The door slowly slid open as X punched in the familiar pass key to Zero's room without a second thought. He stared into the empty room for what seemed to be a moment too long. Holding his gaze as he stared, hoping to see his friend sitting in his chair to turn and smile at him. To speak about his day as if nothing had happened.

There was no one there. Of course.

X walked into Zero's room unsure if he was even allowed in such a familiar place. It had been months since he had gone into Zero's room, even before the Eurasia incident. There was rarely any downtime between the events of Repliforce and the fall of Eurasia, and anytime that the two hunters had they would often spend it outside of their rooms. Both their rooms had been used sparingly, often using the public charge rooms over their own private ones for its convenience.

Zero's room was much like X's. It was a standard private room that all high rank hunters had. A recharge pod, a desk with chair, a dresser, a personal computer, filing cabinets, and a shelf. Of course, the place had been decorated to Zeros' tastes. A whiteboard next to his recharge pod, a calendar several months behind, and framed photos hung across the walls.

X stood at the very center. Staring all around him at the familiar sight. The familiar smells. The familiar everything. His gaze stuck on everything, yet nothing at all.

Where to begin?

With a sigh, X set down several boxes he brought in and took out a trash bag to wrap around the chair. He had putting off going through Zero's belongings. Although Signas gave X time to grieve, he was overstaying his welcome in allowing these items to rot in Zero's room. X was thankful that Zero lived much like X did. Sparingly, perhaps even more so than himself. It made going through everything easier, or at least to pack and set aside to properly sift through when he wasn't in a rush.

Giving another once over, X decided to start from one end and work in a circle starting with Zero's recharge pod. Curiously, X stared at the scribbled handwriting on the whiteboard. Dreams. Patrol notes. Quotes of things that he heard throughout the day. One had caught his eye.

'I wanted to live with you, together—'

X shut his eyes closed. Those words. He remembered them.

Zero had been laying sprawled over his desk. Head covered by his arms as agonizing moans left his companion's lips. X stared at him from the doorway to his room. Nothing was said between the two of them as all Zero could do was 'cry' and shutter at the hands that only knew to kill.

"X…" Zero gasped. X walked closer. Placing a gentle hand against his back. "X… I killed her…" There was silence as tears welled up in X's eyes. He wondered if Zero could, would he be crying?

"I know…" X sucked in some breath to stave off the tears. "I'm sorry, Zero—"

"Damnit, X!" Zero slammed his hand on his desk. X jolted away from him for a moment. There was fear for just a single moment. "I could have saved her! I could have… I could have…" he slammed his hand against his desk again. Rage, then a groan of pain, and a whimper that might have been a sob as he pressed his hands to his face. "Why…? Why am I destined to kill everything that comes near me?" he sobbed.

X reapproached Zero. The hand returned to Zero's back. Soothing him. "Zero," he whispered again. "It wasn't your fault." He let the machine slowly slump to X's torso allowing him to have the emotions overtake him. The agonizing screams of despair. The endless wails as he pushed his head further and further into his companion.

"Do you know what she told me, X?" he drew his hands away from his face as he drew back from X. Though Zero could not weep tears like X could, there was anguish on his face. An anguish X had never seen before cross his companion's eyes. Does he envy tears? "She told me… she wanted to live in a world where only reploids exist." He drew his eyes shut and pressed his hands to his face again. There was an anguishing cry once more. "With me…!"

X took a step back shaking his head before he placed the whiteboard inside a box. Eyes glanced to the calendar that hung next to the whiteboard. He stared at the dates circled and crossed out. Notes as to when a report was due, missions, military events, and some other things that were less formal. 'New Recruit.' 'Training with Squad.' He flipped the calendar to newer months. When everything fell to pieces. 'X.' That one had been curiously circled several times with several exclamation points.

X could only feel a pang of sorrow. As it was only several days after Zero died.

He tossed the calendar in the trash.

