Chapter Nineteen: Advancing to the Past

A small brown rabbit hopped across the mostly-barren terrain, searching for the sparse clumps of grass that struggled to grow from the rugged – almost rocky – soil. Chunks of metal of various sizes dotted the ruined landscape, remnants of the Eurasia that civilization had yet to reclaim and recycle. In a slightly more hilly part of the area, an opening could be seen leading into the side of one of the hills, large enough to comfortably fit two men walking side-by-side.

A beam of light descended from the heavens, seemingly aiming for the mouth of the cave; instead of slamming into the ground and creating a second hole, however, it lightly impacted, barely sending up a puff of dust as two figures materialized from within the beam, one clad in blue armor and wielding a cannon for an arm and an intense expression, and the other with hair the color of flame and wielding a satchel and an expression of concern. To any observer, the contrast would be quite striking.

"Looks like the coast is clear," X said after a brief scan of the area. "I'm glad you thought to adjust our entry coordinates, or I would have shot us right into the cave itself; that could have been messy."

"I'm…just glad I could help," Shortwave replied, lightly blushing at the praise. She then reached into her bag and pulled out a flashlight. "Are we ready?"

X performed a last-minute check of his X-Buster before giving her a nod and a smile. "Ready."

Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of his arm cannon, and she briefly fumbled the light before managing to switch it on, and the pair cautiously made their way into the opening.

As expected, it was dark inside; dirt occasionally crumbled down from the walls, though even a superficial examination would show that the tunnel had been dug in such as way that it wouldn't collapse, even under the stress of an earthquake, a testimony to the competence of the late Dr. Cain and his archaeological dig team. The light from Shortwave's flashlight was quickly swallowed up by the darkness, which could almost be felt. Lamps had been hung on supporting beams every few feet, but their power supplies had depleted in the years since Dr. Cain's discovery of X's capsule.

"Great!" Shortwave chirped after examining one of the lights. "We have just what we need to power these up again!" As X watched, she pulled a small battery out of her bag and wired it to the nearest lamp; almost immediately, the tunnel was flooded with light as the lamps lit up one by one in quick succession. "It's a good thing that Dr. Cain wired these together; there's no way I could carry enough batteries for all of them."

"Is that going to be enough, though?" X asked while eyeing the tiny power supply.

"Well, it depends on how many lights there are," Shortwave explained. "Battery technology has really improved since Doctor Cain found you, so this should last us for a few hours." She grinned up at her traveling companion. "Douglas made this one, so it should last even longer… But, like I said; it'll depend on how many lights it's powering up. I have more, anyway, just in case."

"Oh." Even though he himself was the pinnacle of technology, X was more of a 'user' when it came to technology in general. "That's good to know."

"Are we ready to go, then?" Shortwave asked with a smile while making a show of switching off her flashlight.

X couldn't help but feel some of her enthusiasm, and he smiled as well. "Let's go!"

Layer thanked the driver as she stepped off the bus. It had taken her around three hours to walk to the bus stop near Maverick Hunter Headquarters, ride it to the nearest train station, ride the train to the city where 'Cyber Dolls' main building resided, then ride the bus that would drop her off in front of her place of manufacture.

She entered the front door of the huge complex and approached one of the many desks that appeared to be intended for receiving visitors. "Good afternoon, ma'am; my name is Layer, and-"

"Down the hall, then down the second hall on your left," the lady behind the desk interrupted with a wave of her hand toward a nearby hallway; from her bored tone of voice, she'd apparently had to answer the same question many, many times.

"O-Okay," Layer stammered, surprised by the young woman's abrupt demeanor. "Thank you." Rather than risk being interrupted again by trying to ask a follow-up question she headed down the indicated hallway, eventually finding herself at the end of a line of girls who looked remarkably like her. Not all of them had long, purple hair and dark skin, though; she saw pink hair, brown hair, red hair, all of varying lengths and styles. Brown skin, white skin, pink skin…

Her eyes settled on the girl ahead of her – a light-skinned girl with silver hair and what appeared to be a bow of the same color on the top of her head – and she held back a gasp at the sight of the girl's left shoulder; not only was the garment she was wearing tattered, the skin underneath appeared to have been shredded, revealing a damaged shoulder along with collateral damage to the nearest components. It didn't take an engineer of Douglas' caliber to recognize that the damage had to have been deliberate, and she shuddered at the implications.

