And he's back!
Also, for those who abhor self-insert types of character... yeah, so Mandodari Devi Dasi is Basically me but... better-ish. maybe.
Like, she's how I wish I would be at her age.
and no, I'm not hiding any flaws.
Uttara is Reiuji Utsuho, Nandarani in Nozomi from SMT, Karuna-SIndhu is Nanashi from Indentity quest, Yavata is Makoto Yuk/Krishna also from Identity Quest. Ishani is Jesus/ Iesua Nazarenus from he touhou fangame the last Comer (God literally told me it was OK...) and Yashoda is Junko from Touhou Project.
Mukhara is Toyosatomimi no Miko. and she lost all for limb when the forgotten hell crew felt like having a divine hot-pot.
they all friends now.
Voices….sound...pressure...top of body/ somewhere very soft and very warm. bottom of body, cold and hard...it smelled like human...flowers like jasmine...burning cow dung...it smelled fresh...and his Geiger counter was screaming that he was Laying on what amounted to a very localized star in full fusion.
Zero...was not a stranger to extreme heat...but this.
This was not the same as burning up upon re-entry, nor did it pack the same punch as Ragnarok-Weil exploding as he died.
no...it was...nurturing, a caring warmth that had nothing to do with his new power-core.
Zero willed his System to booth...while he still felt extremely weakened, he was not at the cusp of a power failure. 'How did my nanite rose back to normal? What the hell happened.'
he could hear the Hare Krishna Mantra being played...it was the same voice from his box. It was quiet save for someone murmuring...the very same mantra…
so far, his treat assessment algorithm was screaming that he was in a critical situation, foe wise. And yet...it felt as if he was sharing a pod with X, the same feeling of safety, the same flow of affection...the same critical treat warning him of an exceedingly powerful entity nearby.
'right! X is here.' He realized with careful joy. 'But how? he's...he's gone, right?' and since it was clear he was not back in the...what did Karuna called it, a hermitage? Then Zero was well aware that this could not be cyberspace...or whatever this place was.
He carefully opened his left eye...only to realized that the glitchy piece of technology was still off-line and would remain so for some time. 'Right….right.'
He opened his right one…
The first thing Zero saw was a pair of arms wrapped around his mid section...they were much longer then an average human, but also delicate like that of a woman. His body looked better, and his core…
His eyes grew wider...his power-core was not only fixed but...it now resembled an evil eye. Like the one that used to decorate the ruins in and around Neo-Arcadia.
'what the hell is going on here.' Zero wondered as he looked around the room. 'Oh God...let this not be a repeat of the times I went evil.' but so far, nothing inherently vile seemed to ooze from it, and the Red Legend could only pray it would stay this way.
Yes...Prayed...it seemed to work better then Anything Zero ever did in all those repetition.
It seemed to be a living room with a kitchen on one side. The walls were covered with...Cow dung, if his airborne particulate analyzer (his nose.) was as operational as his H.U.D made it out to be. Some pleasing designs that were both rustic and highly detailed were drawn on the...surface.
No, it's not that it smelled bad or anything, Zero just thought it...surprisingly low for the persons who had managed to restore his hardware to fully functional in less then five hours.
There was what seemed to be an altar there, on it was Gaura-Nitai, Radha-Krishna and a small set of Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra deities all dressed differently. Oh...and a rock with beautiful eyes and crowned with a peacock feather and a flute rested by his sweet smiling lips. 'So...they even worship rocks as Krishna.'
and under that, was a very expansive and used pair of size 12 running shoes. Someone had but a garland of very fragrant white flowers around them. 'and shoes...they worship shoes...'
If his memory was correct...for once, the angel...the nuclear one holding him tenderly, was already calling Zero her child...her hatching. Really, in the reploid's recovering mind, those Hare Krishna women were absolutely crazy...but not the same crazy that cause Commander Sigma to unleash hell on the planet...he hoped.
He looked 'what if...what if she's the corvid? The one that tried to get the lock off.' After all, he'd been through, Zero would only be dully surprised.
oh...and Jesus...he could remember this albino woman that had implied that she was the second coming of the Christ….and she seemed to be friends with X.
X
His perusal of the room took the back seat as he began to frantically look for X.
He knew he'd seen his friend...alive and well. He was not in his cyber-elf form, and...and he had a lisp for some reason. Still, X was there...his Kohai, the first one who showed him love and warmth... his reason to live…
"Oh?...OH!" he heard the nuclear angel….Uttara gasp. And the pair of arms shifted, squeezing him harder. "Hou yi, your awake!"
'Hou Yi...that's...Chinese.' Speaking of witch, the blond Chinese had called him that…
Uttara's right hand migrated to his forehead, once again, bereft of his helmet. "It's alright Hou yi...I know your scare and confused-"
'No shit.'
"But you don't have to worry, my son, you are in good hands right now." She gently kissed the top of his head.
Zero tried to open his mouth to protest, he was no-one son, he was a machine…Or a soul in a machine, if Karuna-Sindhu explanation was true…
He hoped it was true… he hoped it was all real.
