The sun had finally deigned to show its rays, the morning light felt good.
It was...different then the other time he would charge in the sun, the star's ray felt more potent, closer...like an embrace.
Zero opened his eye, he was outside again, but instead of being dragged around by Omega through the ghettos and trash-filled death trap, He was in a courtyard of an apartment complex.
And His… caring nightmare was nowhere to be seen.
There were some shade trees laden with fragrant flowers, many genus he didn't know existed. There was green grass, a few ponds filled with lilies and lotuses of different colours. He could see and smell the fragrant rose plants, the jasmine creepers and the joyfully blooming Dahlias and some pink flowering vines in the process of engulfing the building. Many of its blossoms litter the ground, a few more already picked for the Lord's service.
'X would love this place.' Zero thought with a pang...a familiar pang he would ignore with practiced ease.
He could hear a din in the distance...there was music, human voices rising in the morning air. The sound and the vibration of millions walking in the same direction…
'Humans...I never thought I would be close to so many.' He could not remember the last time he had heard so many humans going in the same direction...and nothing seemed to be amiss...no one was screaming, no acrid smoke filled the sky, no bee-loader, no military shuttle…
Only the Nuclear Raven was a threat, and she was more into chanting on her beads in front of the compound sacred Tulasi plant, under the shade of the fragrant bush's opulent pavilion.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Hare Hare.
He closed his eyes again…once again, the same mantra filling his audio. And once again, he repeated after the mothering crow.
It felt right...the chanting felt right, Believing in God felt right. Calling him Krishna felt right… And while Zero had no idea if someone like him could even approach the Source, the reploid let himself chant anyway. Letting the thrill of doing something he was not supposed to somewhat brighten his day.
Knowing that he was not but someones and zeros, but an eternal soul? Zero had some mixed feelings about it at the moment, but at least, he knew he was more then a mere toy for whoever was the sicko getting off from torturing X and everyone in his Hermitage.
Everything felt right here...even if he felt as if he was not of this world...not of this wonderful reality called real life.
'X… Bet you would love it here.' He addressed his deceased friend.
And...he could see him, grinning from both audial cones with wonder and innocence unmarred by centuries of hopeless wars. he could just see X running around like a child in a toy store, rattling off the names and genus of all the plants he saw, marvelling at the rustic architecture and having a fit over Uttara, a nuclear star inside the body of a human-shaped bird.
"Zero! Zee! Oh Wow! it's like I'm standing by the sun! How's this possible! It's not...Nuclear fusion's a myth! I don't even-"
Once again, his eyes opened, chasing away the glorious sight of his best friend having a meltdown over Uttara…
'No...X is dead...He's gone.' He had to get over it, his Kohai never liked when He would mourn.
Zero never liked to either mourn, it was such a waste of time and energy...
"Ananta?" He heard Uttara call, pausing her meditation. "Are you hurt somewhere?" it was clear the crazy bird had noticed his discomfort.
"No. And I am Zero...not Ananta." he harshly corrected Uttara.
He liked his names…
"Oh? You don't remember your designation?" X asked, his gloriously green eyes growing wide.
"No...I don't remember anything of my past." The war build informed the most amazingly mundane-looking powerhouse. He was small, and yet his aura filled the room. His armour was so basic, so simple, and yet he knew of the power that lurked under, having trained to so-called 'B-ranked' for over a week.
They were now in what X had called a post-training session, where they would patch up and the war machine would give his student his analysis. But X saw it otherwise, he saw it as a way to know them better.
Not that there was anything to know about them...only that they were made to destroy.
X rubbed his round chin. "hmm...DO you want to be called something? Like, is there a word you like?"
"No." They had no love, no dislike...and if he did, then they were irrelevant.
Well they liked X's eyes, they liked X's bright smile, his talks...they liked X, and they liked X when he gained more confidence in his skills. But there was no way they would call themselves X...for this was X's designation.
"Yeah...That's what you told me last week...hey, I know. I'll call you Zero!"
"Zero?" The newly christened war machine repeated. Unsure if he liked to be called an empty value.
"Yeah! Zero! It's a cool name! You start from Zero...and you can now be whoever you want!" The blue bomber spoke with clear enthusiasm, his very human face glowing as he closed his eyes with a smile.
Zero felt someone touch his mangled shoulder...it was Uttara.
