit corrupted. For all Draupadi knew, this had been an amazing dream.

X didn't let anyone have a word edge wise, and by the end of it, it was clear that those human would be offered a fully payed retirement...as long as the didn't dare to try and take control of him ever again and let him and Neo-Arcadia be. while the eight gentle judge were requested to have their system scanned for tempering since their was no way they would've willingly let X sabotage his hard work.

By the end of It, the Ruler of Neo-Arcadia landed, scooped up his wife from the custody of his guardians and stalked like a maddened lion to his inner chamber repleted with a single bed, a closet, a memorial for Zero (complete with her old saber, her favorite mug and X's favorite picture.) and nothing else.

There, in the safety of his room, X collapsed...seemingly in pain.

After running a quick diagnosis, it was revealed that X's hardware and software were all in the green...he was just differing from a panic attack.

A major panic attack.

It took some time for Draupadi to clam him down, using a combination of the Maha-mantra and soothing touch for him to calm down. Leading him to his single, practically untouched yet freshly made bed.

Thank God it was not dusty...or worst.

Their they had laid in each-other's arms, waiting for the last of the storm to pass. And instead of cursing Mister light for the torture he had inflicted on his spotless son, Draupadi recited her Japa, knowing that the divine sound vibration would further sooth X from his pavlovien reaction.

It was not something new to them. While Zero had 'his' scares, X had the pain chip. And every time he would even desire to go against a human or bend doctor light's rigid moral code, even for some logical reason as Reploid right, or even for saving another human...he would feel pain.

No, not mental pain, he didn't need help with that. But physical pain.

Doctor light had let this one son keep his complete free will, but it seemed the 'good' doctor had some second thought, and gave his greatest creation a shock collar instead.

"Echo… You're just at the end of you saintly patience." Draupadi scoffed. "They had it coming, for a long time now." She gently laid a kiss on his head. "You just got mad, That's all."

X let out a shaky sigh as he tried to fuse with his wife via Osmosis. "I almost killed them...there was nothing to stop me."

"I was there."

"you were surrounded...and cuffed."

"Big deal."

"And you don't have your saber anymore."

Draupadi huffed. "Still have other weapons Xiu Ying."

"Yeah...like your virus." He sighed. "Maybe...Maybe you should've act of you primary directive and-"

"Hey! don't say that." Draupadi gently snapped. "X, it's in the past, we can only move forwards."

X let out a sigh. "yes...Move forward." He finally got up from his wife. He still look drawn, but the centennial Vaishnavi could perceive a glint of hope daring to nestle in Her hubbie's lenses. "So...you...what are you looking forward to, Zaki?" He asked with a weak yet genuine smile.

"I look forward to contacting Alouette… " Draupadi spoke with some concern, she was aware that a mutiny was happening at the resistance base, led by…

What's his face...that bleached blonde...the creep who was a bit too obsessed with Cyber-elves…

Right...Egret.

'Nah...I'm calling him Bakasura.'

"I thought you already did." X asked as he rested his hands of Draupadi's knee's, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Yeah… .five days ago. " And counting. "I think...I think she may still be mad at me for staying in Neo-Arcadia and not returning to base." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe...Maybe I should've just...no...I had no strength to walk out the medical bay." She sighed.

Really...the Lord of the Universe wanted Draupadi here. And his latest instrument had no say in it.

"Hey...It's alright Zero." X squeezed her knee, his bright green eyes overflowing with love. " Just give me the word and I can send Phantom check up on her."

Draupadi smiled, she still felt worry, but she knew she did her best...It was all in Krishna's hands now.

"Yeah...make sure no one notice him tough. Just have him scout first and...do you think he could deliver a message?"

X smiled as he contact his right hand man. "Yes, once your ready, he will personally infiltrate the base and deliver it. I just need to know how she look like."

Draupadi wordlessly send her husband a picture of Alouette via wireless communication...and her apology. And e reminder of the code for the Neo-Arcadian relay point. "And if she's still chanting hare Krishna, then Have Phantom extract her as soon as possible...and with anyone who're still favorable to me."

"Alright, consider it done."

"Thank Echo..." She fell silent.

"And...after Alouette is rescued, what are you plans and...how can I help you?" X asked, his hands never leaving his beloved Draupadi's knees.

