Karuna-Virus 20.
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Phantom's flat, as it turned out, had more in common with a traditional house than anything else.
Tatami covered the ground (of course) and the walls were the traditional two tones affairs with pseudo-wood and plaster. There was one master bedroom with a queen size futon, a dress and a decent closet filled with clothes and ornaments for Max and Draupadi... Mostly Draupadi.
Down the hall was a study with a computer set up and decorated with a few plants and things that, to X's siblings, were Indian enough to please their illicit lovers...
It was... sweet of them. And one had even managed to find one of the last remaining prints of Radha-Krishna...
It was from Gita-Govinda... and it was definitely painted by someone in search of some quick cash.
Still... the effort was there.
There was a bathroom, like an actual japanese bathroom with a deep square tub and a shower. It was big enough to easily wash one's clothes in, there was even a place to hang them to dry.
Sure, there was a washer, the one who would reuse the gray water.
But reusing gray water meant that those clothes were still moochi, or dirty, and this was unacceptable for serving her master.
Besides, Draupadi missed the simple act of washing laundry by hand.
There was a kitchen, and, thankfully, Phantom had already filled it with whatever a pair of ancient Robo-Master would need. Despite this, Draupadi had spied a grocery store on the way there, and from the look of it, the vegetables were fairly priced.
One thing she had learned was how not to haggle, for while she would buy overpriced items, it also meant that the store owners would be more inclined to give her premium items.
Being in a more human neighborhood, the surrounding areas were nice, lawns were manicured and quite a few parks were about.
It was... tranquil, and people could grow their own food.
But a scant few streets over, where another park was... it was where the unfortunate, those who were down on their luck would live. There, Draupadi knew she would be heard... and that Krishna would be welcomed.
Or so she hoped. Once again, in this most fallen age, not many were willing to surrender to God, admitting that they could not keep going like this. They were proud of their meagre material achievement, willingly exposing them as a means to attain some transient fame and adoration from a handful of ignorant fools no better than animals.
Their only goal was pleasure... but pleasure was a very fickle beast.
Those who would look for her actively, Pleasure would make herself scarce, and instead her sisters, anxiety and dissatisfaction, would take over.
But for those who didn't look for pleasure, pleasure would be in their lap constantly. The self-satisfied were happy with whatever faith had arranged for them. Whether they lived in a palace or on the side of the road, they asked for nothing, and yet were not in want at all.
They were satisfied... they were at peace.
But of those self-satisfied, those Atmarama, those who were attracted to hear the Narrations of Sri-Krishna's pastimes and activities were the best. For they desired for Krishna's pleasure... and even the greatest of Atmarama, having realised his oneness with the Brahman effulgence had broken his trance at the mere echo of a single verse of the Bhagavatam.
Still... In Neo-Arcadia Draupadi was well aware that no one was taught how to be satisfied with what providence gave you, everyone was taught at a young age to alway get the best, get more, never settle and get more, and more and more... since you only had one life to live. leading to over consumerism and an ocean that was more plastic than water in some places.
'Ah, bunch of idiots.' Drapadi sneered as she dropped her groceries on the countertop of her new kitchen. It was not huge, but it was not small either.
She had stayed in Phantom's second apartment for two days now, and she had to admit, her mood and morale had drastically improved.
She couldn't feel the oppressive signal sent out by the hell tower. Something that, (aha-ha) would drive reploids crazy... save the original Light build.
in theory.
Draupadi didn't even want to dig there, she had her duty to perform towards her Guru and Gauranga and it was not not yet another little piece of dramaturgic puke that would stop her.
Let Krishna take care of whatever was happening in the background. It was not her duty anymore,and as long as it was not affecting her ability to preach, her books and X, then the Robotic Vaishnavi would not even lift a finger.
'Speaking of finger's, I can't believe I've found Bindis at the market." Draupadi thought as she surveyed her ingredient, an easy smile stretching her lips.
They, her and Max (X cared about being X as much as Draupadi cared about being Zero. Both were past the point of caring about their cursed identity and were more than willing to move on. (which reminded Draupadi that she had yet to broach the Initiation subject with her husband... another hot topic considering her awkward situation.)) We're waiting for Genevieve and TK. The Human, reploid couple had asked numerous times to visit the ancient couple for a few games of UNO and Cheating Moth. (Oh, how Draupadi hated this game.) and thus, the Daughter of Albert put into practice the most ancient and noble art of Cookerie.