"Uttara!" He heard X from behind the nuclear Corvid. "Zero's not you son, don't force yourself onto him. Let him breath, girl, he just managed to survive the unsurvivable again!"
"But Mando...He was plugged to my egg!" Uttara...whined as she covered Zero's eyes with her hand and his body with her wings. "And...And..."
"I know Uttara...you identify as a lady bird and you are stuck in your brooding period. But you could've taken Laddu-gopal as your-"
"But I don't want to worship Krishna like that...I know it's still Krishna, but my Ishta-deva is Radha-Krishna...beside, he needs a mom." The Human shaped Corvid...nuclear star...the impossible woman closed the subject, and Zero once again surrender to the fact that he would have another bird with a power-core mothering him…
He...didn't know if he would like it, but right now, he didn't have the heart to fight...he just wanted to be with his Partner again.
He heard the X get of from the floor...his knee's giving out an all too organic pops. Then a woman sat beside him.
She sighed, the atmospheric carbon rose...and Zero's heart sank.
"By the look on your face...I think you realized who I'm not." The woman...Mandodari spoke apologetically. "Zero...My name is Mandodari Devi Dasi. I was born in 1990's and...and the only thing I have in common with X is the red spot I wore on my fore head...and my buzz clip. Other wi- Oh Krishna!"
Zero, now stronger, managed to flare his sensors towards the voice...intellectually, he knew it was not X...but…
He needed to know.
Indeed, she had a pulse and a strong heart beat, her temperature was higher then a normal human though. Other wise… she had a very hearty laughter...more like a belly laugh.
"Y-Your no-not X...Y-yo-you are...Man-Madodari." He managed to say, his voice box cracking and glitching.
"Yup! I'm the soft-bellied one." She smacked her guts for emphasis.
"y-y-y-you sound t-t-too young...for a...f-f-forty s-s-s-ix y-y-y-ear old woman..." Oh his throat hurt…
Mandodari sighed. "Well...being forty six ain't all that old you know." she twanged. "Uttara, can you please let him see?"
"Alright, Swamini."
"Please don't call me that." Mandodari protested.
Uttara's hand moved to Zero's forehead, and as much as he loathed to admit, the warm palm felt extremely comforting to him.
He opened his eyes… one eye, and stared.
For a moment, he was seeing X at his happiest. His round face, his button nose, his big green eyes that shone with curiosity and later wisdom… his dark-brown hair...
and then, the illusion broke.
He could see that the lips were too full and chapped, and her hair was too short, and peppered with white strands that reflected the LED bulb light. Her teeth were a bit crooked, imperfect and she wore a very colorful night gown. On her forehead was the remenent of the same mark Karuna-Sindhu and Yavata bore...plus some red powder. She had full red cheeks pockmarked with skin pores and Zero would give her twenty-year...even if she was close to fifty . And on her neck was a wooden necklace...like the one he wore. There was also a silver chain adorned with silver Jagannath pendent and…
"Ra-d-d-dha?" Yes...this was in Sanskrit...he had also heard the word spoke and used as a cheer by the people in the Krishna-hill temple.
He felt Uttara stiffen, and Mandodari beamed. "Oh wow...Zero,You have now become the most fortunate soul in the entire universe."
"How d-d-do yo-u know me?" He asked, tried of being treated with so much respectful familiarity.
Mandodari's gave a wry smile. "Ah yes...what do you know about hermitage?"
"Eno-ugh...Y-Y-ou can sk-ip it." Karuna-Sindhu had kindly provided the (ex) dying reploid with a PDF that explained what was a hermitage and what Zero could expect living in the 'normal' world.
Still some war, but he didn't have to involve himself if he didn't feel like it, demoniac politic, misinformation were still very common. but no bomb were about about to fall, no reploids were around, meaning no maverick, no Weil...no Ragnarok...
basically, it sounded like paradise right now.
It had also warned that, if found by Mukhara and family, that 99% of the earths population were not Vaishnavas...or Worshipers of Vishnu/Krishna...yet.
So far, Zero...would rather not hang out with the general population...he remembered how they were, for the earlier cycle when he and X had been better at protecting them.
After a while, he had realized that humans were not better then animals, but unlike animals, could absolutely destroy, corrupt and exploit their environment up until nothing was left. And what to say about reploids…
X had been the one tasked to kill him...only because Zero had taken his retirement after a hundred rears of constant fighting for a lost cause, for the pleasure of bored human desiring a modern-day gladiator.
"Great!" Mandodari clapped her hands, breaking Zero out of his ...meh, type of memory. "so, I won't have to bore you out of you body with this silly thing. Anyway, you're sort-of a celebrity around this part of the universe Zero, they even made a movie about you and X."
"Ah..."
"It was fine for a video game movie, they really put a lot of effort with the CGI and the story was pretty good! Even managed to resolve a few plot hole and that thing that your friendship with X was...anyway, lets keep it a the stuff of legend...yeah, it was the stuff of legend like you two really loved each other in the most bro way possible even if the entire narrative painted at something more...the ending sucked tough, not that it was a surprise since they crammed like thirteen games in a three hours movie so it was quite fatigues by the end of it...and you still died at the end so yeah, it was terrible.."