She hesitantly reached out to touch the girl on her undamaged shoulder. "I-I'm sorry if I'm being nosy, but…are you okay?"

The girl half-turned to face her, and Layer's eyes widened at the vertically-slitted eyes that peered from a face remarkably like her own; she also realized that what she had originally thought was a bow was, in fact, a pair of cat-like ears. "I will be fine-nya," she replied in a high-pitched yet slightly distorted voice, likely due to the damage to her throat that had come into view. "Master was rougher with me than usual-nya. He said he was very sorry-nya."

'Nya'…? "That's…good to know," Layer managed to reply in spite of her shock at the sight. "Being… Being sorry is good."

"Once I am repaired, then I will be fine-nya." Apparently satisfied that she had answered Layer's question, the cat-eared Reploid turned to face forward again just as the line advanced.

For her part, Layer shuddered, not just at the idea of a 'cat-girl' Reploid, but that such mistreatment of any Reploid would be tolerated. "This is what they do with the freedom that we protect?" she murmured to herself as the line advanced again.

She suddenly found herself with a greater appreciation for Alia's husband.

"We should be getting close…" Shortwave murmured thoughtfully as she studied her palmtop computer. "According to the distances listed in Dr. Cain's reports, the lab should be just down the next left tunnel, about a hundred meters."

X focused his vision ahead and zoomed in, only to find that the tunnel in question curved sharply enough to the left that any sign of the lab would be out of his line of sight. "Well, at least we don't have much further be-"

The lights suddenly blinked out, and Shortwave cried out as she grabbed onto X, who reflexively raised his arm cannon even though no hostiles could be detected. "Wh-What's wrong, Shortwave? Why did the lights go out?

All that came in response was an embarrassed giggle. "I'm sorry, X; I think the charge ran out on the battery."

X breathed a sigh of relief as he lowered his arm again. "Can you light them up again?" He heard no response but felt the petite Reploid's grip tighten. "Shortwave?"

"X?" A delicate yet heavy sigh echoed through the tunnel. "Before I do that, I have to tell you something."

"What?" Something in her tone had him resisting the urge to raise his weapon arm again. "Is something in here with us?"

"No, and that's why I have to tell you something now." He felt her grip shift, and even in the low light he could see that she was moving to stand before him, though leaving barely any space between them. "I know I haven't been very direct about…" A deep breath. "…about how I feel about you, and I'm really sorry about that. I mean, I know I've kinda hinted about it, and my hints haven't exactly been subtle, but…"

X thought he sensed an abrupt cooling of the atmosphere in the tunnel but realized it was due to an increase in his personal temperature, the result of an acceleration of his own systems. "Th-Thanks…?"

She reached up to cup his face with both hands; to his mild surprise, her emerald-colored eyes actually started to glow slightly. "I…I want to be your navigator, X." He opened his mouth, but she quickly slid a hand over to place two fingers over it. "Wait, please; I'm not done." Satisfied that he was listening again she continued. "I know I'm your Navigator at work, but I want to be your navigator in life. I want to be… How do the humans say it…?" Her slim brow furrowed as she tried to find the right words. "Life partner? Lover?" She giggled, though it sounded strained. "I want to navigate life with you."

X had heard Max use the term 'pair-bonding', though he felt that the concept was way out of his realm of knowledge. "Like Alia does with Mr. Hannity?"

"Yeah…" she sighed, daring to lean into him. "We work really well together, and I think that's because we're so compatible." Another giggle, one that he felt through his armor; not an unpleasant sensation. "Hard to believe, huh? I was created only three years ago, but you were created over a century ago."

"I-…I see…"

She sighed again. "Doggone it; I'm doing it again." He felt her grip tighten briefly before she spoke again. "I guess I'm afraid that if I say it, then I'll ruin our friendship, and I'd hate that."

X wasn't sure what to do in the situation but wanted to be comforting, so he rested a hand on her head even as he maintained his awareness of their surroundings. "Take your time, Shortwave; if it helps, I can't think of anything that you could say that would make me hate you or anything."

"I love you." Her grip tightened again.

X blinked into an expression of confusion. "Huh?"

"I love you, X."

Of course, X knew of the concept of love that she was describing; he'd seen it between Axl and Pallette, and, more recently, between Alia and Max, not to mention all of the happy pairs of humans he would see during his free time. "I…"

"You don't have to answer right now," she interrupted, and the thickness in her voice and trembling in her limbs informed him that she was scared. "I just… Thank you for listening."