"Anan-"
"Zero...I am Zero." The ancient reploid closed the argument. He was Zero, and would always be Zero…
Nothing would change that, nothing could change that.
He turned his head away from the crazy nuclear bird, looking at the numerous trees that were heavily laden with fragrant flowers in bright white, hot pink and golden yellow, their aroma embalming the air.
He felt the mat he was on dipped, and the makeshift chaise lounge creaked as Uttara sat beside him.
"Hey...It's alright Zero." She sweetly soothed as she laid a gentle hand on the reploid's chest. "You went through a lot...just rest now, O.K?"
Zero sighed...yes, rest…and then what?
There was no war to fight...X was dead...And he doubted Omega at his most powerful could be able to survive Uttara and Karuna-Sindhu.
Only Zero had managed to survive a nuclear explosion once ...and only due to the virus...whatever it was really.
On repeat...until he woke up without any memory...in front of Ciel. About to be sent on errand after errand…
Killing Copy-X...then X…
X would irredeemably die...no matter what he tried. And then Ragnarok would happen...it was ineluctable.
Uttara lifted Zero onto her lap, making those bird-like coos over his head.
Zero tried to struggle...he really did.
"Oh, my chick..."
"I don't need pity…"Zero rasped, He didn't deserve it…
"So young, and you've already lost so much, you've already gone through more grief then one should live in one lifetime." The Human shaped crow...or was it a raven caressing his hair.
Only one person had the right to touch it, for those were highly sensitive nanite probes, a second pair of eyes practically.
X had likened them to cat whiskers...in both sensitivity and use.
And yet, despite being touched by a radio-active being of organic nature, the touch was not unpleasant...as much as he loathed to admit.
He remained silent...maybe she would go away to leave him alone if he didn't move and talk.
"I...I know what you went through...Mandodari showed me..."
Zero grunted, more than a little annoyed about being so well known by a bunch of strangers.
"It's alright...we all lost people we cared about Ana...Zero."
"..."
"This material world is ruled by time...and time destroys everything. Cities, mountains, bodies, families...even the universe will get destroyed. But for us...the spirit soul, we have to endure it.."
"...How do you know I am a soul?" Zero asked.
"Because a machine would not mourn for his Mate."
Zero didn't react…
His mate…
X…
They went through so much on repeat… growing from one end of the relationship spectrum to the other. And yet, they were always very close together...and this proximity always ended in death for the both of them…
again, again...and again.
Only Zero remembered… for X it would always be new and fresh. But… the red legend's remembrance was not something that was constant, it was a rare occurrence. And when he did remember, he would try to stay away from his life partner.
Zero… had been everything X needed. If X needed a teacher, then Zero would happily teach his Kohai things he already knew but was erased. If X wanted a servant, then Zero would wait on his knees. If X needed a friend, a father or even a lover…
Zero would be all that...
And if X wanted Zero to leave him…Zero would, for at some point of his hell, his twisted mind had whispered to him that the only reason why X kept dying and suffering like a martyr was because of Zero… but as the shamed reploid had found out, Staying away from X, as painful as it was, always ended the same way. And staying with X meant the same thing...only, it took longer for him to perish.
But this time, Zero knew it was the good one.
He knew he was gone...Zero knew it was a fact, a reality he could not change!
X was dead!
X was gone!
Zero had failed him...He'd failed him so often…
He felt a stabbing pain in his chest...something that had nothing to do with his refurbished core…
He knew this pain…
Uttara's arms wrapped around the mourning reploid tighter, and despite himself, Zero burrowed unto her chest.
He was weak...broken by a madman's idea of entertainment.
He had no more goals...he was alone in a strange land…
"No...you're not alone Ananta, God's with you."
"I don't care!" Zero rasped out. "God! Krishna should be with X...not with me!" Let him die again a million times if it meant X would live!
Let him go to the deepest, bleakest pit of hell if his...his...His X could be in Uttara's arms, ascend to heaven...or Even Goloka!
Anywhere but… back there.
Uttara fell silent, rocking the much smaller reploid as the fragrant breeze tried his best to cheer the mourning soul.
"Don't worry, Krishna-Pryia, The lord won't let your mate alone." the motherly bird comfortingly whispered on the top of his head. "Nothing is Impossible for Him."
'I'll believe it once X is alive...'