Zero vented for her...wondering if his reading about this woman was wrong since no humans could speak without breathing...and 40 degree was way to high for a human.
"So yeah, you're well know...but not by everyone. Still you face was on most of the promotional material so you will get some recognition...not so much since the move did bomb badly but it will has a cult following nonetheless, just like the games. I guess its because it was Kenji Inafune's last work….any way, you were a deutarologist and a protagonist for thirteen very popular game, and I had a boyfriend way back when that was a fan so that's how I know you...oh, and I watched the Mega Man X movie on the plane..." he heard Uttara gasp behind him.
"Mandodari!I thought you never watched movies!"
"Your right. I don't like watching movies, they make me feel weird and disconnected." She admitted with a blush, making her cheek and nose even redder. "But I had this intense urge to watch it like...I could not stop myself." She turned her ocean colored gaze meaningfully back at Zero. "And now I know why."
"?"
"Sri-Krishna was warning me of our meeting." She revealed. Her tricolor eyes sparkling.
"K-K-Krishna...That G-G-God."
Mandodari beamed, and Uttara held Zero closer. "Yup! that's the Supreme Personality of Godhead! He sometime does that, you know."
"huh..."
"Like this one time, one of his great devotee called Vamsidasa Babaji Maharajah once stop a girl from exiting his hut since Krishna forewarned him that lightening would struck down, but the girl was like 'nu-uh creep, since a babaji's appearance is unshaven and clothing very optional and all that. So she was about to leave when he jump and grabbed her, pulling her away from the door just as lighting struck were she would have been!" Mandodari narrated with unlimited enthusiasms, her whole body shaking as she acted the past-time. "or there was this one time when-" then the door opened, admitting two blonde and an albino.
There was one human who was...had a bulging belly, she wore a long burgundy skirt that touched the ground, a blouse that exposed her mid-section and arms, and a cream colored shawl that covered her front. She had blue eyes.
The second one, Zero had to reset all of his sensors… for she had a glow to her, was uncommonly tall, didn't touch the ground and didn't seem to blink. She was dressed in a white cotton cloth. Like the albino.
Speaking of the albino,The albino woman was, shockingly, just another human...and yet, while he could see her, Zero had the distinct feeling that she was not of this world….kind of like Mandodari to be honest. She was holding a basket containing some terracotta pots on her head.
Predictably, all three gasped as they beheld his state.
"Hou yi!" The unblinking blonde gasp and she froze, her eyes pouring diamond tears.
"Well, look who's finally awake." the rotund blond drawled. "Welcome back to the world of the living Zero, nice to have you with us in this sacred land of Vrindavan."
"...Thanks." He managed to croak.
the albinos reverentially deposited her basket on the counter top, folded her palms, bowed her head and then came in front the altar. Bowing down in front of God as her radiance filled the room.
"Who...who a-a-are you?" Zero asked as they all entered further, and soon enough, he was surrounded by woman.
"Right, we may know you but you don't know us," Mandodari spoke. " You already know my name and Uttara's. The tall blond with the red eyes is Her grace Yashoda devi dasi, she's a good friend of mine and a wonderful school teacher, and...well Hou yi used to be her son. she'd the one who gave you this moniker by the way." Mandodari spoke with a bright smile.
" c-call me Z-z-zero...I am-m-m-m not your dead son." Zero informed the old woman with all the bluntness he could muster.
Yashoda inclined her head. "Indeed, you may look like my Hou yi, but the soul of my son has already taken quite a few new birth." she empress in with informed him. "One of which is the one you slept on for six hours and a half.
Zero looked up and took a good look at the nuclear angel. And after some adjustment, he had to wonder how he managed to mix her up with Iris.
Iris' face resembled X...Uttara's face was bird-like and her red eyes were clearly organic in nature...oh, and her expansive wings that could easily mantle all that were in the room. Her hair was ashen and she was clearly nuclear in nature.
Uttara smiled at him as she gently caressed his head.
Despite himself, Zero closed his eyes...when was the last time someone had been so gentle with him?
Mandodari continued. "The blond human woman is Nanda-rani devi dasi. We are currently in her apartment building in Radha-Kund area, in Vrindavana." She explained. "She's also the one who drove us here and let us in the holy Dham. Which was not advisable since she's what...five-month pregnant now?"
Zero gave her a good look...especially at the budding belly. Out of curiosity, he sent a few sensor there…
He had heard how humans would procreate...and how they could multiply by themselves without the help of machines. It had fascinated X to no end.
His Partner would be all over the expecting mother, embarrassingly enough...or he would be treating her like a fragile doll…
And to be honest, Zero had never seen a human carrying a baby, he had always assumed they would just put the sperm and the egg in a container and watch it grow. It never occurred to Zero that the incubation would be inside the woman's body.
Suddenly, Sex made more sense.
And now, his curiosity as to how a baby grow in, Zero had to check, his X would not have it otherwise.