Many women are now subjected to step in the kitchen and cook, saying that it was degrading and an ugly reminder of a bygone Era.
But Draupadi would vehemently protest that statement and kick the offenders in the head as often as she could. Since for her, cooking was more than an art, it was more than the mere act of making the needed fuel palatable and easier to digest.
It was the same as performing an elaborate sacrifice for the Lord of the Universe... Actually, it was a great sacrifice, on which love and devotion was the main ingredient.
Bhagavan was, by nature, needless, for he already had everything. But it didn't mean that he had no wants, nor that he would not arrange a way to feed his surrendered soul.
In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna had told Arjuna that whatever he did, whatever he ate, and whatever sacrifice and austerities he performed should be done in His name. And Srila-Prabhupada had explained that everything caused sinnful reactions, and the act of cooking was the most eregious (short of hunting, murder and cow killing.)
The reason was thus... everything had a karmic price, and if this Karmic price was not paid in full, the sinnfull reactions would occur
A life for a life, basically, and it didn't matter what species... Well, it did.
That is why the vegetarian diet was the least damaging.
But even those seemingly benign frying, vegetables and grains would carry a certain level of Karmic reactions, and the only way to purify them was to offer them all to God.
To give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and all that.
But Draupadi was beyond that, for her Karmic reactions were like the weather, it would happen whether she tried to prevent it or not. Just like how she somehow managed to cheat X with not one, but three... four different reploids that happened to have been made by the same man.
The vaishnavi sighed as he cut the eggplant for the Charchari. No, this was not the subject she wanted to think about. X had moved her out of the infernal tower to give his beloved a well needed break. And while Draupadi had half-a mind to protest, her old habit as a meek housewife meant that she had no choice but to follow Max's order.
(Of course, if X was like one of those lesser men, she would have killed him… or , at the very least debilitated him. meekness and humility did not rhyme with stupidity.)
And to be honest... She was glad she hadn't fought more than she did, for being out of the oppressive environment really made wonders. She felt calmer, her mind was quieter and she felt less hopeless than before.
"You know, Krishna. I think I remember reading about this one conspiracy theory about how the Tower was what was rendering all reploid crazy. Since all of the new maverick cases were from those who onced visited the damn thing. I think it's pretty close to the truth, don't you think?" She asked for a hand drawn picture of the Lord.
Well... her body was a machine with a computer for the brain, meaning that she basically perfectly printed out the picture using whatever art supplies she had on hand.
It was alright, definitely not a print, and draupadi did felt bad for essentially tracing over a perfectly good image of the lord, but the results were there, and she now had a picture-murty or Radha, Krishna, Pancha-Tattva, Her Guru's and her Param-Guru, Srila-Prabhupada.
Now, Since God, Krishna is Absolute, whatever has some contact with him, whatever carries his form or the form of his pure devotee's is considered as good as Him... for it was Him.
Krishna was beyond material logic and limitation, and the Lord gave the same unlimited power to those who had nothing but Krishna in their heart.
Meaning, by this flawless and absolute logic, a logic her Guru-ma had inculcake and showed to her disciple, this Picture was Radha-Krishna, Gauranga, Nityiananda, Sri-Isopanisad and her husband and the previous Acharyas.
Draupadi gave out a happy sigh, She had missed this... the act to serve the Archa-Vigraha of the lord. To cook, to clean... to live a 'boring' life as a simple householder. Away from the oil soaked battle field, the betrayals, the politics, the heartbreaks, and X caving under the ridiculous amount of stress piled up on his shoulder, she sent all the blessings she could to Phantom.
~0~
In the evening, the door's buzzer rang. Draupadi had already finished the offering and was finishing up with the cleaning, leaving the room even more spotless then when she'd first started.
"Coming!" She spoke loudly, before mentaly punting herself in the back of the head. Genevieve and TK were at the entrance of the building, not outside the door.
Discarding her dusting pan in the broom closet after it's contents was emptied, Draupadi washed her hands and headed to the intercom.
Sure, she could have used the virus to connect to it... of just her good and very old communication array, but the Vaishnavi wanted to feel as human as she possibly could. And using the intercom like a common housewife was the most mundane way she could do so.