"I can't keep looking at all this." X shook his head as the settling pain swept down onto him. "Just pack… I can look at this later." He closed his eyes grounding himself. "Just pack…"

X gave a stretch as he looked over Zero's room. One section had been completed and he only had a box barely filled with anything. Most of the stuff that he had gone through was mostly trash. There was a sigh as he wanted a break from the work, but he had to get the work done soon, if not today. His eyes flickered over to the dresser as he noticed a large box labelled medals. He walked over and peered into it, noticing that it was every medal that Zero was awarded. Special awards for all the work that Zero had done.

He smiled thinking about how special Zero was. His prowess in battle. His quick thinking. His tendency for battle. The way his body twisted and turned to easily avoid an attack. How his hair would flow behind him—

X shut his eyes and shook his head refocusing on the box. Lips pursed as he sifted through all of them, picking up one in particular. The POW medal that was awarded. X gave a faded smile, thinking about how much that medal had upset Zero. It had been after his first resurrection. He remembered the aftermath of the ceremony well.

"I bet they only got me this 'cause they don't have an award for ex-Maverickism," Zero scoffed.

X gave Zero a small smile as he stopped by his friend's side. He picked up the medal from Zero's hands and placed it against the other's chest. "I think that it's nice that they recognized that you were a prisoner of war," X replied optimistically.

"I don't," Zero scowled as he stared upwards towards the ceiling, almost annoyed. "I rather they forgot about my spectacular fuck up." X shrugged his shoulders giving Zero back his medal.

"You should give yourself more credit, Zero." X playfully patted Zero's back. "Not many reploids can say they overcame Maverickism."

"Yeah…" Zero grimaced. "Because we kill them."

X frowned as he opened his eyes thinking about the memory. What of all those reploids that came back from the brink and were given nothing? What made them so special? He placed the medal back and closed the box packing it away. He would keep them for himself, even if Zero hated them.

Going through Zero's clothes had been the easiest of the process thus far. X placed most of them into a box to be donated for general use by other hunters. Most of them had been standard issue Maverick Hunter gear, but there were some civilian clothes for the rare times that Zero had went out for civilian life. Though, X noticed he had mostly worn the articles of clothing for recon rather than recreational use. It made him sigh with a smile, shaking his head side to side. "Such a workaholic."

Shuffling through more articles of clothing, X brought up a jacket that was a little too large for him. It still vaguely smelled of Zero. Black leather. Signs of wear and tear. It was well used. But X smiled. He remembered the first time that Zero had worn it out.

X and Zero had pressed themselves into a small alcove within a building as the rain poured across the city. It was their fault that they hadn't looked at the weather before going out, and neither of them had brought an umbrella. "I'm guessing you didn't check the weather either," Zero turned his gaze down at X.

"Not at all…" X sighed. "I guess that changes our plans a bit." He tried to hide his embarrassment from Zero.

Zero gave a chuckle, "Looks like the Amazing X sometimes can't plan a perfect night out." There was a tease to his voice.

X swung his face towards Zero with a pout. A gentle blush soon made its way through his cheeks as Zero had looked down at him. Quickly he looked away.

"We can still go," Zero mused seemingly not noticing X's reaction.

"Do you think they'll let us in if we're drenched?" X looked back at Zero, who shrugged in response.

"Well, we made it this far." He watched as Zero unzipped his jacket. Most likely to use it as a makeshift umbrella. But X was surprised to see that Zero was handing him the jacket. It took X a moment to realize what he was doing.

"Huh? But you'll get drenched! Besides… its my fault that—" X was silenced by Zero pushing the jacket into his face.

"Don't worry about it," Zero smiled. X carefully took the jacket from him. "I never told you this, X, but I like it when it pours like this." He watched as Zero took a step out into the rain. It looked as if his entire body relaxed into the water that poured over his frame. As if he was able to let himself blend into the ocean. "It helps drown out the noise."

X sat in Zero's desk and sighed at the mess that was left. Papers sprawled all across the place, similar to how his office was. Each piece was carefully looked over, and anything important X would carefully put away or properly dispose of. When the desk was clear of all useless paper he would turn to the computer with uncertainty. There was a piece of him that wanted to reset the computer, but he knew better than to delete precious memories that might have been there. So, he turned it on.

