Haze swept the soul that faded along within the ocean of black. It clouded the senses. Enveloped the body. Sunk him deep within the waves of emptiness where not even a single star wept over the endless sea.

In this vastness of nothing, a single body drifted into the waking slumber of eternity.

In the vastness of nothing, he walked waist deep into the ocean.

In this vastness of nothing, he carried within his arms blood.

Cradled within the endless ocean were the shadows of cities long forgotten. Faces that were soon to be washed away in the vast endless deep.

But even in this unknown there was peace.

In this unknown, there was nothing but what was known now.

Everything. Nothing. All at once.

Condemned to live, suffer, and die. Perhaps to live once more. To die once again. With no end. With only agony.

A long time ago, he might have feared the visions that swept his body. The past scattered across his eyes. Drifting into the eternal nothing and everything all at once. What soul did he have to go to heaven? What soul did he have to go to hell?

There was desire to hang to limbo. To wander the ocean where even no fish swam. Purgatory.

He could not speak. Could not feel. Could not fathom a single thing that was 'real' in this now.

Only content knowing that his prayers were answered.

That his God lived on. To give hope to the mortal coil

Now, and forevermore.

"The analysis for Zero's DNA has begun," Isoc announced to Gate. A few days had passed from when they initially brought Zero into their care. His body still laid upon the medical bed shackled and broken. Still sleeping in his beautiful coffin.

Gate looked up from the pipes he had been monitoring. Bassnium flowed carefully through with a soft green radioactive glow. The work of several days to produce just a single vial. He smiled. "Excellent, do you have an estimate on when it will be finished?"

"A year."

"Really? I thought it might have taken longer."

"The DNA is rather complex, but I have made some upgrades to our program to hasten the progress." Isoc moved from the computer towards Zero. His hands behind his back as he watched Gate work dutifully over the sleeping angel.

The machine had been stripped of his armor that he had once wore. He laid bare on the table completely naked. Though 'naked' was much too 'human' for what Zero was. Of course, his face was human and the body had the likeliness of human in anatomy. But it started and ended there. The rest of his body was fleshless. Put together with metal bits and joints and sockets. Featureless aesthetics and primarily streamlined to be that of a machine of war. Old oil stains that might have been 'blood' wrapped his metal form. A reminder of what he was built to do. It was apparent that his creator thought more of death than they did of life. The only thing confusing of Zero's body was that his creator chose to make it look human.

"How is Zero coming along?"

"Slowly." Gate pointed at the computer screen beside him, "I've been creating a schematic for Zero for when all is in place to repair him. I've decided to make some changes that will make him more powerful, as well as some more aesthetic changes." Gate smirked, "Nothing too complex, overall, but it will prove useful down the line."

"And what of his mind?"

"Faint, but still there." Gate moved towards Zero's head. "There was a ping in activity recently. I thought it was a fluke, but upon further analysis it seems he's just barely hanging on. Neither dead nor alive."

"Bordering?" Isoc rubbed his chin. "Rather unusual… Is there a reason for such?"

Gate drew back from monitoring the body and stretched. He tapped a finger on the table, his eyes watching the monitor, but listlessly. His gaze wandered towards Zero's sleeping face. Towards his perfect form. "Have you ever died, Isoc?" the question was nonchalant, but serious.

Isoc, of course, shook his head.

"Naturally, when something dies that is the end of their life. Humans have varying experiences with death. I'm sure we have all heard of stories of people who have died momentarily. They proclaim that they have met death, spoken to loved ones, or met God. Some people experience nothing. Of course, we do not know what it truly means. A human cannot be analyzed as simply as a machine, but we can agree that once someone is dead they no longer exist 'here'. Philosophy and all aside." Gate made a gesture with his hand. "But what happens when a machine dies? We have replicated humanity as close as ever to their image, but in the end, we are only lines of code and sparks of electricity. The answer is much the same sometimes. We meet death, we speak to loved ones, we meet God, or we experience nothing. But unlike humans and 'living' things, we are not so reliant on 'being alive' as we were never 'alive' to begin with. We have our core chip. As long as we have that, we can be brought back as many times as we want." His gaze focused back to Zero. "We still exist in a self-contained vacuum. Asleep, if you will. Just like turning a switch. Most reploids who 'die' and still have their core chip usually will remain dead and refuse to 'wake up' from their sleep. But it looks like Zero seems to be…" Gate paused at what he searched for the words.

"Sleepwalking?"

"Yes… Sleepwalking." Gate nodded his head. "It is helpful for us. Even if he is 'dead'. In those moments his code is more suggestable to new ideas and concepts. I was planning to create a virus that might capture that awareness and draw it out further into that state of wakefulness."

Isoc nodded at Gate's explanation. "Would there still be a possibility that he would still reject his awakening?"

"Anything is possible, Isoc. Resurrection is nasty business. There's always plenty of mental trauma as well as the aches and pains of getting a body to function back as it used to be in that state of being alive. There is a chance he could become stuck in a permanent state of sleep paralysis. The worst he could do is think himself to death." Gate smirked. "A true death, that is. Where even his core chip would never work ever again. I suppose you can call it a soul snuffing out its own life."

"Would he actually do that?" Isoc furrowed his brows at Gate. Zero didn't seem the type to commit suicide, no matter the circumstance.