Draupadi owlishly stared at him.

"What?"

"I just came back from the dead, went against your expectation, ripped you're body apart and broke the pain chip and you still..." She gesticulated before giving up on this wasteful human habit. "...It's the Mantra, isn't it?"

X just smiled back to his wife. It was good to see after so many years of wars, even his eyes had regained some of their shines.

Draupadi grinned. "I'm glad your back Echo."

" Same here." He grinned back, his gazed never leaving the supine form of beautiful Draupadi.

"So...what can I do to help you spread this amazing Mantra to the mass?" he asked with en enthusiasm she hadn't seen in centuries.

"I need a computer, one with a reploid friendly key-board. I have a few petabyte worth of holy scriptures to get out manually. I would also need some human cloths."

like a long skirt...or a sari, preferably.

"Alright… But why can't you just upload them like I do?" Her husband asked, his face carefully neutral save for a small upturn of his lips.

She sighed. "I need to type it out…" it took the great Acharia to type seventy books around...eleven years. And he did not finished the herculean task, his disciples had to pick up the torch.

Draupadi had 376 more books to write, classes to render into manuscript and…

she would not be able to rebirth the ancient recordings of sacred songs...and the transcendental art…

Maybe Alouette could trace them? She was an exceptional artist.

"And why would that be?" X asked with a growing smile.

She made a face. "No computer seem to be able to read them, it seemed their stint in Uranet made them unreadable." She huffed.

She heard her husband chuckle. "So, you'll be back at writing reports on a keyboard then."

Draupadi stared at the face of her beloved X. "What do you mean?"

"I never had to write a report in my life since I would just upload the TXT. File directly to Alia. You, on the other hand, had to write everything down since your codding language is incompatible with everything else." Once again, X's goofy smile never left his face.

As were his tears.

"X.."

"I'm fine I just..." He wipped away his tears. "You're back...you truly are back." He cleared his airway of the extra fluid that was flowing there. "Ah...Anyway, can you please teach me what's Bhakti-Yoga?"

Draupadi looked deeply into the emerald green eyes of her husband and the one she loves in this life time.

X gently approached his dear Draupadi and touched Gem. "Zaki...I've been trough and seen all that this world could give...and I...I'm tired of it." He let out a gusty sighed. "I've tried to make my people happy...but I only ended up causing more trouble for everyone." he raised his eyes, green meeting violet. "please, teach me...teach me how to practice it. How to Practice Bhakti-Yoga." He laughed. " your so Happy Zero, I can barely recognize you." He caressed he cheek. "You're practically another person."

Draupadi averted her eyes. "I know...I changed. It's like I'm...another person entirely" She doubted her old self, Maverick hunter Zero, would even tolerate her presence.

X reached to her face and gently lifted her head do that their eyes could meet.

Once again, tears flowed form his eyes. 'He Bhagavan...I hope his tear-duct didn't glitch.'

"yes and I...I think I'm falling in love with Draupadi-Zero even faster then with your previous version." X sighed as he gently caressed her flawless cheeks, making his beloved Blush.

He gasped.

"Yes...so I finally turned the blush option on." Draupadi blushed harder.

"your so cute..."

"Oh shut it...it's just material."

"It's still cute."

"It's just a mask covering wires, cogs and a metallic skull...there's nothing pretty and attractive about it."

As a mild rebuke, X kissed her warm cheeks….and her lips.

" Yes, but the person inside makes it all beautiful." he spoke sweetly, kissing her again. "So...what can you tell me about Bhakti-Yoga? How do you practice it and...Can I practice it?" X returned to the main subject. And once again, Draupadi marveled at his curiosity and natural enthusiasm.

It was just like in the beginning of their relationship.

A smile shone on her pretty features. "So Bhakti-Yoga. Yoga means to Link up with God, Krishna .This ancient art used to be practice for self-realization and the ultimate elevation of the purified soul back home, Back to Godhead." She began, letting he sacred teaching flow from her voice box. "Self-realization mean to stop identifying with the body we are in, but as the eternal, ever conscious spirit soul and servant of God, Krishna."

"Yes...I see." X nodded, his full attention on his wife's words. "I'm not this body...I'm the soul, the source of consciousness." the way he said it, it was clear it was realized knowledge.