"You're welcome?" In spite of his attempt at compassion the blue-armored warrior felt shame, shame at his inability to respond in kind, shame at his failure to correctly recognize the signs that she'd been giving off. "I'm really sorry, Shortwave; I don't know what to do with what you've just told me. I know that the kind of…friendship…that you're talking about isn't the same as mine and Zero's, but I…" He averted his gaze from her gently-glowing eyes, and her hands slid from his face. "I'm sorry; I need some time to think about all of this."

"That's okay," she replied gently. Then, she giggled. "You probably feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle sometimes, don't you? Or maybe Urashima Taro? Kind of a man out of his time?"

He snapped his gaze back to hers with a blink. "H-How did you know?"

She shook her head, smile still in place. "I didn't. But Dr. Light put you in that capsule for what was supposed to be thirty years, but instead it turned into a century." Her eyes lost focus as her gaze fell though the faint glow remained. "From seeing Dr. Light's smiling face in a happy, safe place to seeing Dr. Cain's – whatever expression he had – in a destroyed home? That must have been hard."

X's eyes widened, and before he could stop himself he grabbed his navigator in an embrace, causing her to yelp in surprise; no one had ever shown such insight, or cared in such a way as to empathize with his past the way that the young Reploid before him had. "Y-You understand…" he stammered. "I look around me and see friendly faces, but they all look so…different from me. I know Zero was created around the same time as me, but…" An infrequently-accessed subroutine started, and lubricant began to trickle from his eyes. "I've been surrounded by friends, but I've always felt so alone…"

If the petite redhead was surprised by his tears, she didn't show it; instead, she held him as tightly as she could without compromising his structural integrity. "I promise you, X: you'll never feel alone again, not if I can help it."

Layer trembled anxiously as she waited for her turn to enter one of the rooms that lined the corridor. Based on what she had seen of her 'sisters', she had a pretty good idea of what her model line was intended for. She only hoped that she was wrong.

A light turned green over one of the many doors lining the hallway and she cautiously made her way down the hall, finally stopping before the door. Unsure of what to do, she reached out and knocked politely, only to jump back in alarm as the door slid sideways into the wall revealing a small room that appeared as white and sterile – the word 'clinical' came to her mind – as the rest of the building. She took a deep breath before entering the room, and as she crossed the threshold she saw someone seated at a desk against the opposite wall. The individual had short, brown hair and wore what appeared to be a lab coat. Next to the desk was a door similar to the one she had just stepped through.

The individual at the desk glanced back at her, revealing a thin mustache and a goatee that barely covered his chin. "Go ahead and step onto the platform," he…ordered? "We'll get you taken care of and on your way as quickly as possible."

"I… I'm sorry…" Layer cringed while resisting the urge to flee; something about the building, the room, the man before her, felt very wrong. "I've never been here before, so…"

The man sighed. "All right, just stand over here and we'll get started," he said, indicating a raised white, square platform. "Like I said: We'll get you out of here and back to work." Before she could stammer a reply, he guided her onto the platform. "Great, just stand right there. E-4-2-1-1."

Layer panicked as her software reported a loss of communication with her limbs; though she remained standing, she was unable to move. She opened her mouth to protest, only to find that her mouth wasn't receiving commands, either. All she could do was watch as the man moved back to his desk and picked up what appeared to be a data cable and headed back toward her, eventually moving behind her and out of her line of sight. She registered the opening of an access point at the base of her neck, and she would have shivered had she been able.

"Oops, looks like I'll need an adapter," she heard him say before he reentered her field of vision to modify his cable appropriately. He then moved behind her again, and her software recognized a connection between herself and the computer on the man's desk. Not knowing what he was going to do, she desperately wanted to cry out, to tell him to stop, but the only functions she had control over were her optics. He pressed a few keys on the computer, and she recognized the code of an anti-virus software starting to work.

To her utter shock, he then stepped up to her and removed her upper torso armor, baring her bosom to his impassive gaze. She internally cried in humiliation as he appeared to examine her chest.