Nanda-rani yelped as she swatted away at the golden sensors, sending a jolt rough Zero and Making Uttara hissed.
"Wow! Hey. Calm down Uttara. Nandi, it's alright, Zero's just curious." Mandodari spoke, and Zero noticed how...plump the woman was. It was clear she never had a day of famine in her life. "Zero probably never saw a pregnant woman in his life, and he identify as a robot so...I don't even know were I wanted to go with that…" she spoke to herself.
Once again, Zero had to wonder when was the last time he had seen and dealt with a plump human woman who didn't saw him as a weapon of war.
"Oh..S...Sorry. I'm just not into...I'm ticklish." Nanda-rani admitted, still looking at Zero wearily.
Zero grunted...and once again willed his sensors to move to the blonds human belly …
sure enough, Zero could feel another body inside...it was not clear since it still registered as being part of Nandarani's body...but there it was, a second heart beat...and some movement.
It was...Zero had no words...he had been surrounded by death for so long, he forgot how life felt like.
He let his sensor falls tot he ground, he may be fixed, but his body still ached...meaning his system was warning him not to move until absolutely fixed, or absolutely necessary. He closed his eyes...In Uttara's loving embrace, his nanites were in overdrive...as if he was in a pod.
"You wanna sleep Zero?" Mandodari asked gently.
"No...S-S-Sleep is for o-o-o-g-anics...my sight need repair...auto repair is b-better when off-line." He could still dream though...not that he wished to at the moment.
"Alright...we will eat breakfast while you rest then...can you eat?"
"No..."
"Last question, then I leave you alone." Mandodari continued her query, her voice so soothing to Zero's audio. He could listen to her for hours. "Do you know the Vaishnava who but you in the suitcase?"
"Karuna-Sindhu and Yavata..." Zero answered, his whole body slack. Uttara's gentle ministration lulling him back into recharge.
He heard All the vaishnavis gasp… 'Of course they would know him...they all wear the same mark."
Back with Omega
ever since he got out of the hermitage, Omega had discovered that humans had different type of body shape, size and form. Even gender.
Yavata was what was called "scrawny' meaning he was a bit short, and weak looking. His skin was brown yet covered in sacred tattoos, his gender was male (Omega checked), and he was covered in scars...scars that implied that he had been dismembered at one point. He had blue hair...something that was not natural and his eyes were steel gray, also not natural for an Asian. Oh, and he came from a hidden mountain city up in the Himalayas ruled by Kuvera. So he was a type of human that was different then the earthling.
In other words, he was an alien.
Karuna-Sindhu was a male, He was a bit taller then Omega (and by extension Zero and Yavata.) his body was moved by tight muscle and had close to no fat. and he had some kind of sprout growing out of his back that would turn into wings, green hair that jutted form the side of his head and what he called a shika tied at the back at it's back. Oh, and he also wasn't human. His eyes were the color of brasse, and when angered, the pupil would turn a beautiful shade of crimson and the white would turn black.
The woman (if they really were a woman) in front of him right now...really looked like Karuna. Her hair was platinum, here eyes were gold framed by glasses and she wore a pink and purple sari. And her arms….
Those were doll-like arms, with ball joints and everything...but the way she stood…
She radiated authority and regality.
"So, my son. Is everything alright with Zero and Omega?" she asked...he asked?! Omega wasn't sure anymore.
Caught, Karuna-Sindhu 'aah-ed' and 'hummed' before finally speaking coherently. "Well...we lost Zero's body," he spoke quietly.
"...Again with a corps?"
Karuna made this weird noise as he wiggled his head.
Karuna-Sindhu's mother then turned her gilded glance to Omega. "And you must be Omega?"
"How do you know that?" He spoke menacingly, removing himself from Yavata's shelter. This person was...not as powerful as Karuna, but she would still mess the God of Destruction if he was not careful.
Dumb ribbon.
"My son spoke to me about you." the powerful woman spoke gently, her movement slow and deliberate."My name s Mukhara Devi dasi. A servant of God."
"Where's the mark on your forehead." Omega shot back, crossing his arms over his chest.
Mukhara touched the ridge of her nose. "oh...I forgot…" she blushed. "I must have forgotten to apply it this morning. Thank you for bringing this to my attention." she bowed shallowly.
"It's alright mom. Anyway, Zero...Omega told me he left his body but...as it turned out, we just got our baggage mixed up. Now we have no idea who will make the gruesome discovery."
Mukhara smirked as she eyes the open suitcase. "I know were he is." She revealed.
Immediately, Omega roared as he rushed to the androgynous woman, holding her at the front of her dress. "WERE IS HE? WHERE'S ZERO!" Behind him, he could feel raw power flare from Karuna-Sindhu and Yavata...and two other beings of immeasurable power.
But right now...he didn't care.
"It's alright Omega. Zero's fine and in the care of a few good friends of mine." Mukhara spoke without fear, an easy smile seemingly glued to her lips. "He managed to make his way to Vrindavana...to Gods Abode."