Zero raised a brow. "You already realized that?"

"Zaki, I could feel myself floating above my body after...After Ellipse burned it to ashes..." X revealed.

"I thought you said-"

"That it was for humans only, I know!" Some of X's frustration and anger at himself shone trough. "I tought...I thought is was yet another overly human thing doctor Light gave me." he huffed. "But...if what you said is true..." Haunted green eyes met the lively violet. "Zaki...how did we ended like this?" he finally asked.

" Karma." She explained. "Basically, we did something in the past that got us in those particular types of body. And by acting a certain way, we will get ourselves yet another body. Either animals, plant, supernatural or, if we are extremely fortunate, Human. Being in an android body is...well, a very special Karma."

"So...you don't know."

Draupadi shrugged. "No...I don't know how I, you, or any other reploid came to be. And I don't care to know either." she crossed her arm. " We've fallen from the spiritual platform to the material platform, and now we need to get back up again. And personally, I don't have the time nor the head to look into the 'why' and 'how' of this particular glitch."

"And let me guess, we can get out of this situation by Chanting the Hare-Krishna Mantra." X deduced with a smile.

"You're right." she confirmed. "kaler doṣa-nidhe rājan, asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ, kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya, mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet." She quoted a well known verse – to her – of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. " My dear King, although Kali-yuga is full of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom." S.B, 12.3.51."

How...when was the last time she quoted scripture?

X brought her hand to his heart. "...can we chant it now?"

Draupadi looked deeply at her husbands glorious green eyes, now glowing with spark of Krishna-Bhakti. The she sat up, swung her legs off the side of the bed and got up, dragging X with her. "Later, I want to start writing as soon as possible." She went to the door, more then ready to start her true mission when she froze.

"Zaki? What's wrong?" X asked, clearly nervous.

For her part, Draupadi was busy staring at the reflection...her Kevlar vest was gone, exposing her two Data-crystals to all.

In other words…

"X...can you lend me some cloth?" she asked with a blush as she body-consciously covered her breasts.


"I don't like it."Harpuia groused for the…He'd lost count. The green general of the brave sky didn't like the situation, it was not something that should be allowed but it was!

Zero, the traitorous bitch...she had not left His glorious master side for five days, 22 hour, 3, minutes and 48 second. She had corrupted his drive with 'the code', rendering The lord and master of Neo-Arcadia as a raving lunatic, then she tricked him with her so called act of martyrdom. then she had the galls to infect computer right in front of their eyes with the maverick virus...she had even turned X against them then..

Oh...she could not be consider a woman with the gauge of cable coiled in he innards. And definitely not X's so called wife.

X was pure...he would never...no...Zero was the filthiest Glitch of them all, and his Master would never let the first maverick get in his system.

And yet...after the dress down it had given the guardien...it had broken in Master X holy hardware and...damaged it…

Harpuia, fuming like a volcano about to erupt, bumped into one of Fefnir's potted fern, sending the rare and valuable plant careening to the ground. But not about to lose his prized specimen, the fire based general dived in and saved it in extremist.

"Yo! Har! For the love of Master X can you please chill the rust out?"Fefnir scold as he put the potted fern back into it's rightful place, checking her over to see if his green co-unit caused any damage to the equally green plant. "I get you, your mad 'cus Draupadi-Zero back in X life after what she did. I get it, I totally get it man. And you didn't need to report to me all the wrong she did, I was there, I saw it, and I was there when Phantom briefed us about the whole glitchy Pain chip debacle and how Draupadi-Zero saved Master X hide –Again-" The apron wearing redhead rolled his eyes. As if he was unbothered and unconcern about the upcoming calamity.

"How do you know it doesn't want to destroy us all internally. For all we know-" Harpuia began, only to be interupted by his slower brother-unit.

Fefnir sighed."For all I know, Master X's as happy as a pig, a bit nervous but definitely happy and madly in love." Fefnir grin as she chuckled. "Can't you fell it Har?"

Harpuia rolled his eyes as he leaned onto one of the numerous fine covered columned of Fefnir's green domain. Yes, he could feel it...but he didn't want to trust it. And he hated it...