He started to reach for the bands of her leggings when he noticed some kind of fluid dripping onto his arm. Concerned about a potential leak – as well as his own safety – he traced the source up to her face, behind her bangs. Puzzled, he lifted her bangs to find. "Oh, shit…"

His charge was leaking optical lubricant, effectively crying on the diagnostic platform; at least, as much as she could, considering her immobile state.

"E-4-2-1-2!" he yelled, and she immediately squatted down, crossing her arms in an effort to cover her chest as she was finally able to vocalize her distress. "Aw, damn; are you okay?!"

"Please…" she choked through a sob, her gaze fixed firmly on the platform beneath her. "Please give me my armor back."

He looked around frantically and found the item in question and placed it next to her on the platform. "I'll turn my back to you while you change!" he offered in a panic. "I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed the leave the room during a diagnostic session!"

As she quickly reattached her armor, Layer kept a wary eye on her surroundings, the technician in particular.

"There we go!" Shortwave chirped as the lamps flickered to life once again. "That should be enough to see us the rest of the way."

X smiled his appreciation; he couldn't help but feel a little subdued after his prior momentary loss of emotional control. "Let's go, then."

She smiled over her shoulder before making her way back over to him. "Are you gonna-" She wanted to ask if he was going to be okay but realized that doing so could injure his warrior pride. "We don't have much farther to go; the signals are getting stronger."

"Signals?" X asked, partly relieved by the distraction, though the sudden revelation had him concerned. "What signals?"

She gave him a puzzled look before blinking into realization. "I never told you?" He shook his head so she explained, "I'm designed to detect and receive various forms of electronic communication and coordinate them as needed. That's why I worked at Reception before Commander Signas reassigned me as your navigator."

"I see." X mulled over yet another revelation as the pair followed a curve in the tunnel. "Wait… Is that why you were named 'Shortwave'?"

"That's right!" she replied with a proud smile. "The only reason I need to use the navigator console is that my range is limited."

"That would explain the 'short' in your name," X tried joking.

Her eyes widened briefly before she gave the veteran hunter a playful shove. "Hey! You're meeeeean!" she fake-whined, then grinned sheepishly. "But yeah, you're probably right."

An opening came into view, lit up by the hanging lamps, and X shifted his arm into the X-Buster while lifting the index finger of his other hand to his mouth to request silence. She nodded and moved to walk behind him; she wasn't a warrior, after all, and didn't want to get in his way if anything attacked them.

Eventually, they found themselves in front of another wall, with a hole large enough for someone to pass through to the other side. The remaining wall wasn't like the walls of the tunnel, though; instead of dirt and rock, this wall had a smooth, white surface, though time and submersion into the surrounding terrain had dirtied much of its surface.

X glanced down his shoulder at Shortwave, who still stood behind him with a light grip on the elbow of his non-cannon arm, and gave her a questioning look. She nodded encouragingly yet cautiously, and the pair slowly entered the darkened arch and into the ruined structure. As they passed through the hole, Shortwave extended her sensors as far as they could receive as X panned the dim room with his X-Buster, ready to down anything that might attack them.

They had barely gone a dozen feet before they came across a structure mounted to the floor; it looked remarkably like one of the storage pods at Maverick Hunter Headquarters, and X stepped toward it to take a closer-

"X!" Shortwave hissed in the silent darkness, and when he looked he saw her pointing to a section of the wall on the other side of the room. "There's a door there! And something's coming!"

Not knowing what to expect, X put his trust in his navigator's abilities and leveled his weapon at the doorway.

"Welcome…" a deep, metallic voice called out as the door slid open, and X charged up his X-Buster…

"I'm terribly sorry about this," the technician lamented as he disconnected the cable from the back of Layer's neck. "I assumed that you were one of our escort models, here for maintenance, and acted on a bunch of faulty assumptions. I'm really sorry about that."

"I think I understand," Layer replied as she wiped her eyes with her fingertips, having reclaimed some of her composure. "You were just doing your job; I can understand that."

"I appreciate it." The technician regarded her for a moment before turning to reach into his coat pocket to produce a laminated card, which he held up for her to see. "My name is Mark Stanfield, Technician Number 15006."

She unconsciously recorded the information. "My, um… My name is Layer. I work for Maverick Hunter Headquarters as a navigator. It's a pleasure to meet you."

His brow furrowed, and she began to wonder if she'd said something wrong until he abruptly straightened in his chair. "Oh, I see." He chuckled. "I think you're misunderstanding something, Miss Layer: I wasn't trying to introduce myself – though it is a pleasure to meet you as well…" A brief pause. "I was giving you my information in case you want to file a complaint against me."