A passer-by walked closer to the gate, the guard greeted the stranger...who was none other then-
"X?"
Mandodari's countenance soured a bit. "No, It's just Mandodari… And I thought I told you to leave him be, Uttara." She scolded the mothering crow.
She wore a blue cotton sari this time...a very opulent material Zero had seldom seen used as anything other than wound dressing.
It was a blue very close to what X would be wearing, adding to that the red spot on her forehead, in the middle of her dark gray Tilaka..' No...I can't keep on moping around like that, what would X think seeing me like this?'
He would be sad and worried.
But short of moping and wallowing in grief, Zero had no idea what else he could do...and he doubted those two women would give him a mission to perform...not without a pair of arms.
'I'm useless' So much for not moping around…
"I know you told me that but...he's still mourning over his Mate."
"Uttiti, X and Zero are not Mates, their best friend and war brother," Mandodari argued. "He was also Zero's Student." She put her hands on her very broad hips.
"Only Mates will grieve the way he does..." Uttara argued back.
"So are friends and brothers, don't put a label on people, Uttara." Mandodari shot back. "And Those two have robotic bodies. I doubt they even have this programmed in them." pause. "Zero...Sorry about that...I don't mean to speak as if you're not here or anything."
Zero grunted...
"en tout cas." Mandodari dismissed. "What they were is none of our business. Zero's here with us, in Sri Vrindavan-Dham, in the area of Radha-Kund." the french (?) woman waddled closer, and Zero could not help but marvel at how...bright she was.
Her whole face is illuminated by a smile, and while it's clear she has some hefty weight to her, her movements are light and graceful, as if gravity was fifty percent less for her.
Sure, she looked like X...but...it was not a painful reminder.
She looked like hope personified.
She kneeled beside Zero and Uttara. And the reploid now notices that she is covered in...dust.
As in, it appeared the graceful woman rolled on the ground and rubbed the powdery sand all over her body after thoroughly wetting her body. And yet, nothing seemed amiss to her.
"Hey Zero, how are you holding up?" She asked. "Sorry about...well, the molly-coddling and all that."
"Molly..."
"Uttara's smothering."
"Hey! I'm not smothering him!" The massive bird woman squawked as she held Zero closer to her heart.
Zero shrugged...to be very honest...and as much as he loathed to admit, he felt a bit less miserable in this position. 'This must be how a child feels when in the lap of his mother.' While he was not a child...he could see the appeal.
It disgusted him...
"See! He doesn't mind!"
"Either he doesn't mind, or he doesn't care." Mandodari groused.
It was a mix of both really...that, and he didn't have anything better to do.
"Did you finish chanting your rounds Uttara?" The 'older' woman asked the mothering bird.
"No, Ananta was feeling a bit down, so I-"
"Decided he needed to be cuddled like a child."
"yup!" Uttara chirped as she kissed Zero's head.
The X-like woman sighed as she dragged a hand on her face."DO you have any problem with that Zero?" Mandodari then asked, more than a little tired about the whole thing.
Zero gave a halfhearted shrug.
"Zero-kun, if there's something I do that you do not like, please tell me, we only want you to get better and be eternally happy," Uttara spoke gently, with all the love in the world.
Zero sighed...He didn't feel like he deserved it…
How could he, when X was dead...
"Uwa!" Omega trilled. "What are those things!" He pointed at the horned creatures ambling beside the van at the train passage. They had humps on their back, with four appendages under their big round belly and they came in many colours and patterns. There were also smaller versions of those creatures that would run around and frolic in the grass-filled area.
First of all, Omega had never seen animals other than rats and humans, and he'd never seen grass either, of fully green trees and flowers and birds and!
Right...let's start with the big-horned animals…
"Those are cows and bulls, Omega," Krishna-Kripa explained as he opened the door of the van, letting a very curious specimen put his...(or was it her) head in. It sniffed Yavata and licked the boy awake, then it turned to Karuna and turned its nose to him...and then it noticed Omega.
The murderous reploid stared...Its head was so big and covered with brown and gray fur, its eyes were huge, watery and kind. its nose was broad and moist, it was drooling and loudly sniffing the cabin.
Despite himself, Omega moved as further back as he could...his fight-or-flight instinct screaming at him to slay the beast...but since this was tied down with a stupid ribbon.
Flight it was...and hopefully, the thing...the cow's neck was not telescopic.