"Har!" Gardening Fefnir yelped. "What did I told you about crushing my jasmine creeper!"

Once again, Harpuia rolled his eyes without moving, he was not on Fefnir's precious plant, he had situated himself between a gap, letting the stone like pillar support him.

Fefnir sighed again as he went to grab his ancient (vintage) glass mister."you don't like her, fine. But you have to admit, Draupadi-Zero being in Neo-arcadia's a real good deal for us."

"Oh, really? Care to explain?" Harpuia sneered.

"She's sold out to X, she would cut her throat for him." Fefnir mimed.

"Fefnir, just shut up. Your only saying this because you ow it-"

"her"

"a life dept."

Fefnir snorted as he move tot he Bougi to his roses. "Life dept or not, I'm glad she's around. Virus or not." a soft smile lighting his face. "She a good fighter, dedicated to master X...and uber cute to booth." he chuckled. "yeah...master X is a lucky man Har...I'll count myself fortunate if I could have some scrap from his love feast."

"Or course you would. Traitor." Harpuia hissed.

Were they not the four pillars of Neo-Arcadia, Harpuia would readily kill them all. For all had been infected with 'affection' for Draupadi.

"Dude, keep your bad blood outa my domain, my babies can only take so much bad vibes." Fefnir turned to his green co-unit. "I can hear them cry...you made my plants cry, bro."

His fire based brother had a very green thumb and could revive whatever seed and root cultivar the explorers would bring him back...years ago. And he would do so with love, dedication and a care only a mother could show to a new born.

It was sickening...For the green general knew that Fefnir's hard work meant nothing without steady rain. And the forest of dysis did not need his help at all since it was but a mere fancy carbon scrubber made to look like pre-war greenery.

All those plants he grew, those food bearing , the grains and high yield pulse fed the humans, his flowers decorated the walls and streets of Neo-Arcadia, their faint scents intoxicating their inhabitant with the false hope that eventually, they would all be out of the Eden dome.

But they all knew it was for naught...no progress had been made to regrow the boreal and amazonian forest. What to say of the prairies, the sekoya forest, the Rockies and the rest of the world?

No...Neo-Arcadia was the last bastion of humanity, the last cradle and it's grave.

It was just a matter of time for things to fail...now that maverick Zero had dug it's claws deep in his heart. Already Harpuia had witnessed the damage she had already brought to the saintly and pure Father of All Reploids.

X, the kind, patient, and serene emperor of Neo-Arcadia had flown in a rage and had been this close to attacking humans…

he had pulled his weapons on them...and had threatened the humans council wit death were they to return here and try to control him. And this wrath had been triggered at the absolute logical suggestion of Killing the source of all mavericks.

Master X was the most powerful being in the world, a God in his own right. And now...a so called woman, the walking apocalypse held the leash.

"Oh yeah...I'm so glad those rusted Cogs got ousted." Fefnir spoke with a toothy grin. Breaking Harpuia out of his dark ruminations. "Finally got to see Master as angry as he should be with the clowns."

Harpuia stared Aghast at his red counter part.

"You spoke aloud again. And come on, those humans have no idea what it's like to be a reploid so how dare they try to put laws for us." he huffed, putting down his mister. " Sure, were met to serve them...but let's be honest, were just slave to those squishes. "

Harpuia narrowed his eyes. Once again, a traitor was in front of him, probably seduced by Zero.

He would not fall for it. Harpuia knew better then follow a fake woman around as if she was a bitch in heat.

Suddenly, Harpuia's audio's caught the devil itself and their saintly king's conversation. It seemed the plague Master and finally deigned to release its spotless prey from it's clawed grip.

"So that's how we got married." He heard what was probably the tail od of Master X side, the 'm' word almost causing the leader of the brave sky to purge.

"Yes...I still can't believe that an old garland maker was still...oh that Rascal!" Zero gasped, then bust into laughter.

"What? What happened?"

"Xiu...this was not a just garland maker living in the abandoned temple ...it was Him!"

"Him? No...why would God even do that?"

"Only he knows."

Harpuia sneered at the conversation, sickened by how easy it was for Zero to trap everyone in webs of lies.