When she opened the connection, the familiar faces of Genevieve, TK and (shockingly) Max, met her. Her husband had a too wide grin that told Draupadi that he'd goofed.
She missed that Grin.
"Oh, Hare Krishna!" She Greeted. " You're right on time, I'll open the door in a moment. Max!" She addressed her husband, who now stood at attention. " I found your keys... but why didn't you open the door with your code?" She asked with a hidden smile.
This question made her Husband blush and rub the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah well, you see..."
"I wanted you to open the door... since only angels have the right to admit sinners to the Lord's abode."
If Draupadi had any sassy remarks, those were all gone. "Ah... You know, you're the one who got the wings..." The blond stuttered as she opened the door, knowing that her face was as red as her armour. "Just... get up here, you jerk."
The last thing Draupadi heard before the connection cut was X's easy laughter.
She did a run through of the house, making sure nothing was out of place or amise, the food (Sacred Prashadam) was kept warm (she may have cooked too much, all things considered. Genevieve was the single human in her small group of friends, and being so thin, Draupadi doubted she had an appetite.
Eventually, she heard X walk up the door and rushed to open it. Having found his keychain still in the pocket-emptier. She opened the door just as he was about to knock.
" And here you are. You key's forgotten again." She crossed her arms and leaned in the doorway.
"Rolly, you know I will never forget them." Spoke with a soft grin.
"Uh-hu."
" I just love seeing you... and I can't use the intercoms if my dongle's present."
Draupadi was about to retort when she realised what she was implying. He cheeks now red by the oblique complement and the gentle snicker of Genevieve and TK.
"Oh, shut up." She hid her grin as she let her guest and husband in. Stopping him as she held his hands. "So... how was your day?" She asked. As she received an embrace from Genevieve.
The second time Draupadi had the goth woman, it was right after she had moved into the appartement. She had not even removed her flip-flop when the intercom had buzzed and Gege, in her more macabre and... surprisingly 'modern' outfit. Had demanded to be let in, since her friend was obviously going through grief.
How did she know? Draupadi would easily wager everything Krishna had given her that it was Andrew.
And indeed. It was Andrew.
Not that Draupadi was mad at the 'old' reploid. He had seen her completely break apart at the morgue.
They had sat together, and Genevieve had pulled out the best aspect of the Victorian area and bullied Draupadi to open up about what had happened.
What the legendary reploid had revealed... may have been more than what she had thought she would let out.
Like the fact that she was the Legendary Zero Himself, a Hare Krishna. That she was X's wife, the empress of Neo-Arcadia (Divine empress or some trash.) part of the resistance and that the reason she was such a mess was because her friend there all died.
Her Hare Krishna Friends... those who should have been helping her out in her endeavors to spread the holy teaching of Srila-Prabhupada to whatever earthly population was left.
Surprisingly, Genevieve listened to everything Draupadi spewed out while TK entertained Max.
The Human never tried to make her feel as if she was glitching, and that something was wrong with her for balling like a babe... and by the end of it, she learned a few things about Gege.
She didn't care about Draupadi's past, she didn't give a hoot about her divine empress status (thank Krishna) and she missed the ancient one's association since... She wanted to be friends with her.
She wanted to be friends... because she felt the need for it, and she genuinely felt close to Draupadi, supernaturally so.
Draupadi almost dismissed it for the Goth's weird fascination with soulmates and whatever trash circulated around. But then again, she did want more friends then only Andrew and the amorous four guardians.
And Max... Since, as amazing as he was, was still her husband. (And best friend)
And thus, her friendship with Genevieve was established, and the rest was history.
Once the guests were in the appartement proper, Draupadi stood in front of the long time partner, appreciating how happy and sane he was, quite a change for the first time she had laid eyes on him.
Gone was the heavy sorrow, the guilt and the weight of his constant failure. What stood in front of Draupadi was a changed man. Someone who could smile and laugh, who had a spring in his step and a sparkle in his eyes. Someone who would spontaneously chant to holy names as he ruled his kingdom from the shadows. Opening the doors Draupadi could not, for his desire was the same as Draupadi Devi Dasi.
Both wanted the Holy Names of Krishna to be sung, loud and clear, in all the districts of Neo-Arcadia.