Then a tentacle stretched out of the cow's mouth…
One would excuse the God of destruction for the ungodly reaction he had, screaming and trying to become smaller than an atom.
Silent descended upon the van...which was then broken by Yavata Bursting into laughter...or what sounded like the reverse of laughter, inhaling when he should be exhaling. Meanwhile, Karuna was pushing the beast out with the help of the handler.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" Omega screeched, yield, yelped...spoke loudly as he tried to gather himself once more. Yavata was crying and holding his stomach, and Karuna was doing his best not to howl in laughter. "stop LAUGHING AT ME!"
"Ok...ok...Oh boy." The powerful plant person stifled his gales as he closed and locked the door. "S…Sorry Omega, We just didn't expect you to be...to be afraid of a cow." He cleared his throat. "AH...whoo! Thank you for the laugh by the way." Karuna spoke with what seemed like actual Gratitude...but Omega wasn't sure.
He grumbled a bit as he sat as far away from the door as possible, meaning his back was at the other door, the one that was facing a ditch.
"Hey, Buddy...It's just a cow, she won't eat you."
"..."
"She was a very friendly one."
"...she had a tentacle in its mouth." Omega groused, not looking at the duo. He knew where this would've gone, It was Weil's favourite type of video...
"Om, that was not a tentacle, it was her tongue."
The murderous reploid turned to face Karuna, he had an arm around Yavata's shoulder. "Dude...different animals have different tongues." He explained with a smile. "There's the slobbering dog tongue that's soft and stinky, the smaller cat tongue that's covered with little spikes, there's the chameleon's tongue that shoots out and gets retracted back in its mouth with its meal."
Omega stared, his natural curiosity spiked. "No way!...'' Then he blinked. "Wait...what's a cat, dog and Chameleon?"
Karuna looked at Omega, then he gave a short glance to his blue-haired brother.
For the next thirty minutes, Kripa and Karuna introduced Omega to zoology. And for the crimson reploid in the pink dress, it was eye-opening.
SO many animals! Many of them had been extinct, but as Karuna had explained, it just meant that no one had the body Karma to be a black rhino, a dodo, or a white tiger on earth anymore.
But… they could still re-manifest if the Lord willed it so, like in the case of the Indian vulture and some breeds of cows.
He spent a good fifteen minutes perusing anything and everything about animals and birds on Wakapedia, he never knew all those things existed, he was starved for information.
Weil never taught him anything other than the weak eat the strong, that causing pain to others was fun and how he was the worshipable God of destruction...and that his worship included leaving him all alone to gather dust...and playing the confessional booth to Copy-X.
The last part, no matter how repetitive it had been, would always be his favourite. A guilty pleasure of his...His only neutral to positive interaction with another being.
Eventually, Mukhara called her son on his cellphone. After a quick conversation, Karuna closed it and dressed the group. "Ok, Good news, we're in Mayapur."
Yavata rolled his eyes and signed.
"I know you know...But Omega's new here, his Dham-radar's not up to snuff yet."
Omega huffed, he had all the sensors he could ever need, and he didn't need a stupid dam-radar...unless he wanted to flood a few villages and city.
An effective way to get rid of the unwanted population..but not the most fun one.
"Bad news, the fuel pump's dry, and Mom couldn't find an alternative, I didn't change my Dollars into Rupees yet and we still have quite a way to go until we reach our ashram." Karuna listed. "So we can either wait for mom for another half hour, or we can walk back home..." He turned to Yavata. The mute guy just smiled, signing something to his brother.
"Yeah, we could fly again." Krishna-Kripa conceded. " The Mayapur-Vasis are used to seeing us fly by now...but I just don't want to attract the tourists and...I mean, c'mon Ya'v. We've been cramped in a plane, a car, Delhi, a train and another car!" Karuna wiggled in his seat. "I want out! I want to feel the sun, the sacred dust and get good Prana! I'm sick of the recirculated stuff! And opening a window on that train and the car! Ugh! So many bugs, pollution and dust!" He did this very effeminate hand gesture.
Yavata began to...to this creepy chuckle again...and once again signed. And Karuna's face brightened considerably. Fist pumping with clear jubilation.
Omega had never seen someone grin so brightly in his life without causing pain to another...it was mesmerizing.