"Vrindavana?" Omega parroted, he had heard of this place quite often in Krishna-Hill, and didn't Yamuna told him that she would send the walking apocalypse and his broken twin there and Mayapur?
"Holy cow...Zero got into Vraja!?" Karuna-Sindhu exclaimed before bursting into uproarious and annoying laughter.. "Oh Krishna you freaking RASCAL!" He laughed out loud, his smile painfully large.
"You look confused," Mukhara commented, not bothered at all to still be manhandle by the God of Destruction. "Vrindavana is were Krishna, the supreme personality of Godhead had his pastime over five thousand years ago. it's the most holiest of places for his footprints have blessed mother earth. To take birth in Vraja...Omega, There's no comparison, and to die there..."
Omega bare his fangs, exposing his pierced lips.
"To die there...mean that one goes back to the spiritual sky immediately, reviving his eternal identity as a servant, a friend, a parent or a lover of Krishna. Rare are those who can attain this immeasurable fortune." She brought her smart phone to Omega's eyes...there he saw…
He saw Zero, looking almost as good as new (save his arms and one eye.), Unmoving in the lap of a black-winged, huge...angel? Human bird thingy? She was so big and tall that the 5'7 reploid looked like a child sleeping in the lap of his mother.
Or, you know...dead...
"Hey...Uttara." He heard someone that sounded like X (save this really stupid accent) speak. "We live, do the thing!" The one who held the other phone closer to Zero. Revealing that he had what seemed to be a new power core, this one glowing like the sun and resembling the one in Uttara's chest.
His left orbit was clearly vacated though.
'What the hell is she?' Unfortunately, being so far from what he was seeing meant that Omega could not scan her or his twin...and he could not contact Zero without a satellite connection, a connection that was nonexistent.
Uttara brought a gentle hand to Zero's face, cupping his cheek and running the pad of her thumb over the surface. Omega's twin...furrowed his brows.
Then he snuggled in her palm, a sweet innocent smile stretching his lips. Making him look ten year younger.
Omega heard a few other woman (and this own group of over-powered human.) cooed at the sight, and to be very honest, it had also caused some...sparks in the Crimson deaths' own core. It was this weird euphoria not caused by blood shed. Mesmerized by this uncharacteristic display, Omega let go if his prey and held the tiny computer in his hands.
It was then that he realized what it meant…
Zero...was alive.
A goofy grin split is face, and he felt...he wanted to jump in place, to laugh, to cry...his vents were making this choking noise...Zero was alive…
"Unfortunately for him" Mukhara intoned. "His luck is so rotten that he survived."
Karuna-Sindhu came behind Omega, gazing at the phone with an equally goofy grin and a laughter that matched it, tears pouring for his eyes and he gave a million thank to Krishna. the walking apocalypse could hear Yavata make this wheezy-chocky sort of noise. Soon enough, both had an arm around his shoulder, sharing this...pure joy he felt.
Somehow, sharing joy with other's made it even more potent.
"See...Zero's alive...Nalini was right." Karuna spoke as he whipped away the tears in his eyes. "That's not what what I meant to say that I knew people who could fix him, But I guess Krishna's plan included a trip to Vraja for Zero."
Omega had no words...and then, The Dark Bird-angel noticed him and gasp, grabbing the phone from Mandodari.
"There you are!" Uttara cooed. "Oh My God! I have twins! But...why are you wearing a pink dress my son? And an ugly one too?"
"Wait...what!" Mukhara exclaimed. "Uttara!"
"Best way we found to hide his nature...and he made a mess in the Vedic hall's maintenance room. I warned him, he didn't listen, and thus this is the consequence." Karuna-Sindhu explained with a bit of a smug smile. "Hope he learned his lesson."
"Oh...You look just like your brother! what's your name sweet heart?" she asked, her voice positively oozing affection and love. Something Omega had never experienced.
"I'm...Omega." He could give his full title to Uttara, but how could he...with Karuna-Sindhu and his mother around, Omega felt like a pick-ax-less Metaur…
He...It's not that he hated it anymore, having grown accustom to it over the last 48 hour around the overpowered plant. Still, he didn't...he felt naked, small...weak.
'Once this ribbon is off...I'm sure I'll feel better.' He assured himself. And once Zero was back in working order and with a new pair of arms...Their battle would be legendary.
'Yeah, That sound like a plan but...why don't I feel happy about it?' He wondered.
The he realized that his current feeling had nothing to do with his woefully under-power state… he was just shy and bashful in front of the beautiful and loving woman.
"Omega, you have a better name then your brother," Uttara spoke as she readjusted the slumbering reploid in her lap. Her words making Omega's core buzz with bliss. He smirked, of course he had the better name of the two.
"Hare Krishna, Uttara Mataji. Glad Zero found his way to Vraja and to your heart." Karuna-Sindhu interjected, taking the phone from Omega's grip. "Just be easy on Zero, Normal life with a mama's not his usual fair."
"Unyu? Oh, poor thing." Her wings slumped as she embraced Zero tighter, making him mumble incoherently.