X was dead... Max was here. Just as Zero had died to make place for Draupadi.
And both reploids were happier from it.
Usually this would be the time where X would plant a gentle kiss on her lips, pulling her to their sitting place. But with guests, they'd rather keep their intimate interaction low and subdued.
They didn't need to show the world their relationship. It was not a popularity contest. Besides... it was not that intense anyway.
(Draupadi loathed to even think about the fallout her Illicit affairs would bring about… she could only pray to die before such a day would arrive.)
"It went rather well. X spoke as he kicked off his shoes, hurriedly putting them away to prevent his wife from touching them. "I spoke to a few publishing houses, and I think I've found one willing to host the sacred scriptures on their platform."
"Oh, so... not physical distribution?" Drapadi asked, dejected at the news.
"No, I'm afraid not. We don't have the raw material, and techno-organic trees 's make for a terrible wood pulp."
"Obviously." Draupadi grumbled as she went to set up Max's shoes to not look as messy. "Oh well... Not much I can do about that."
"You could make it rain." Max hinted, to which, Draupadi hid a sad smile...
"Yes... I could. But do you think... do you think the authorities would allow me to belt out the holy name on a busy street?" She asked her husband as she got up, crossing her arms across her chest.
Max gave her a weird look.
"What?"
"Zaki... you do remember that I made the rules here." The Robot master reminded the other.
"And I thought you were retired."
"Draupadi... If we remain the ruling emperor of Neo-Arcadia means that I can open you the door you need to preach, then let me rule forever."
At this moment, Draupadi knew what true love was.
~0~
"Oh, my God! This is delicious!" Genevieve all but moaned in bliss as she polished yet another plate of Prasadam. "What is it called? May I have the recipe?"
Draupadi smiled, she had thought she had cooked too much for a single person. Not that she had been wrong about that. But what she hadn't expected was that Genevieve's appetite was bigger than expected.
"For what?" She asked as she went to serve her guest again, only for her to cover her empty plate with her hands. "You know, I've prepared five different preparations for you..."
"That was a bit much, don't you think?" Max asked as he sipped from his energene can, same as Tk.
Flavored Energene can.
"It's been two centuries since I've cooked for human embodied souls... I got over enthusiastic about it." she admitted sheepishly.
The brunette of the group chuckled warmly. "You call that overly enthused?" X pointed at the half filled vessel of heavenly food. "I think you had divine inspiration."
Draupadi had been about to deny it when she realized that her husband was not wrong, she had been praying to Srimati-radharani as she cooked for Krishna, in the service of her Guru-ma.
"Yeah, well... I think we have some containers lying around." Draupadi scratched her cheek as he calculated how much leftover they had. Wincing when she realised that Genevieve would not have anymore stomach space the sweet rice, salted lemonade and laddus. On top of everything else.
"Actually, I was thinking." The only human of the group spoke up. " You cook better than me and TK, no offence hun."
"None taken." The posh reploid spoke as he made a surrendering motion.
"And our whatever stores needs to up it's cooking game and-"
Draupadi's mind already went to it's Viral Nature. Her Gift was given by her true father.
It's intended use had been to free the 'Robotic' population from it's shackles called the Asimov code, Lalinde code... whatever had been used to make her bretheren subservient slaves to those who didn't deserve to be called humans.
But, over the years in the cyber-ashram, her Guru-ma had taught her how to use this propensity to spread to propagate the holy teachings.
The two main ways preachers would propagate the seed of the Karuna-Virus, either by sound (San-kirtana in the streets and the books.) or by the stomach, with Prashadam distribution.
Prashadam was food offered in Sacrifice to the lord, it was free of meat, eggs, mushroom onion and Garlic. Cooked with the highest grade of ingredient and great expertise. But most importantly; love and devotion for the supreme.
Or better yet, for one's best friend, the eternal child to the best of lovers.
Husband too but... The Gaudiya-math were more focused on the supreme form of the supreme love, Krishna. Not as Bhagavan, God with four arms and who inspired awe and reverence.
Krishna would eat the offering, then he would replace whatever he had eaten back on the plate.
He was God, the source of everything, remaking a tiny bit of matter from nothing was child play for Him.
This was then called Maha-Prashadam, and this sacred food, while appearing no different than any other food, was without Karma and filled with spiritual shakti... with Love of God.