"Alright Omega!" The powerful plant addressed the Walking apocalypse. "Yavata's ok with it, but now I need to know. How do you feel about having a seven-kilometre walk in Divine Prema-Culture land?"
Omega stared. "Ah?"
"I mean a place where hunting and building commerce and hovel is illegal. There's still plenty of farmland and grazing ground but it's Basically a renaturalized piece of jungle."
"Renaturalized?"
"Basically, we let mother earth recover in those spots, mom wants to keep some natural environment in Navadwip, the place were those with low income can forage for food, monkeys can frolic and elephant can have a heard...and cows can graze peacefully," Karuna explained as he reopened the door, the herd had already moved away the moment the train had passed.
After reading up on them, The coal and crimson reploid regretted their departure...a little bit anyway.
"I know you can walk forever, and it's not like we have all that much luggage anyway. So were going to walk back to mom's ashram, our home in Sri-Dham Mayapur." Karuna spoke as he and his blue-haired brother walked out and lagouriously stretched, some of their bones and tendons cracking into place...and then they did something that took Omega by complete surprise.
They found a patch of dusty ground...and began rolling in with devotion. They did this until they were covered with it.
And yet, this whole procedure was done as if it was completely normal to roll on the ground, in the dust...where the cows had tracked. After a minute or so, both Vaishnava got back up to their feet, Karuna helping Yavata.
They didn't dust themselves off, and wide, blissful grins decorated their features, complimenting their tilaka!
Omega eyed the patch of golden dust...and dived in it.
After thirty seconds...Omega felt…
Dusty...and oddly happy, all things considered. Not as intense as Yavata and Karuna-Sindhu, but it was there.
Speaking of the two, they were looking at Omega with approval.
Omega only ever had Albert's toxic praise...but note something that sweet and...wholesome. And what had triggered it was not the act of slaughtering thousands in a day...but by rolling on the ground, ruining the stupid pink dress and making his coal-black body a dusty gold.
"So, Omega-Prabhu, how does it feel?" Karuna asked with an arm across Karuna's shoulder.
"Good." The reploid admitted as he ripped the stupid dress away...he was about to throw it in the ditch when he realized that the pink abomination would clash horribly with the idyllic atmosphere. Still, he desperately wanted to get rid of the torture device.
Karuna took the ruined abomination. "I'll take care of it. Sorry for all this Omega, once people start getting used to you and Zero..."
Zero…
Omega's mood soured with concern...he had yet to hear about his c...twin.
How was he doing? Was he safe? (probably.) and he had been moving but…
How about now? Did he get better? Was he still sad about X? (Probably) was he moving? Did he want to destroy Omega?
"You're...not as bad as I remembered..."
No...Omega had the feeling Zero would not even lift a finger as long as he remained low and quiet...not that the destructive messiah had any desire to sow destruction...much.
"Yo...Omega?" Karuna called out. "Is there Something wrong?"
"Did you receive an update on Zero's condition?"
Karuna-Sindhu wiggled his head. "He's awake and conscious...just very depressed."
"why? He's free." It boggled his mind.
Karuna scratched the back of his head as he went to the back of the van, taking their luggage out. "Physically, he is." He explained as he tied some vines to the red suitcase, making a backpack out of it. "But emotionally...He's not."
"Why?"
"X," Karuna answered as he got up, holding everyone's luggage.
"But...X is dead." No need to hide it, there was no way the other blue bot would come back, just like Copy-X.
It was painful...but Omega could live without him.
"Yes...And that's the problem." Karuna sighed. "Omega...back at the Neo-Arcadian hermitage, did you have any friends? Anyone you cared about."
"There was copy-X...but he got blown up." The more he thought about it...the more pain he felt.
It was the same pain the murderous reploid felt when he thought his Zero had died.
"How does it feel to know that you will never see this person again?" Krishna asked gently and knowingly.
The Crimson and coal reploid stopped walking and clutched his core. "It hurts...like...there's a spear here...and it's twisting."To be honest, he felt it more for his twin than the fake X.
"Omega...this is the result of attachment to material objects." He spoke as he began to walk down the road, beside him was Yavata. "Material things will one day vanish...that's the nature of this world."
"But X's not an object! He's a person, a soul!" Omega argued back.
"Yes...but X is not the soul, the soul is the person inside the body. X was just the body and the false-ego...and this was what Zero was...is attached to."