Password protected. A sigh as he slumped back into the chair. "If I was Zero…" X thought for a moment staring at anything in the room to give a hint. It only took several minutes of guesswork to figure it out. The mix set of numbers of the day he was activated. X could only give a hint of a smile as he set the computer to copy all the files into the spare hard drive he had brought.

And X sat back, basking in his handiwork for a moment as his eyes settled on a digital picture frame. It had been set on a picture of Zero and Iris together at the park. Carefully X picked it up, smiling at the two of them. They were close. Even X could see how much Zero had loved Iris. He wondered if Zero had ever told her…

A sigh broke from his lips as a pang of sadness overcame him. But he shook the feeling away as he pressed a button on the frame to go to the next image. It was another image of Iris and Zero. The next image was a picture of Colonel, Iris, and Zero. The next after that was just Iris. Several pictures were of the two of them together. But it wasn't long before X's eyes widened to find one particular image.

He almost couldn't believe that it was there.

X pressed his hands against the glass as green eyes innocently peered into the capsule. Cain and Sigma spoke to one another and X hardly took notice of the conversation as he stayed his attention to the mysterious capsule that had been brought in by Sigma weeks ago. Every time he had drawn near he felt so compelled by it to watch and observe it with great excitement.

"Careful, X." Sigma smirked at the other. "That thing is dangerous," he pointed his finger towards it. X merely frowned back at him.

"That 'thing' is a person," X retorted straightening himself. He had read the report already handed to Cain. A human-like machine, just the same as X, sealed away only to be reawakened.

Sigma backed off, if only momentarily. Raising his hands in a defensive position, still with that smirk. "We'll see if it is or isn't today, won't we?" Sigma looked back at Cain. X frowned before backing away from the capsule. "The repairs are complete, are they?"

Cain nodded his head walking over to one of his many computers in his lab. "Yes, I was able to completely repair his mind, but I do not know if his programming is completely wiped of all violent tendences." Cain glanced over at the capsule as he begun to type into his computer. "I made sure that our friend will wake up in low-power mode to avoid any incidents." A finger hovered over a button. "Everyone in position?"

X pulled himself away from the capsule to stand in position near Cain, arm buster at the ready, as Sigma positioned himself in front of the two of them closer to the capsule. "Ready."

"Initiating wake up sequence," he pressed a button. Instantly the pod unlocked with a hiss. The glass door slowly raising upward until… it froze in place. "Blasted thing! I thought I fixed that!" Cain grumbled as he faced the computer once more typing furiously into the console. "It needs someone to manually open it…" Cain pushed himself away from the computer to begin walking towards it before X grabbed him.

"Doctor! I have to advise against that!" X stared at him as if he was out of his mind.

"I have to agree with X, Doctor Cain." Sigma looked back at the two scientists. "I saw what that thing did to my comrades. It isn't safe. Allow me to—"

X stepped forward in front of Cain. "No. Let me do it." Sigma was about to protest, before shrugging his shoulders and moving to the side.

"Be my guest then," Sigma smiled as X carefully walked to the capsule.

X observed it carefully, uneasy as he drew closer to the wakening machine inside. He switched his buster to a hand before carefully finding purchase at the door and began to pull it open. He heard the creaking as he pushed it above and over his head, putting his foot into the capsule to find a better position to push it open. He hardly noticed the rousing body beneath him as he completely opened the pod and sat straddling the rim of the capsule.

"X!" Cain shouted.

"Huh?" X looked around, turning his body to come face to face with the infamous machine.

He sat there, peacefully. Red armor sparkling in the light. Fair skin. Strong blue eyes. Blond hair that draped down his body. X was practically enraptured by the moment as the unknown machine looked at X quizzically. His head tipping slightly to the side. A blank appearance on his face. "X…?"

X smiled, nodding his head as he turned his body to sit on the pod's edge, facing this newly wakened machine. "Yes, my name is X." He stretched out his arm, trying to be familiar with the other, but it looked as if the other was completely confused by the gesture and ignored him. "What's your name?" he spoke softly.