"Who knows for certain. I wouldn't blame him if he did. But if we were to program that goal into him, to fight to live, it would be completely avoided." Gate walked over to his computer and began to type something into it. "It is likely that when he rouses from his slumber he'll beg for someone to kill him. I should make sure that his voice box isn't working for the first few months he is awake. We wouldn't want to hear screaming for the next few weeks. Now do we?" Isoc cringed knowing that Gate had likely had experience with that.

"How long do you think he'll be 'sleepwalking'?"

"It could range from a second to several years, it depends on how much he wants to stay dead."

"Even with the virus?"

"Indeed, the virus can only affect so much without completely destroying the core chip. My current estimate is a few months, but it is still a rough estimate." Gate typed another thing in to bring up an image of Zero's head. "But look," Gate pointed at a particular area of Zero's head.

Isoc walked over to Gate and bent down a little to look at the screen. The area looked to be an almost missing piece of his head. Seemingly predating his most recent wound. "A brain injury?"

"It's the part of the mind that affects memories. One of the reploids I had the honor of building suffered from a similar injury when it was put down. I had a thought of fixing it whilst I rebuild him. It is not entirely fixable, but somewhat repairable. There are some side effects."

Isoc lifted his brow, "Such as…?"

"Hallucinations," Gate flicked his eyes towards Isoc. "Nothing too serious, minimal at most. But it may reawaken more of him, perhaps a secret other self." It almost felt as if Gate was testing him.

"What if you completely destroy his memory?" Isoc responded carefully.

"Isoc, are you questioning my ability?" Gate had almost replied jokingly, but Isoc could see the irritation on his face. "Metal Shark Player's injury was massive compared to Zero's and he came out just fine until that damn scientist board destroyed him." A small smirk slowly worked to Gate's lips. "Last I recall, you completely destroyed a reploid in your care that had a simple head injury. Question my competence again and I'll turn you in for all the other atrocities you have committed. Are we clear?"

Isoc grimaced, backing down. It had been a test. A test of loyalty. And it looked like Gate had Isoc firm in his grasp. "Yes, sir."

"Excellent. I'm glad we can come to an understanding." Gate smiled at Isoc as he walked over to take a vial of bassnium on the table and shoved it into Isoc's hands. "Analyze this and I'll forget your comment." Gate flicked his hands away from Isoc as he resumed his monitoring of the pipes within Zero. With a frown, Isoc turned around on his heels to the other room to resume the dirty work of bringing Zero back.

Stephen rammed a hand into the training dummy's face as it shattered on impact. Fingers drew into the mechanism of the hollow figure's head and slowly reached inside to draw out the internal particles of the frame. Even if the training figure was a projection, it felt real in her hands as she took her pain and frustration on something that never existed.

Part of her felt as though she didn't deserve to feel the way she did. By comparison to many of other Zero's friends, she had known him for the least amount of time. Her time spent with him was mostly for work and professional at best. And she could only lament at the pain that she felt, balling it within herself to keep a straight face in the eyes of her squad members.

"That won't be getting back up anytime soon," came a voice. Stephen looked up from the projection on the ground. She turned to look behind her seeing Basalt in the corner of the room.

Basalt was hardly an unavoidable reploid. Asard might be a towering beastloid, but Basalt towered over even him. A beastloid modelled after a whale. Hands were massive fins with claws to imitate fingers, and a tailfin that was ridiculously large. The animal he had been modeled after was a picture-perfect representation of his personality. Lumbering. Calm. Headstrong. He hardly ever had anything to complain about, much less anything to say.

"Should have heard what it was saying…" Stephen made a motion of cracking her knuckles whilst looking down at the projection. It had been completely eradicated. Had it been a real Maverick she knew she would have gotten points off for that. And she knew that Zero might have chastised her for the unnecessary pain that she had brought it. Though, she supposed she didn't need to worry about that anymore. She was the new leader of this squad. And she had to make a good impression on everyone. No more letting loose. No more letting her anger getting the best of her. "Basalt, were you here when Zero first died?"

"The first time?" Basalt lumbered closer. "No. I still was working on the oil rigs."

"I see…" Stephen sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. "You're so calm… How do you deal with it?"

"I am used to people dying. I accept that it is life."

"That's it?" Stephen looked up at Basalt, almost shocked. "You just accept it?"

"People die. That is life." He could tell that she didn't like that answer. "Do you want a better answer? What would you say had I a better answer?" Stephen widened her eyes at the implication that she had given, and turned away.

"Sorry. Everyone is different, I know. I'm just used to running away." She gave a bitter laugh. "You know, I joined the Maverick Hunters because I wanted to kill that son-of-a-bitch that killed my Creator and ruined that nice little life I had." She gripped her palms closed. "I never did get to kill that Maverick. I don't regret my decision to join, but sometimes I wonder how easier life would be if I had just continued being a scientist."

Probably a lot less sad.

"Vengeance isn't a good medicine for grief," Basalt tutted. Stephen scowled at the reply, but he wasn't wrong to say it. "It wouldn't hurt to seek counsel."

"I'll think about it," Stephen waved him away. "I know I seem confident, but I've never been good with words. I've always been better with action." Basalt seemed to grumble a laughter. "What?" Stephen turned back with a frown.

"Zero rubbed off on you."