" But he's...why can't he move on?" If a person was gone, he was gone. No use crying over spilled milk!
The green-haired youth sadly shook his head as he resumed the trek back home."Attachment." Karuna once again gave a short answer. "It's a bond, a bond that takes years to forge and second to break...and decades to heal from." He continued, the rhythmic sound of his footfall making pleasing music. " Some...can't heal at all."
"Why?" Omega asked as he trailed the Duo.
"Because it's the nature of the soul to love, be loved, and get attached to what he loves," Karuna explained.
"SO we have to be detached then."
"No...Well, it depends." Karuna-Sindhu spoke as he stretched his arms behind his head. "We have to be detached from what is material like wealth, fame, beauty...whatever's not helping to remember Krishna."
"Why?"
"Because if you remember Krishna, He will take you back home, back to Godhead and there, you don't die anymore, and your true love's God," Karuna explained. "That's what He said to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita."
"What's Back home?" Omega asked again, his attention everywhere at once. "Don't we belong here?
"Nope." Karuna popped his 'P'. "This world is made of Pradhana or material energy. The one in control is Durga-devi and it's filled with the threefold miseries of material life. Namely, Birth, death, old age and disease." he explained.
"I never took birth."
"Oh, you did Omega." Karuna did this dismissive gesture. "but you forgot about it...like I and Yavat forgot about it."
"But...isn't birth important here?" Omega asked. "Without a decent birth rate, the population plummets and faces extinction."
"Not in the spiritual sky."
"wait...do you mean no one is born there?" Omega asked, his red eyes growing wide in surprise.
This caused Yavata and Karuna to give a warm and fond chuckle. The mute took his bead bag and Karuna let go of his hand. "Alright...let me explain. In the unlimited spiritual planet, no one takes birth, and no one ever dies," he explained.
"So...they're all immortal there."
"yes! All of those who managed to reach the Vaikuntha planet are freed from birth and death, in other words, they reach liberation."
"Liberation?"
"You're freed from this place of misery."
"But...I'm not miserable." As Omega spoke those words, he could not help but remember that yes...he had been miserable. Not all the time though just…
most of the time...until He'd met Karuna and Yavata. And got to know Krishna, the one who controlled everything.
Actually, ever since he'd met the two youths, Omega's life...began more fulfilling.
He got to see the inside of a human dwelling, met some actual brown humans, he got to drink water from a glass, recharge on the ground, fly in someone's arms over a city! And entered a temple in India and wore cotton cloth and met Robot-Krishna...who happened to be God and went shopping and sang and danced and...and…
"I'm...I'm not miserable anymore." He realized with great bliss! What he felt...it was not like going back to sleep after he blew up! It was...it was real! It was exponential!
Sure...there were those moments when Zero health took a nosedive...and the time he got lost in New Delhi with his dying twin and the time he almost got struck by lightning.
And his fear of Karuna-Sindhu.
But...those moments didn't seem to matter to him anymore, he had gained more than what he'd lost.
He had lost his armour, his sabre and buster shot, and his ability to kill.
And he had gained more than he would've expected.
He was not angry anymore...he was not lonely, and what he had...it was not this simple and bland peace X desired so much, going as far as to try and negotiate with a machine of destruction.
no...what Omega had gained...was more than that!
He felt happy, he felt at home...he wasn't suffering anymore.
"Omega?" Karuna-Sindhu broke the reploid out of his life-changing realization. "Is everything alright?"
Omega looked up and Saw Karuna-Sindhu looking at him with a knowing smile.
"Let me guess, you're counting your blessings, right?"
"My blessing?" Omega parroted. "What's a blessing?
"All the good things that happened in your life," Karuna Explained with a beatific smile. "When you surrender unto him, Krishna starts to take care of you."
"But I never surrendered to Krishna," Omega argued. "I never surrender, only kill and maim...or get killed and maimed."
Karuna paused his stride and looked at Omega, his brass-coloured eyes held pain and deep sorrow.
"what?"
"Nothing...just...nothing at all." he cleared his throat as he resumed his trek back home. "Anyway...Maybe you didn't surrender to Krisha, But Gaura-Nitai doesn't care if you've surrendered or not." Karuna spoke with a thousand-watt smile. "They saw you, you chanted Krishna's names, you heard Krishna's pastime and you accepted that Krishna is in fact the supreme personality of Godhead! And that enough for Gauranga!" he boldly declared as he folded his palms. "Namo Maha Vandanaya, Krishna-prema Pradaya-te! Krshnaya Krishna-Chaitania namne gaura-twise Namaha!"