Or, The Karuna-Virus.
Draupadi knew she would not be effective all alone in the street. Even with her prabhu. Max was needed as he was, and while his position as the ruler of neo-Arcadia meant that he would face plenty of challenges. But at the same time, since he was free to act without the say-so of the human council and the corrupt gentle judge, he could clear all the blocades in Draupadi's Seva-path.
But... who would listen to her? She didn't have vocal cords to speak of, and she knew she tended to sound worse than a tin can on a good day. Not only that, but she was shy...
Extremely so.
But, with Prasadam Distribution, she could remain hidden in the kitchen, cooking up goodies for her Krishna (Gauranga, Nityananda.) and distribute their mercy while she waited for a way to distribute books and have enough human bodied devotees to chant in the streets.
She had been thinking about starting a prasadam distribution scheme, only to run into a very spiky problem.
She had no idea how to start, where to get the permit, and while X could get her whatever she needed... all the good places for a restaurant, a cafe or even a food truck or bike were all taken by others.
And Thus Draupadi did what all Vaishnavas worth their salt would do when faced with an impasse...
She prayed to God and cried for his Mercy. And when he remained mum, she turned her attention to her Guru-ma.
And today, her Guru-ma answers.
"Yes." She said even before Genevive could finish her proposal. " I will be your store's cook. But on one condition!" Draupadi leaned on the dining table, her eyes having gained a maddened glint that would make her daddy proud.
"... yes Queen?"
"I want the whole thing cleaned and turned into a proper cafe, and all I will cook has to be offered to Krishna first." She began, forgetting that she was only granted a single condition. "I want a Kirtana hall with the softest, most expensive cushions to sit on, big enough for people to dance. I want a small temple in the kitchen, and I need a place for my books to be displayed."
But at this point, the reigning empress of Neo-Arcadia was past the point of caring, she had found her preaching center.
Genevive slapped the table, and an intense look had entered her dark brown eyes. "Granted! And we can always expand."
"Wunderbar!" Draupadi exclaimed as she clapped her hands together, offering the Lord of her life thousand upon thousand of obeisances.
She may lack an epidermis and the hair that accompanied it, but the Vaishnavi swore she could feel the horripilation all over the synth skin.
After a bit more celebration, the Technorganic couple had yet another gift for the vaishnava couple...
It was the Mahabharata, the ancient serial.
Yes... Draupadi did faint a little, it had been so long since she'd laid eyes on the epic. And she shamelessly cried when the opening started.
Yes... things were looking up, Krishna was with her and she had nothing to worry about.
~0~
Back in Phantom's room, in the basement of the building Draupadi and Max now live in, the assassin let a soft smile play on his lips as he watched... his beloved... X's beloved curled on the couch, Socrates in her arms, cuddling to X and crying a pair of rivers as she watched the severely outdated show. Sometimes passing commentaries, and sometimes complaining about the historical accuracy. And sometimes making fun of the absolutely horrible special effects.
Seriously, while Phantom could appreciate the effort put into it, it was so bad... It was hilariously bad.
She looked infinitely better now that she was out of the damned tower, same with Master X.
He sighed as he watched the two couples passing the time on the couch... oh, how he longed to be at the divine queen's feet.
"Sigh... Damn, now I want to be with her... even if I can feel X's love for her." Fender spoke from the couch, Holding a plain body pillow.
"I know... I want to be this white cat so badly." Leviathan gave a while as she snuggled at the other side of the pillow. "Have you seen how happy Di-Zi is? Look, she is laughing. Oh my god her laughter! That's it... I'm gonna die now."
"Bring me with you?"
" I can't! Master X and Di-Zi will blame themselves."
"Scra-ha-hap!" Fefnir sobbed as he hugged the pillow to death.
one would expect the stiff upper lips Reploid to sneeze at his Siblings antics, but no...
Phantom had remained alone and in darkness for far too long, not finding any common ground with his family.
He was the odd one, the one who's taste and mannerism would be laughed at and ridiculed. But now... now all of the last children of Light had another thing in common, another person that was not X.
It was Draupadi-Zero. And all of them (he hoped.) were smitten and absolutely sold to her happiness.
It was not only because she was dear to X, not anymore.