"A complaint?"

"Well, sure; you came in, and I basically shut you down and started to…you know," he managed while gesturing toward her. "If my doctor did that to me, I'd probably have something to say to the medical board."

She giggled behind a hand. "I guess you would, huh?" She giggled once more before her expression turned serious again. "Just so I understand: what was it that you were going to do?"

He blushed but proceeded to explain the diagnostic process, checking for software viruses, damage to the skin overlay, damage to the skeleton and other internal workings. "My job is to ensure that our escort models are in the best condition possible," he finished with a smile. "Though from what I could tell, you've been very well maintained."

"Douglas takes care of my maintenance at Maverick Hunter HQ," Layer offered.

"I've heard of him!" Mark exclaimed with a snap of his fingers. "He's the best of the best! Reading about his work inspired me to become a Reploid technician."

"Good for you," Layer replied, trying to be supportive. There was one question that still bothered her, however. "Mr. Stanfield, you mentioned an…escort model earlier; what kind of Reploid is that?"

"That's-" he cut himself off and averted his gaze to the floor. "Honestly, someone from Marketing would be better suited for answering that kind of question. But you asked, me, so here goes…" He took a deep breath. "Basically our Escort Model is designed for comforting men; specifically, lonely men," he added with a meaningful look, and Layer's face paled at the implications. "Like I said, our marketing department would be able to explain it more…tactfully than I just did."

"You did fine," Layer said reassuringly, though she felt unsettled by the new information. Remembering the cat-eared girl she said, "There was a silver-haired Reploid ahead of me in line; she had cat ears, and her left shoulder looked like it was severely damaged. Her throat, too."

"Goddammit, Greg," Mark scoffed, his eyes losing focus as he glanced away. "I oughta beat your ass." He returned his gaze to her, and she found an expression of disgust. "Look, we may be a business here – and I know that my bedside manner hasn't been the best – but Cyber Dolls as a whole recognizes the sentience of Reploids and tries to respect their – well, your – independence and dignity." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Unfortunately, not all of our clientele thinks the same way."

Layer looked upon the technician with compassion; it was clear that the cat-girl's situation bothered him greatly. "Is…there any way we could rescue her?"

He sighed, his form visibly rising and falling with the action. "Unfortunately, no; unlike most of our Reploids, Mel-er, the Reploid agreed to a contract, so she's bound by it." He blinked as a thought came to mind. "Miss Layer, could I connect you to my terminal again?"

"Why?" she asked while unconsciously crossing her arms.

He gestured to her head. "I know this is kinda out-of-the-blue, but I noticed that you still have the escort commands in your programming; as far as I know you won't be able to remove them yourself, so I'd like to remove the commands for you." He attempted a lopsided smile and partly succeeded. "I'd like to give you more of your freedom; or, more correctly, remove anything that could be used to restrict your freedom."

"Restrict…?" Layer reflexively thought of her situation with Zero and realized that the commands that Mark was referring to could have been interfering with her efforts toward the Hunter. She also internally shuddered as she remembered how easily the technician was able to immobilize her with just a spoken word. "If you could remove them, I'd be grateful."

"Great!" he exclaimed while rubbing his hands together. "Let's get started, then!"

Layer was reconnected to the workstation and Mark immediately got to work, typing in code and sending it to Layer's neural network, which recognized it and began isolating the relevant code in preparation for deletion. "This won't affect my personality matrix, will it?" she asked at one point, understandably concerned.

"No, this should be extra code: What I mean is, code that you normally wouldn't access," he replied, his eyes still on his monitor. "Most of the stuff we're getting rid of are commands that others would – or could – use." He flashed her a grin. "We're taking that power away from them."

She unconsciously returned his smile, though the grateful twinkle in her eyes was obscured by her bangs.

It was several minutes later when the young man finished typing and slumped back in his office chair. "There!" he gasped. "That was a shit-load of code!" He swiveled to face her, though she noticed that he remained slumped. "Sorry, I don't normally have to type that much. Or that carefully, for that matter." He heaved a sigh, his slim abdomen noticeably rising and falling with the effort. "I'm ready to delete the isolated code; I just need your permission to proceed. Perform any self-diagnostics that you need to; I can wait."