X and his corrupter resumed their conversation. " That would explained why those garlands were still fragrant and fresh after fifty years...and it would also explained how this person managed to make garlands of Marigold in a concrete waste land."

"That's Ksir-Chora-Gopinath for you." Zero fondly chuckled, and Harpuia did his best not to find the sound intoxicating and sweet.

The world around him was burning, Leviathan and Fefnir had fallen pray to the glitch's spell, and thus were of no use in saving their Majesty.

And no, Harpuia didn't trust Phantom at all, for he had also shown signs of attraction to the trojan. To it's ever exposed feet.

It must've known of the Assassin's fatal flaw...otherwise, why would they have walked in without any feet protection?

Nevertheless, He would save his master...no mater what.

The sound of laughter and irregular foot-step reached his audio. It was clear it was 'playfully' shovign the master of Neo-Arcadia as they walked down the hall, they're carefree laughter a bitter-sweet song to his ears.

"Dang...Master X is floating. Like...Is it even legal to be this happy?" Fefnir ask as he removed his apron and went to the door of his domain, opening it. "I want to see it…hey!" He yelped as his green co-unit shoved his aside.

Yes….Harpuia wanted to see it too, just to satisfy his morbid curiosity.

As he exited the green room, the green general entered the whitish blue marble corridor to a sight that made him burn.

Walking with an arm around X fragile waist, wearing his holy garb and leaving his Master devoid of covering. Zero glowed with joy. It's hairs were braided and Master X's oh so sacred buster arm was slung over it's shoulder.

They looked happy, lost each other's eyes...Unaware of the world around them.

It sickened him.


"So, where are you going?" Leviathan asked as she leaned onto her spear. She was cleansed of all dust, and she glowed with joy.

"I'm going to scout the resictance base, Draupadi is worried about the safety of some friends." Phantom spoke to his blue co-unit. A slight smile playing on his lips.

He had felt Master X's unending pain, his limitless sorrow and his powerful desire to die and yet the order that prevented him to act on it.

He had been there when Master X had made his plans, unable to stop him, for he also shared his desire for deletion.

Would the plan have work...and would Draupadi-Zero defeated Phantom as it was intended…

Master X would not have been alone.

Thankfully, with his...her returned memory, the red legend had destroyed that plan and...restored master X.

years of fighting, of loses and slavery had corrupted Master X heart. His red eyes had been a cry for help, and his culling order a plea for salvation…

It had worked...better then anticipated.

The red Ripper had healed him...Phantom, even after years of research about Zero and where their would be savior was hidden, hadn't found anything about the Red Ripper's healing powers. He was aware of the virus, and the fact that Zero could repair himself from any state of destruction if enough of the plague was around but other wise, this amazing self-repair only applied to him…

right?

Never the less… no mater what or who she was, Draupadi-Zero had taken care of Master X. even going as far as removing the pain chip, a major player in X's slow and methodical descent onto madness. And now, with this gone, his master was finally free.

And with this freedom...came a flood of bliss that would sometime make the serious one of the elite spontaneously burst into song...usually the Hare Krishna song.

Really, Phantom never knew he could feel something other then his master's despair and apathy over everything.

This morning events replayed in his internal player, to see Master X back lighted by the glorious sun as he reestablished himself as the authority ruling over Neo-Arcadia had been both aw inducing and a relief to the assassins.

He knew that those at the head of the human government were but a bunch of thieve holding too much power. And he knew all of them had their own agendas. But Phantom could not act without the sanction of his master.

Really, while X had enacted the reploid culling orders, it was the human councils that had hinted and even demanded that the synth be ousted from Neo-Arcadia. Citing how they had nothing to offer short of cheap labor…

They...sadly were not wrong. Neo-Arcadia was filled with two type of inhabitant, those who could reproduce and repopulate, and those who didn't.

The reploids were unneeded, they simply took the space and resources that should be allotted to humans so that they could expand and raise their young to eventually repopulate the planet.

The humans demands were...logical. Reploids were but machines, and only those equipped to do jobs humans couldn't and wouldn't would be kept around. The others would be humanly shorted.

Of course, Phantom was aware that the human part of shorted had been dropped by Harpuia and his dog.