At that moment, Omega swore the crazy youth began to glow, his feet not touching the ground. Replaying what he had just said...and coming up with nothing.
"It declares Gauranga to be the most merciful of the Avatar and being none different than Krishna...actually, Gauranga is Krishna covered with the golden effulgence of Srimati-Radharani. Krishna's main consort and Prema personified."
"Ok...SO Krishna's God and Radha's...love of God?" Omega resumed with a tilt of his head, navigating through the young jungle. Taking note of all the birds, bugs, snakes and lizards that moved on the ground, through the sky and the tree branches. "...What's love?"
"Love is the burning desire to see his beloved happy no matter what, it is selfless, unending, and the main reason for the spirit soul's existence and nature," he explained. "But love cannot be aim at was is material, like mundane family, mundane friends, land..."
"Why?"
"Because love is meant for Krishna alone. If you tried to serve and love anything material, you'll end up with more pain and a broken heart!"
"Why?"
"Because, Omega, we are immortal, eternal. If we repose our love in something that's not eternal, then it ends." Kripa stopped in his tracks, looking at the century-old reploid with eyes older and wiser than his body could suggest. "And when it ends...all the time, all the suffering and emotions you've invested in this relationship get turned into ashes. And you are left with a broken heart and with memories that won't let you move forward.
"Like...X and Zero." Omega's eyes grew bigger.
Karuna-Sindhu nodded sadly.
Omega glanced at Yavata, who was quite a few paces ahead of Karuna."...Karuna, You're also attached to your mom and Yavata." The crimson reploid pointed out. To which, the plant-like powerhouse gave a grateful grin.
"I am! But this type of attachment is different from what X and Zero...and even what you and Zero are experiencing."
"It is?"
Karuna nodded as he turned around to continue the trek back home. Omega trailed behind him. "Oh, you have no idea."
"No...that's why I'm asking," Omega mumbled, causing Karuna to burst into laughter...it was a burst of kind laughter.
"Ok, Fair enough." he acquiesced. "Omega...Lust, the desire to give pleasure to his own senses like loha, or iron."
"Meaning brittle, heat conductive but easily rusted." Omega resumed.
"Oh yeah. I mean, Iron is...not the most useless of metal, but it's considered unusable in the Veda and very low class.
Omega grunted as he took the scenery in, he had never seen a forest before, especially one with that many trees with green leaves.
"As for love...it's Gold!"
"But Gold's even more useless!" Omega argues back. "It's too soft to make an armour, it doesn't have any practical application outside of computers and robotics...it made for the best connectors and it didn't rust.
His realization must have been apparent on his face.
"You see...love may seem useless. But everyone is running after it, even falling for other metals of lesser value like pyrite and brass. It's also the most expensive pure metal, and the softest."
"So...Pure love is like gold."
"Hmm-hmm. Pure love is self-less, you don't want to take pleasure from the one you love, you want your beloved to be happy and to have the greatest of enjoyment...not caring if this enjoyment will cause you pain." Karuna explained as he raised his eyes to the glorious blue sky. "Some people...most people say that this is an unhealthy type of life, but those are idiots who know nothing about true love, thinking this beautiful and vibrant person to be nothing more than mere words and Lust, a commodity."
"Love...Love Belongs to God...and Krishna...Krishna's completely controlled by and will reciprocate with this love...he's controlled by it...and truly selfless love, like that of Sri-Radha, makes him a debtor of Love. He can't repay her, at all!" Karuna-Sindhu declared as he began to spin with his arms upraised, his movement graceful in the late morning air. " In front of the greatness of Srimati-Radharani's love, Bhagavan Sri-Krishna, The divine Husband of the Goddess of fortune gets turned into a poor man, for what can he give to the personification of selfless love? -the greatest of wealth?"
"So...God's...Krishna's a debtor?" He heard those words a few times in New Delhi. "But..how can he be a love debtor? Can he just...erase this debt?" He had heard That Krishna owns everything...how hard could it be to repay that?
Karuna stopped his dancing, his face flushed and his eyes sparkling with bliss.