The shapely Reploid angled her head, and her gaze turned inward as she examined the isolated code – carefully, so as to not accidentally access it. She also examined her personality subroutine and basic functions in an effort to find any proverbial loose ends, anything that could have been using the isolated code.

Finally, she looked up at the technician. "You have my permission; please proceed."

A smile broke out as Mark spun in his chair to face his workstation once again. "Final isolation of code complete. Commencing deletion…" A few seconds later, he spun back to face his client. "Congratulations, Miss Layer; you're free. Well, freer than before."

"Thank you so much," Layer said in a voice breathy with emotion. "Even though I don't see any changes in my programming, I do feel…freer." She bowed while still seated. "It has been a pleasure working with you, Mr. Stanfield."

"Likewise," he replied while returning the gesture. "Now, I don't mean to be rude, but I've spent more time with you than I usually do with a client, so if you're all done with me…?" he trailed off with an apologetic smile.

"I think I'm done," she told him with a giggle. "Thank you again."

"Glad I could help!" he replied as he pushed himself from his chair. He then headed toward the only other door in the room. "Out this door and down the hall to your right will take you back outside; go left if you want to go back to the main entrance."

She nodded politely as she made her way to and out the door that he held open for her. As the door closed behind her she looked to her left as an idea came to mind… She turned right and headed toward the exit doors visible in the distance.

As she exited the building, her eyes adjusted to the comparatively brighter light of the sun, and she took a moment to get her bearing before starting toward the-

"Hey, there."

Layer stopped short at the sight of several men near the exit doors. She counted five men of varying heights, weights, and proportions. "G-Good afternoon."

"Just get out of maintenance?"

Something about the men – their expressions, specifically – gave her an unsettling feeling. "I did. Please excuse me; I have to catch my bus."

She started to move away, only to find herself surrounded by the men. "Hey, where're you going?" one of them asked. "We just want to…get to know you."

"Please…" she whimpered, covering her chest as one of the men reached for her. "…let me go."

"Gonna play hard-to-get, huh?" another man said. Then, to her utter disgust he licked his lips before saying, "All right, then: E-4-2-1-1."

Layer froze, not because of the command code, but from the shock of someone trying to use it against her.

"See, guys? Five years later, and they haven't updated their codes," the first man guffawed. "What dumbasses."

Layer knew that she could remove her strength inhibitors and easily overpower the men, but she knew that doing so could lead to her being falsely qualified as a Maverick. "Help…" she whimpered as she crouched down to protect her dignity.

"Hey, she can still mo-!"

A beam of light streaking from the sky drew the men's attention, and they ran for cover as it homed in on their position.

Curled up as she was, Layer didn't see the light descend, so she yelped as an arm abruptly wrapped itself around her waist, pulling her to its owner. "Wha-?" was all she could get out before she dissolved into a beam of light.

When she rematerialized, she found herself outside a bus station; it took her a moment to realize that it was the one where she had debarked for the last leg of her trip to Cyber Dolls. She looked up to her mysterious benefactor, and… "Z-Zero?!"

The red-clad warrior fixed her with his intense gaze as he released her. "Are you okay?"

It was then that she realized that she had started to tremble again. "I-…I'm much better now, thank you." She took hold of his hand and managed to meet his gaze. "Thank you."

He studied her for a moment before speaking again. "Let's get you to your bus." She nodded, and he led her further into the station; she noticed that he kept hold of her hand. "Which bus do you need?"

"S-Sixty-four."

After consulting with the schedule holo-board, Zero led her over to the appropriate stop, where the bus stood waiting. "Get on."

"Wait!" she blurted, and after she had his attention she asked, "How did you know…?"

He fixed her with an unreadable expression. Finally he said, "See you when you get back. Be careful."

"I will," she promised, optical lubricant trickling from under her bangs.

He watched the tear as it slowly made its way down her face before reaching up to tenderly wipe it away. He then gently but firmly pulled her to the bus and she followed his lead, allowing herself to be pulled to the first step to board. He released her hand and she began to ascend but stopped short of the final step.

Before Zero could react, Layer quickly descended the steps and took hold of him to plant a whisper of a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you so much," he heard before she quickly ascended the steps again just as the doors closed.

As he watched the bus pull away, Zero reached up and hesitantly touched the place where Layer had kissed him before fading into a beam of light and streaking into the blue sky.