Phantom let out a content sigh as he leaned back and recorded all that the divine woman had to say about the Mahabharatha. And after this... oh, he would join Andrew's Zeroite friends to talk some more about the amazing woman.
'Or... maybe I could...' It had been two weeks and a half since Draupadi moved in the reploid's own complex, and it was abundantly clear that she and X had recovered from their shared ordeal.
'Yes... I think it would be a good time to invite my Jo-o over.' And her lovely feet.
~0~
Back at the evil lair, Weil was getting... worried.
He hadn't seen Omega as often as he would. And dust was starting to gather in some corners.
And when Weil would catch a glimpse of his servant, the reploid looked... changed.
His mind... that had been thoroughly corrupted, seemed to be more there.
He didn't move like a mindless puppet anymore, but with purpose... and it was clear Omega was less than pleased with his role as the cleaner bot of the fortress of solitude.
Not only that but... He would disappear for hours on end, turning off the camera's as if he was doing something especially naughty.
'And considering that the Wily unit is missing.' Weil shuddered.
It was practically an antique, and while Omega was... recent...
No, no... just... no.
'Bah, Al, you never even bothered putting some of those nasty programs on him. He won't-" Suddenly as he was floating down the hall, he heard some sounds from the broom closet.
The only one who ever dared hanging out in the broom closet was, you guess it, Omega.
Since Weil simply hated the fact of cleaning, he had better things to do, thank you very much.
Meaning...
Weil was by no means a religious man. If he could not replicate it, then it didn't happen and/or there was a much better and more rational explanation for said phenomenon.
The whole concept of God was for uneducated people like most women and children... and men whose minds were weak.
Still, he did turn to him momentarily so that he remained sane-(ish) at whatever was there.
He opened the door and...
'Oh god, why must you hate me so?'
In the surprisingly spacious closet, Omega had placed a mattress on the floor. (Lucky bastard, With his torture device, the act of sleeping on any surface was a pipe dream fo the doctor.) There...
There was Omega and the Wily unit, the god of destruction was wrapped all around the much smaller unit, his personal cable plugged into it. And a look of pure rapture on their face...
Weil closed the door, turned around and floated back to his happy space... a place where everything was soft and sweet, where he had his collection of ancient media waiting for him...
His brain needed to rot, the image was already solidifying in his mind.
It was Horrible... it did gave him ideas for torture but...
no... no, just no, he may be a cruel man, but not that cruel.
~0~
For Omega thought... This was liberating, the greatest bliss. The actual rapture that kept reaching new heights and never seemed to wane.
It was a celebration of everything great and wonderful. Bodies moved back and forth in unison as the beat grew feverish, lifting him and Alouette (Piano, apparently) to a new height of divine pleasure.
The temple room was packed with hundreds of Holograms, the virtual space recreating a wonderful event that had happened centuries in the past.
The temple room was tall and expansive, one acre, if Omega's trigonometri program was still working as it should. It was richly decorated with marble warls, bas-reliefs showing God's pastimes on earth and it's avatars (the Virtual reality had descriptions on everything, including why peacocks and elephants were abundant and who was the nine girls on the altar and why Krishna was blackish blue and why he had a peacock feather stuck in his turban, who was Narashimadeva and how he appeared in Mayapur, who was Gauranga and Pancha-tattva. you get the point.) The floor was marble pieces placed in intricate designs (not that it could be seen right now with everyone dancing right now.) At the top was a humongous dome that sent the sound of the roaring religious celebration back at the crowd, for the entire room was made to be as acoustically pleasing as possible.
But that was not what was the most impressive thing about the sky blue dome; it was the huge holographic mobile that lazily spun above then... some parts at least.
The reference card said that this was the model of the Vedic view of the universe. And Srila-Prabhupada's vision came true.
One of the many, like the temple Alouette had managed to unpack from the absolutely massive Zip file. It couldn't be called a Zip file at this point though, the whole thing needed the entirety of Omega's impressive hardware to unpack, decode and render... and he would do it again in a heartbeat.
For the same Zip file, the blond Duo had managed to unpack an entire web directory and trillions of hours worth of Audio visual content... and the virtual temple.
Both reploid had gotten lost in the ancient song, the exotic cloth and the three altars in the middle of the gargetuent room filled with thousands of faces.