"Eh, it's alright. Just give him time to adjust and he'll be fine...eventually." Karuna-Sindhu assured. "By the way, do you know what is Zero's full designation?"
"No...He has a full designation?" Uttara asked like the curious bird she was, her red eyes gently glowing like blazing coal.
'Pretty!'
"Yeah, Zero's full name is, Doctor Wily's Numbers, or DNW, Infinity Zero Zero Zero Zero." Karuna recited, squeezing Omega a bit.
Uttara's pretty eyes grew as wide as her smile. "Uwa! His name is Infinity!" Uttara cooed in delight. "Infinity and Omega, Ananta and Shesha!"
"Hey! Your right! Omega, the end, Shesha. Infinity...Ananta!"
"Yeah well, I don't have infinite Data and I'm at the end of my battery." Mandodari reminded everyone of her presence. "Hey, Uttara, is the Egg-generator still working?"
Uttara smiled as she handed the egg-shaped nuclear reactor to the still unseen woman.
"Alrighty then...that's one problem solved. Now...I'm sorry Omega, but I'm about to reach my roaming 5G's limit...I'll see if Krishna will provide me with something better then what I have now...I will contact you when Zero's awake. Is that okay?" She turned the device toward herself. And Omega stared.
First of all, she held it in the most unfaltering angle ever, making the… being look like a Potato. After some adjustment, Omega had to reset his optic a few times…
"X?" She looked sort-of like X...with some facial hair and crooked teeth. But otherwise…
She made a face, her expressive eyes, eyebrows and lips proving to be highly effective at conveying how annoyed she was. And yet, she held no anger…
"No...I'm sorry but my initiated name is Mandodari, and I'm ninety nine percent squishy." she declared. "Anyway, I'll contact you once Zero's up again...and I managed to extend my data."
"It's alright Mando, I'll pay for it," Mukhara spoke having come up from behind the three young men without a sound.
"You will? Great! How may I repay you?"
"Just making sure Uttara doesn't coddle our great warrior too much...and your blessing that he may make a full recovery will suffice." Mukhara gracefully, no, regally inclined her head.
"Will do! OK Mukhi, I'll see you soon. Hare Krishna."
"Haribol!"
and with that, the connection was closed and Mukhara took back her phone, to Omega's great chagrin.
"Hey...Omega?" The powerful being addressed the God of destruction. Her gentle, mechanical hand on his shoulder. Omega took this opportunity to check whether she was a plant or a reploid.
She was neither, and she was apparently a human male…
'Why can't I have normal human to deal with?' Omega wondered. 'God, I know that's your doing...'
No answer came, and thus Omega concluded that even God was afraid of his wrath. 'Typical'
"Omega...I know it's all sudden for you. You lost your home, your routine...and you've had to deal with my son." Mukhara teased.
"Hey!" Karuna-Sindhu yelped. "Ma, C'mon...It's just a pink dress...and it was Yavata's bright idea."
Yavata made some gesture and Mukhara nodded a few time, understanding his quiet conversation.
"Oh...Is that so? Mm-mhh...yes...I see...Oh Really? No he didn't!" She gasped. "Yes...yes…Ah. Thank you Nalini, your intervention was an act of God….No, I'm not giving you undue praise my friend….yes, we'll talk again later..." And with that, Mukhara returned to her son, her son's mute friend and Omega. She was glowing with joy.
"Right...My dear Omega, despite everything, I request that you follow me to my home and remain with us at least until next Wednesday, then, we will go to Vrindavana and reunite you with Zero. Will you join us?" she asked as she extended her hand to Omega.
The God of Destruction, the crimson death hidden in a cloud of pink looked at the proffered hand…
Zero was alive and would get fix soon. Then Omega would have his rival again...he didn't need to stay with them, the could still trick some poor sob to remove the damn ribbon and rain destruction again, just like good old time…
Omega knew he would not survive with Karuna, but who said he's not faster then the plant and his family? He could still feasibly kill them all!
It would be oh so sweet to finally have a worthy opponent in Karuna-Sindhu…
He looked back at Mukhara, she was gazing at him...looking right trough him...there was not hatred, only care, compassion and…
"Why do you-"
"Love you?" Mukhara finished for him. "My dear Omega...Love has no reason but love, and I care for you like I care for all of those who are under the Lords Shelter, no matter their past."
Omega caught her gaze...there was not trick, no deceit…
It was a chance...a chance to start anew. To see if could be more then a machine of destruction and pain…He could do something else...he could be something more…
Once again, Yamuna's words came to haunt him… he had never lived.
'what do you have to lose?'
At this point… nothing.
He reached for Mukhara's hand, and gently closed it.
"Ma'am...I..." Omega stuttered...he wanted to speak, to say something but had no idea what!
Mukhara enclosed the robotic hands in hers...she already knew.
The car ride was...very bumpy. As in, it was somewhat like his numerous reentries in the atmosphere...but without the trilling part.