For him, the act of following master X's order went above even the morality he was supposed to follow, and he had cited that those reploids were just machines with very good A.I. they were practically animals. And nobody made a fuss over slaughtered beast, especial if it meant the alpha specie could survive.

It had sickened Phantom...but he chose to remain silent, for he knew his words were weak and whatever actions he could perform to rectify this wrong would never have the intended result.

He was the quiet one, the one who listened and scrutinize. And the one who suffered in silence.

He knew it was wrong...and he knew Reploids had more with humans then animals...and even that felt wrong.

Human, Animals, reploids...even plants and insect had consciousness and emotions. Humans had the most, and reploids could show an amazing amount of empathy and affection to others. Same with animals. And Phantom had once befriended a moth…

that moth would always follow him, landing on the back of his head and staying there for hours. And, call him Crazy, but he had the feeling the insect had some emphati for him…

Nevertheless, the Assassin of the group was more aware of the world then most, even of those who lingered after death.

No machines, no Mechaniloid could leave a ghost behind...but reploids did.

Animals did too...

"Youshou." phantom addressed Leviathan as he finished his preparation for the long trek to the resistance base, willing to move away from those very grim thought. " What do you think about Draupadi-Zero?" He asked as he inspected his features. He had turned of the red LED in his eyes, making them dark blue instead and wore a red wig. A pair of fake breasts and the generic resistance outfit finished the look.

Oh, he could have used a jutsu...but Reploids eyes could see trough those illusions.

Leviathan sighed. "X is the luckiest man of the planet, I'm telling you." She spoke as she leaned onto her ever present spear. "She's hot, loving, sweet, dedicated and…" she sighed again. " Phan-phan...This...what I'm feeling for her. Is this what I feel or what master X feel?"

"Do you think her as a treat?" he asked, using this as an opportunity to calibrate his voice box so that it matched his target tones. "And does it really mater whether if it's you or our master who feels like this about his wife?"

Once again, leviathan gave a sigh. "No...And no, Di-Zi has nothing to hide, and as long as we don't look at master X the wrong way, she won't even bother. She's actually more interest in chanting the Hare-Krishna code and spread it to all."

"I see...and this code-"

"Master X is reciting it...and every time he does, He becomes happier. Especially if his Di-Zi's around."

Phantom could empathize…

Nevertheless, this was not for him. He knew his duty and his boundaries. He would rather his master be flooded with this very special bliss then he.

"Alright, I'm ready to leave." He turned to leviathan. "You watch over Master X and Draupadi-Zero while I'm out."

"Sir yes sir." Leviathan gave a lazy Salute, still floating on a cloud made of Master X unbridled affection for Draupadi-Zero.

It was as if the Blonde carrier of the Virus also held X's life. And with her back, his life returned.

'But what are her ultimate goal.' Phantom wondered in the privacy of his mind. 'the red ripper can't possibly settle for a life a simple house wife, can't she? And this mantra she chanted, the marks on her body…' There was also the fact that she had managed to find the damn pain chip while crashed.

No, Draupadi-Zero had not been conscious at all during this nerve racking event. All of her light were off, and he could feel no power coursing trough her powerful legs.

Oh, Phantom knew how to power trough the terrible pain and and his master were subjected to at the mere thought of disobedience to so called humans. A boon when it came to protect his dear master. It also meant that he was privy to thing most could not see. Like Draupadi-Zero being controlled by something bigger then...bigger then Mother-Elf at her sanest.

He got onto his land rider, his destination; a small bunker in the most insignificant sand dune. It would take him four days of constant driving before he could reach the designated spot. There, he would contact Cardinal and Alouette, and were she still Loyal to Neo-Arcadia, extract her and whomever Draupadi-Zero desired.

For she was the queen, and unless and until her act would put Neo-Arcadia and Master X in true danger, then he would serve her.

But the Shinobi, simply knew, from his extensive perusal of ancient records that Draupadi-Zero would rather die then bring X to harms way.

In Phantom's opinion, Zero was the true guardien of master X. For him, it was clear...and even the ghost of her past confirmed it.

Here walking bare-footed, exposing the vital and delicate construct to all in the tower had nothing to do with it...no at all.

Leaving this distracting thought behind, Hidden Phantom drove out of the garage, hopping that Cardinal's radio silence was not the symptom of something more sinister.