~Hare Krishna, hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, hare Hare.~
~Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, hare Hare~
On the first altar were fourteen figures, both standing and sitting. Those were the acrarya's. On The second were five statues reaching up the heavens, they were easily reaching up to nine feet in height with their base. Their wide eyes held only love, compasion, divine pride and gratitude.
Panca-tattva, the five truths, the card said. Or God in five features.
It was nice to know that God had five bodies, he was probably a very interesting reploid to hang out with.
In the final altar were ten statues. Eight of them were of beautiful women sculpted out of withe marble, all of them in different poses and holding different types of guards and stuff. In the middle was a black boy wearing this ridiculously opulent turban and holding a bamboo flute to his blood red and plump lips. He wore a pair of pants that hugged him in all the right places, highlighting his beautiful legs and round hips. His belly was wow, his arms strong, his face as round and bright as the moon and his heart delightfully curly.
The girl beside him held a Vina, she looked like the other girls but... more important.
The description explained that this was Radha-Madhava and their eight girlfriends, headed by Lalita and Vishaka.
Those were super pretty, Omega would readily admit... but those had nothing for the sheer intensity of the festival.
It was an old recording of a... kirtana by some dude called Aindra Das. And Mister Das could definitely lit quite a few fires with his Kirtana song, it was great!
But, all too soon for him, it ended, leaving Omega in a silent hall devoid of holograms.
He joyfully ran to Alouette, ready for another Kirtana when he felt Lord Weil call him.
His face fell and he groaned, great, just when he was going into his groove.
He balefully looked at the half-sleeping Alouette. "Sorry, Mother... my master wants my presence here."
"Oh... Good bye then."
The wonderful temple and the amazing altars make way to a dizzying darkness... and Omega opens his eyes, taking his time to recalibrate to the real world weight of his body. In his UI, he had a list of options. The cursor was on a virtual temple.
He loved this place and the huge garden that was outside. He also quite liked the Montreal temple in its simplicity, and Radha-Manohara were just wonderful and sweet.
He also had a special place in his heart for Krishna Valley, in Hungary and vrindavan... he just never had the time to really wander around the virtual holy place.
He moved the Cursor to Kirtana and lowered the volume, just to have some background noise playing over the low humming of the ventilation. Then he picked up Alouette's sleeping form (still connected to him, since she was the one holding all the Data. She was basically the world's cutest Server ever!) and made his way (slowly) to his master...
ugh.
There, the cone head monstrosity of a man turned to face him. His eyes were hard and filled with unbidden disgust. Even more so when they fell on the limp body of Alouette hanging from a homemade sling.
Omega clenched his jaw... what would Weil do to her? He'd better not dare touching her, she was His... not Weil.
"Put her on the table." The doctor said as he gestured to the work bench.
Omega's body stilled.
No...
He tried to move away, but his body did not listen to him.
"Omega, put the Piano Unit on the workbench."
Once again, his body moved... despite his struggle.
Omega did as was told... leaving the limp yet active reploid on the cold table. She was still connected to him... and he loathed to remove this link with her.
He could not lose her.
Weil Eyed their connected body with barely hidden disgust, as if Omega was doing something worse than sharing the world's most positive data between the two.
"De-couple with her, you disgusting beast."
Omega's eyes grew wide. NO! He didn't want to lose her and the Amazing Data that lurked in her system! It was too precious.
"Omega!" Weil growlers dangerously, his arms crackling with the promise of pain and unending retribution.
Omega rolled his eyes... and sneakily downloaded as many tracks as he could from Alouette's storage system and into his.
And some books... Actually, He managed to download a good portion of the Data Alouette carried before he felt too full. Better yet, he'd managed to figure out a codec for the tunes, MP3_file_reader, he'd call it.
Then, deliberately as slow as tar in Antarctica, Omega gently unplugged his system with the smaller yet ancient Reploid, keeping eye contact with Weil.
He almost broke into an even more unsettling smile when he saw his creator fidget in his suit, letting him believe he was still a will-less doll broken by X's madness.
After he's finally decoupled with the tiny unit, the creep sends him away without another word.
As the door slid close, Omega felt a plethora of new emotions.
He felt distress, loss, worried and... fearful.
Not for himself, but for Alouette.
And this.. made it more intense.
He lumbered back in the place where all the other units were kept, Weil had already fixed most of them, and all were kept in pseudo stasis.