The car's seat were nicely padded tough, and would protect his component from damage. still, omega knew he would need to use half-an e-tank after the whole ride would be over. 'Thank God Zero got stolen. Otherwise...' He felt a shudder shake his frame. So he cared about his twin...he cared a lot about him… especially now that he knew the hell he and X had been trough…
"Omega? Is everything fine?" Mother Mukhara asked from the front passenger seat. Obliviously, she couldn't drive without a pair of legs. "Are you too cold? or..."
"N...no. I'm...I don't like bumpy rides." He admitted with a growl.
"Eh...you and I both.." Mukhara replied.
The habitable grew silent, only the sound of the song that played on Mukhara's Micro-computer. The Maha-mantra was playing, but it was preceded by another tune; Jaya Rahda-Madhava, Kunja-Bihari. Gopi-jana-Valabha, Giri-varadhari…
It was something the temple goers had also chanted before the Srimad-Bhagavatam class. It had been very nice, and Omega had even chanted the song out loud, taking advantage of the loud crowd to hide his robotic tone.
The driver, a guy named Dinesh swerved away from a pot hole, causing Karuna-Sindhu and Yavata to stir. The two youth were fast asleep on their side of the seat, Yavata's head on The plant shoulder, the powerful being holding his brother as so he would not get thrown off the seat as he also slept peacefully in what amounted to a very localized earthquake..
"You're concern for Zero...and please don't deny it, I can hear your desired," Mukhara warned.
Omega sighed. "Yeah...Yeah...I do...I carried him all over the damn place in the middle of the monsoon and..."
"You don't want to be alone."
"No...I've been alone most of my life."
"Mister Weil was here...did he ever let you out of the armour?"
"No… I would be...I guess, put to sleep?" Omega looked to the sky. "But, I was still aware of everything." Like Copy-X and the elves.
"I see...did you ever have a friend back then?"
"No...I only had enemies." He informed the mother of Karuna. "Weapons don't need friends."
"weapons don't care for an obsolete dead weight for more then a week." Mukhara retorted.
Anger bloomed from within Omega's core. "ZERO'S...Zero's not obsolete!" He managed to grit out, weary to wake up the sleeping Karuna.
On the windshield mirror, Omega could see a knowing smile on Mukhara's face.
"A weapon has no care either...and you do care about him. But why do you care Omega?"
"I don't want to be alone...and...and I respect Zero too much to let him die like a dog." and he'd seen them die in the streets, old, alone, with crows and vultures flying around them waiting for their last breath. 'Zero's alive...He's alive...He's better and moving..' But would he stay like this? Would he... be he still alive?
And if he was alive...what would Omega do?
He didn't want to kill him anymore…maybe. But he would still fight Him once the Krishna-Bot decided to get down his chariot and be good on his promise.
'and then what?' Sure, Omega now knew Zero's history with X and those stupid wars but...he still didn't know him as a person, and…
"Just give him Time and space Omega, Friendship is not such an easy thing you know," Mukhara commented. "Sometime it simply click, sometime, it takes a long time and sometime...it just doesn't work."
Omega slumped…
"You want friends...you want family, relationship." The mother of Karuna-Sindhu spoke gently. "You want to live for real."
"How do you live." He asked.
"Quite the question, isn't it?" Came the rhetoric.
Omega gave the woman his most annoyed look her could muster.
"It depend on who you are asking for." She began. "A materialist whit no knowledge of the Vedas and the Bhagavad-gita will say; it's to have as much pleasure as we can. Those people usually work two jobs and are indebted until the very end of their sad, useless life." She describes. "Those who are a bit better will say to do good, to be good persons, not to cause trouble and just be nice...but, they also do not have a defined goal."
"Then those who worship God will say the same thing, but they try to act in a way that is pleasing to the Lord as they try to attain heaven. They follow the words of Jesus and the teachings of the bible..."
"Can...do they reach it? Heaven?" Omega asked. "and...what's heaven?"
"Heaven is a set of higher planets where pleasure reign and anxiety is low. Those who live there are called demi-gods and they live for thousands to million's of years."
"Oh!"
"But...to reach this abode, one needs to worship the demi-god that lives here...but to be honest, even those long-living demi-gods will suffer from anxiety and die, only to be reborn in this humble planet earth."
"So...It's useless then," Omega concluded.
"Yes, absolutely." Mukhara agreed. " For impersonalist, it's to stop existing, to merge in the Brahman Effulgence. But both are not forever, for the eternally active soul cannot remain without an identity."
"Alright...but how about the Hare Krishnas?" Omega asked, sure they still had two hours to go until they were in Navadwip, but the crimson reploid was not into philosophy.
He could see Mukhara's smile turn into a blissful grin. "For us who serve the Lord, the return to the spiritual sky, to Goloka-Vrindavana and to reestablish our eternal relationship with Bhagavan. Basically, we are eternal servants of God, and this never ends, even at death."
"So to live is to serve." Omega resumed.
"to live is to Love God, Bhagavan Sri-Krishna. And to love is to serve...the only one worthy of our service is Krishna or His devotee. And yes, Krishna does reciprocate with whatever little service is rendered to him." Mukhara explained. "God's a person, the supreme person...the sweetest, Kindest, most intelligent, cunning, powerful, strong, wealthy, beautiful and detached of them all, he is Supreme and original personality of Godhead."