"My name?" he closed his eyes. Searching for it. "My name… is Zero…"

X sat across the table from Zero who seemed to stare right through him. The features on his face did not seem to react to X's presence, and only his eyes followed him. "Good morning, Zero." X greeted the other happily as Zero seemed to make no reflection on the emotion.

"Good morning, X." Zero mimicked.

In the aftermath of Zero's awakening, the group had found that Zero had not a single recollection of the events that transpired between him and Sigma's squad. It had been as if the other's memory had been completely wiped. Moreover, the robot had absolutely no recollection of his past. The news was disappointing to X as he hoped that he might have gleaned something from the past that X was from. But it still felt nice knowing that he was not the only one with similar backgrounds.

It was almost immediate that Sigma had requested that Zero join the Maverick Hunters from the supposed prowess he had witnessed, but luckily, Cain had protested such notion. Just looking at Zero now, the other had no clue what was happening to the world around him. Much less how to manage any emotions, if he even had them. Even X could tell that throwing a robot into such turmoil would only cause further psychological damage to it.

X smiled at Zero who stared blankly at him. "I brought you a gift!" he placed a wooden box on the table.

"Gift?" Zero stared empty at X.

"Yes," X opened the wooden box to reveal an old wooden chess set that Cain had given him. "A chess set. Do you know how to play?" X began to set up the pieces so that they could play. Zero shook his head in reply.

Good, it looked like he was understanding nonverbal responses.

X passed him a piece of paper with the rules of the game and was surprised when Zero practically glanced at the paperwork and seemed to understand it completely. Amazing. His response time is fractions of seconds! Faster than mine! When the game was set, X motioned to Zero. "You're black, so I'll go first."

X picked up a pawn and place it forward. X hardly had placed his hand back to his side, expecting Zero to take his time to think over his move, but to his surprise the other had instantly played a piece in response to his. X was shocked by the response time. Nervously he looked up at Zero who waited the next move. He moved his bishop into a bishop's opening. And Zero had easily set his knight to counter it. Without even a moment's hesitation.

I barely took my fingers off my piece…

Zero made quick and confident decisions whilst X had uneasily trudged through the battlefield making mistakes costing him precious pieces. X scrambled to make sense of the board. Watching how his enemy stared right through him with hardly a second look at what had just been played. It was as if the round had ended as soon as it began.

"Check mate."

X stared down at the board. A complete and total loss. A game that lasted merely minutes.

"Incredible…" X whispered staring back at Zero. "How?" Zero stared at him with a bit of confusion seemingly tinging on his face. Or maybe that could have been X imagining it. "Don't tell me Cain installed you with some chess program," he joked.

"No. I just know." Zero's answer was barely just that.

"You just… know?" X furrowed his brows, trying to get more information.

"Yes… No…" Zero furrowed his brows. He closed his eyes. Frowning. There it was. Emotion! It was subtle in the way that Zero's brows furrowed and his lips turned to a frown. The way his head shook side to side. It was confusion. Lost for words. X would have to document this to Cain later. "It's loud." A hand pressed to his head as he stared blankly to the table.

"Loud?" X moved closed to Zero. His interest was piqued. "What does it sound like?"

"There isn't any sound. Just data." Zero shook his head, eyes still closed. X could only move closer in. Scooting his chair ever so nearer. He yearned to understand. "I can see thousands of possibilities in the moment that you moved your piece. Each one drowning the other out with a better tactic. It all happens in an instant. The noise." Zero opened his eyes, staring at the board. "I saw straight through your strategy and my system told me how to defeat you. I followed its command, and I won." Slowly, Zero turned to face X.

X nodded his head carefully. "Your system?" he placed his hands on the table. Looking compassionately at Zero. "What is your system?"

Zero paused for a moment, staring straight through X. "My war stratagem. It tells me the best way to kill things. How to kill them. What to do. When to do it."

The smile on X's face slowly faded. The intrigue and joy slowly washed away. "Is it telling you something right now?" he stuttered.

"Yes." Zero kept his gaze fixated on X. "It's telling me to kill you."