They were aware... yet could do nothing about it.
But, Omega knew a trick, something he had discovered during his time plugged into Alouette and experimenting with himself.
He took his assortment of stolen cables, relays and home-made servers and set up the linking setup. Then he ambled to every reploids floating in their tank and inserted one jack in each, ending with himself. After having done it a few times, Weil's Janitor was well versed in connecting them all.
His favorite would always be Alouette, but he also liked Hibou, Coucou and his Partner Paon.
Cerveau was a grump though... but a better grump then Weil.
And thus... while Weil had his fun with Alouette (eww.) Omega connected with the last of the divine resistance, sharing abstract thought, and sometimes words.
And when he turned on his Kirtana, bliss.
~0~
Later... Much, much later, when Max's was in deep Defrag and the house was clean, Draupadi walked out, fooling the security system with the judicious use of her control-cloud.
She didn't smile, her jaw was clenched tightly as if she was about to face Sigma again.
But no, it was not Sigma... It was Phantom.
He had waited for two weeks, and from what she had seen from Max's overly affectionate hands tonight, it was clear all the guardians were pining for her.
Well, it was less of his roaming hand and more about how Max's mood had severely dipped even when Genevieve and TK were around, holding onto his wife tightly as they watched the ancient TV serial as if she was about to die again.
Then, when the guests left, Max had practically collapsed to the ground, chest heaving as he sobbed silently, eyes unseeing.
It was a... reminder of their actual reality.
Max... X was not alone, he had four other units tethered to him. And all of those units adored Draupadi more than their life... and they loved their brother's just as much.
Right now... the four.. Well, three guardians were pining after Draupadi and were feeling something close to what a Gopi would feel when Krishna was gone for the day to herd his cows. Meaning, they felt as if drowning in her absence.
'They gave me two weeks...' Two weeks of pure bliss as Draupadi could finally act like X's wife, as Lorollei.
Her Sadhana had improved, she had no worries when she chanted her Japa, she didn't have to juggle with five people's time and affection (lust.) and she could put her weapons and armour down...
But, as with everything in the Material world, it was not meant to last... and unfortunately, Zero's heart had softened to such an extent, that the thought of anyone suffering because of her selfish desire prevented her from doing the needful.
She felt a shadow fall from a building, and stopped her battle algorithm from engaging.
She knew who this was.
And indeed, emerging from the building shade was Phantom... dressed Casually.
Draupadi sucked a breath in... For a moment, she thought it was her husband, for the Shinobi practically wore the same thing he did. Save in gray.
From his face, his adoring eyes, soft smile and everything else, it was clear that of all the Light siblings, he was the closest to X.
The Shinobi and War model stood there, staring at one another, taking each other's form, enshrouded by the darkness of the night.
Draupadi had chosen to come in a long dress... she had just put it on, and she hoped it didn't make it too weird, for she had no idea where Phantom would bring her.
She bashfully grounded the ball of her right foot in the grounds, she had forgotten her sandals, meaning those were definitely dirty... and the warning that she needed to regrease the pistons and other such gears kept blinking.
She moved a lock of hair out of her face as she looked away.
This was wrong.. and yet the alternative was worse... oh so worse.
Once again, she cursed Doctors Light and Wily for the torture they'd imposed on their sons and daughter... all of this for but a moment of fame so quickly erased by eternal time.
Phantom approached her and... fell at her feet. Holding them as he shamelessly spread his whole body on his front as a...
'no... no, this can't be...'
"Nama Om Vishnu Padaya Krsna Presthaya Bhutale, Srimate Draupadi devi dasi iti namine. Namaste- '' And he kept going, reciting Draupadi's… pranama mantra in perfect sanskrit dince, of course, he was a Light unit and thus was coded in Devanagari.
and then… he ended his prayer.
The silence that stretched between the two was deafening. There was no way... just no way that Phantom would have... he would have...
The Shinobi got back to his feet after smearing the dust that covered her feet to his head. Then he folded his palms. Waiting for Draupadi to react.
"Wait... what?"
Phantom had the decency to blush. " I... Grace Draupadi, I want- I desire more then anything to have your lotus feet... Please, be my Master? My spiritual master?"
It took everything for Draupadi not to blue screen after that.