Omega grunted.
"Radharani...hmm, I understand why you are intrigued by her, Omega. Long story short, Krishna is the supreme energetic, like the sun. and Sri-Radha is His main energy, Sunshine and heat. In essence, she is the supreme Female to Krishna's Supreme male. And together, they are the complete manifestation of God. God is one, but to relish loving exchanges, he became two. Radha-Krishna The Supreme servant and the supreme served.
"So...Radha is Krishna, and Krishna is Radha and...the two are married?" Omega asked.
"No need for them, for they are eternally two parts of the supreme whole," Mukhara explained.
"So...if God became two...can he become one again?
"He's already one." Omega could hear the smile in Mukhara's masculine voice. " You see, Radha is the personification of love of Krishna or Krishna-prema. For her, the simple thought of Krishna not being at his happiest is absolutely intolerable, we're talking, she could die of grief type of intolerable. And yet, Srimati-Rahdarani, eve in the trows of extreme separation from the lord of her life, experience a pleasure so great, even Krishna wants to taste it... and he does as he once again merge with her and dance as the Golden Avatar, Sri-Krishna-Caitania Mahaprabhi."
Omega's eyes widened. "So...Love means, you want you beloved to be happy...otherwise your not happy."
The weird hair styled woman hummed. " Yes...that's a very simple way to say it." she gracefully acquiesced. "Omega...have you ever loved someone?" She asked.
Omega opened his mouth to deny ever having such feelings programmed in him...and then paused.
"Ma'am..."
"Mukhara, Mataji, Prabhu or just Mother will do."
"Mother...I don't know but...When you love someone, does it hurt to see them hurt?" Omega asked…he had heard about love...but no one explained his what it was.
Well, Albert had scoffed at the whole concept, saying that it was just sentimentality on the part of two united made of chemicals reproducing into another. The whole concept of love and attachment was but a mere survival mechanism for a species made of pliable mind and lesser intelligence.
His words…
"Omega." Mukhara broke him out of his thought. " This is love."
"Love...hurt."
"To love something Material will invariably cause pain." The saintly woman confirmed. "But to love what is Spiritual, to Love God...even the greatest pleasures of this world cannot be compared to the greatest of Spiritual agony."
Omega stared.
"What mom's tryin' to say." Karuna slurred, having woken up. "Is that...To love Krishna means everything is pure bliss. there's no pain...no anxiety, no sadness..." He sat up.
"Oh...Did we wake you up?" Mukhara asked with motherly concern.
"Nah...Kanu told me I had to be here...so...yeah." he helplessly shrugged. "so...how far are we from home?" Karuna-Sindhu asked.
"We still have two hours...well, less then that." Mukhara informed her son.
"Ah...Thought I slept for longer." The greenette admitted. "Any news about Zero?" He asked as he held on to Yavata since the particular part of the road they were one was rather terrible.
"Actually, I did." Mukhara joyfully informed her scion. "He's doing Physically fine. I heard that Uttara and Mandodari managed to fix whatever was broken. Save for an eye and his arms."
"Is he awake?" Omega anxiously asked, ever since the start of his journey toward life, he had never been separated from his Zero. And even if he had been dying at the time, the 'inferior' copy's presence and rare interaction had given Omega…
Omega liked it...he really liked it...He didn't feel all alone in the world when he was around, he felt as if he had a purpose in life… something her could do that was not tied down by a stupid ribbon.
The Walking Armageddon had grown protective of his scrapped legend. He would share whatever he had with him, His energy, whatever oil he could find (and cleaning up the purged piece of low-quality sludge Zero rejected with extreme prejudice.), he would try to hide him from public view, the ever pouring rain, the roaming dogs, the rats and monkeys…
One would think that Zero's rival would have grown tired at lugging a literal dead weight around new Delhi but no…
Omega felt Happy...and dare he says, satisfied?
Yes, He had felt satisfied...worried, overly concerned and...and…
And praying...praying to whatever was out there who could listen to a monster…
He wanted his Zero to get better...
"Yes, Zero is conscious," Mukhara confirmed. "But...He's..."
Something grabbed at Omega's throat with ice-cold claws.
"Nothing wrong, but after all he went through, Zero needs time to recover...both Physically, mentally and emotionally." Mukhara gently explained. "Zero Prabhu will call you when he feels like it."
Meaning, probably never.
"But...If it can make you feel better." Karuna-Sindhu interjected. "Well be going back to Vraja in a week. you'll be able to see him by then...and I can always whats-app Uttara...Just not right now."
Omega grunted as he sat back in his seat...he just knew the week would be the longest in his entire life...And he could not even take out his frustration on anyone or anything, because of the frisk-fracking ribbon…
'God...Please Make Zero better...Or'
…
He took the beads, and he began to chant...if the Mantra had the power to give everything, then it would make Zero better!
"Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Hare Hare..." and thus he chanted...