X came face to face with Zero. It was in that instant that X had realized his own mortality. In the beautiful blue, X saw shimmering within them a crimson waterfall of blood. The yearning for battle. The yearning to kill. X tried to keep himself from becoming paralyzed with fear, but he knew that Zero could see through him. See through it all through his 'system'. The drowning responses that Zero could play out in his head in this instant to shutter X's life forever.

He knows how to kill me.

X reached his hand out.

Will he kill me?

Resting it against Zero's hand.

How is he going to kill me?

Cold. Metallic. Empty.

What will he do?

"What are you doing?"

"Huh?" X broke from Zero's gaze to look down at his hand that was softly intertwined with Zero's fingers. "Oh," he brought his hand back.

"This…" Zero reached again to grab X's hand. He held it firm, but desperate in a way that called out for comfort. X still sat terrified of what Zero would do to him, but more confused. "What do you call this?"

X paused, unsure how to reply. "Holding hands?" he slowly relaxed.

Zero nodded his head. "Holding hands," he repeated. "This helps…" X's smile slowly returned back to him. "The noise feels smaller."

Several weeks had passed as Cain continued his repairs and analysis of Zero. Although the other had been completely repaired from his initial slumber, Cain thought it important to keep Zero for just a little more time, delaying his entrance into the Maverick Hunters.

Whenever Sigma would inquire about Zero, Cain would always retort stating that 'X had years to ponder violence. Zero has only had weeks.'

But X didn't mind. He enjoyed Zero's company. Unnerving as it was for the first week or two with his perchance for violence, he slowly noticed Zero's unfurling personality. Cold and commanding, but endearing. Often, X would wonder if it was the "System" that held Zero back. It wasn't difficult to work around Zero's strange thinking skills, and slowly X showed Zero how to be more comfortable around the world that he lived in. But the one issue that seemed to be ever present is the apparent lack of emotions the other had.

X could tell that the other could feel pain, sadness, or even happiness. But it never truly manifested across his expressions. It was kept strangely internalized with often faint appearances of such emotions of frustrations, confusion, and the sometimes strange quirk of holding X's hand if things were too overwhelming.

He could only hope that Zero would eventually find his voice.

"03 minutes, 24 seconds." Zero began to reset the chessboard whilst X relaxed back into his chair. "87808:0." A pout formed on X's face.

"Not even a single win, eh?" Cain laughed from behind his newspaper as X sunk further into his chair. "I think I should start to call Zero the perfect reploid."

"I'm not a reploid," Zero turned to look at Cain. His features still strong, hardly a passing emotion. "I'm a robot."

"You know what I meant," Cain grumbled from behind his newspaper.

Zero motioned towards X to prepare for the next game. "Even if X hasn't won a single game against me, he has gotten faster playing."

X stared at Zero from across the table, his eyes barely peeking out from below the top of the table. A pout was still formed on his face as Zero waited patiently to make the first move. "You're really having fun, aren't you?" Slowly X shifted to sit properly.

"A little," Zero shifted a bit. "You should give yourself a bit more credit, X. It might not look it, but you've improved a lot."

By your standards. X sighed as he prepared himself for the first move. Maybe this time…

Several minutes passed.

"03 minutes, 40 seconds. 87809:0." Zero began to reset the chessboard once more.

"Ugh!" X threw his hands up. It wasn't often that X got fed up with the losses, but today was one particular day that it was beginning to get to him. "I think I need a break," X got up from his chair. His face was hot red from frustration, finding that he had not made any single progress in his 'war' against Zero. Though it might be true that X had improved over the weeks that they started their chess sessions, it was impossible for X to see it objectively. Finding that each game ended in a total loss.

Usually, Zero would let X cool off. Patiently he would wait for 10 or 20 minutes for X to return refreshed, but today was different. Without looking towards X, Zero grabbed X's hand before he stormed off. "Just one more."

Cain peeked his eyes over the newspaper again. Staring at the two of them. Observing. "Zero, I'm exhausted from this." X rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I think I'm sick of chess now."

Zero slowly stood. "Please?" X felt Zero gently tug his hand towards the game.

X sighed again, closing his eyes for a moment. "Fine. I'll do one more."

Though X couldn't see the joy manifest on Zero's face, he could tell just from the way his hand gently pulled away. They took their places. Zero's hand ready to play. X stared. Completely locked in determined to make any progress towards defeating Zero. The motions were quick. Hands quickly passing between each other as each piece moved with hardly a moment to breathe. To the human eye, one could hardly make out the strategies that played beneath the dance of battle. To X and Zero, they worked together with one another in a dance.

"Checkmate." X sighed, closing his eyes hearing Zero's often spoken words. I lost again! "You won."

"Huh?"

X opened his eyes, looking down at the board.

"04 minutes, 12 seconds. 87809:1."

X leapt from the table hardly unable to believe it. There it was! It was a narrow win. Hard losses on X's end, risky moves, but it was there. A solid check mate against Zero. X began to laugh. "I won!" he cheered. He flung his hands up in joy. "Cain! Cain look!" he pointed at the board. "I finally did it!" laughter filled the room as X danced with joy.

The doctor slowly made his way over, fixing his glasses staring down at the board. A smile on his face. "I'll be… You sure put me in my place." Cain gave a laugh patting X on the back. X's smile was bright as he hugged Cain (perhaps a little too hard). Though it was a small victory, it was one nonetheless. After weeks and weeks of loss after loss, X had finally defeated Zero. Slowly his gaze turned to Zero who sat with his arms crossed over his chest.

There was a smile.

An actual smile.

X let go of Cain, his face ever brighter as he looked at Zero. "Zero…" Zero kept his stare at X, the smile never faltering. "You're smiling."

Cain turned to look at Zero, almost surprised as well.

The smile faded a little, unsure. "Huh?" his features slowly diminished to his normal serious resting face. "Is that… bad?"

"No!" X shook his head furiously, approaching Zero taking both his hands. "No… You should if you want to." A few seconds passed before that smile slowly returned to Zero's lips. The emotions X felt were overwhelming. But he embraced them all the same. Zero's smile was the sun shining through the clouds. Beautiful, bright, and full of joy. There was nothing more beautiful in this moment that X could liken Zero's smile to. It was perfect. It was amazing.

"You're amazing, X."

"You are too."

And Zero's smile only grew more.

"Cain must have taken the picture," X whispered to himself. Tears rolled down his face. X and Zero's hands held one another. Staring at each other with a joy that was indescribable. Smiling. Zero's first smile.

Slowly, X slid to his knees, holding the picture close to him.

Intense memories of that moment flooded his body. He allowed himself to feel that joy felt in that moment. The love. The happiness. The beauty. Spring's first kiss after the long winter days. Every feeling, every emotion, filled with pure enjoyment of basking in the presence of his new found friend. A friend that would become the only person to understand him. And he the only person to understand it.

A soul's touch.

An intertwined fate. Forever.

Now, he was gone.

Why does it hurt so much?

Pain. Twisting. Curling. Thorns pressing against his body and squeezing his soul tight into a constricting agony. Emptiness followed quick behind. Taking over every memory that once brought him joy and hope. Holes left to ache his soul. Rage left to swell his body. The grief was unbearable. The tears would not stop. Closer did the picture come to his chest. Closer did the pain feel.

"Zero," X cried through gritted teeth.

There was no joy in this lost. There was no celebration in the life that no longer existed.

An empty coffin.

An empty eulogy.

An empty heart.

Loneliness was all that was left where even memories could not comfort the living. Memories of the happiness that would never be back. Misery that he would have to live with. Forever.

"Please… Please come back…" Agony. Cries to heaven. To God. His only prayer to that which existed, or perhaps, it did not. Much like the robot soul. "I'll do anything to bring you back. Anything. I don't care… please…"

Who did he have to beg to?

Who did he have to pray to?

Who decided to live? To die?

Was it God? Was it Humanity?

Was he made only to suffer?

Only to feel only pain?

Is this what it means to be human?

"I'm lost without you."