"Oh...Omega...The love of those Gopis...I can't make it justice." he explained . "they gave up everything for Krishna's pleasure, even their own fame as chaste women. Basically, a Gopi, a simple cowherd woman will happily go to hell, and I mean the real one at the bottom of the universe if it means that Krishna will be happy."
"because they know Krishna's might as the all-powerful Lord, right?" Omega bounced on the ball of his feet."
Karuna-Sindhu whirled around and playfully jabbed his pointy finger at Omega's face...making a very silly pose. 'What the hell's wrong with him?'
"Wrong!" The human plant declared. "In Vraja, even the lowest of mollusks at the bottom of the Yamuna is aware of Krishna's ultimate Divinity… And yet, their pure love for him is so strong...that they say God as their best friend, their a loving son and...their lover."
"In Vaikuntha, where Lord Vishnu is worshipped with awe and reverence, everything is peaceful and harmonious. But in Vraja, Sri-krishna is worshipped by love and love alone, there are no rules except love for him!" he declared. "Krishna can't give up his opulence, he can't give up his family, his fame, his name, his reputation as the Lord! But the gopis did out of love for him." Karuna's body shook, his voice choked. "Krishna gave the entire treasury of Vaikuntha to those who eternally reside in Vraja-pura, and to those gopi's he gave Himself.
And when he gave himself, those selfless Gopi's used this as an opportunity to serve him...and of all those saintly gopis, Sri-Radha's selfless love turned the controller of everything as her butter puppet." A wide grin lit Karuna-Sindhu's scared face.
"SO the lord, wanting to know the nature of their love, and the unlimited pleasure Sri Radha tasted as she served Him with love, Blackish Krishna Plundered the golden heart of Golden Sri-Radha's ...and he came out the same colour!" Karuna-Sindhu raised his hands to the heavens again and began to dance.
"Now richly endowed with Srimati Radharani's Bhava and Kanty, Sri-Krishna Became Gauranga, and filled to the brim with pure love for Himself, and yet hiding his true identity as the supreme personality of Godhead Sri Krishna, He moved among us as a Bhakta, one of his own devotee, and thus, he and His brother gave the greatest of liberation, the sweetest of fruits, the hidden treasures of the Veda's."
Omega stared, his mouth wide open...Karuna-Sindhu didn't touch the ground anymore, and...he was glowing.
He shivered...something he never usually did.
"Gauranga gave pure love of God in the sweet mood of a lover, the highest liberation, the highest and sweetest Rasa to the most fallen, the most wretched, the rascals living in the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the lowest of man!" He declared, his voice vibrating. "Namo Maha-Vandanaya, Krishna-Prema Pradayate! Sri-Krishna-Chaitania Namne, Gaura-twise Namah!" He bellowed over and over again as he glowed with a joy Omega never thought could be possible.
Actually, it was beyond joy, it was exaltation.
Suddenly, Yavata made some noise, reminding the two of his presence. This broke Karuna out of his happy trance and brought him back to ground level...somewhat.
"Oh ah...yes Yav?" Karuna asked as he scratched the back of his head.
When Yavata began to sign, he didn't look very happy.
"Oh...Oh, yeah...sorry about that Yav. No, you're completely right, I just couldn't help myself...no, I'm not planning Sri-Dham Mayapur...Yeah, It was a bit too esoteric for him...too deep and rasik..."
'He's getting yelled at!' Omega Realised. 'He's being yelled at by a guy weaker than him...'
It made no sense. 'Hey...maybe I could...'
"Yeah...sorry Yavat..." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he turned around to face Omega.
'I guess it's my turn then.' The God of Bloodshed grinned widely as he planned his attack.
...and then He stopped… Karuna-Sindhu was looking at him with a smile and love-filled eyes.
'Peh...look as cute as you want, freak. I won't let you out without you bleeding on the ground.'
"You...Why did you have to make me clean the damn place! Krishna me It was alright!" Omega forced himself to raise his voice. "And that ugly piece of pink crap you made we wear! You can shove it where the sun doesn't shine!"
A moment of silence passed…
"And because of the piece of pink plastic scrap, a guy groped me 'cus I looked like a girl...Do you know how bad I wanted to rip his balls out and shove it down his ripped-out throat?" Karuna and Yavata's eyes grew wider.
Then Omega realized with anger that his words held no real heat…
'It must be the ribbon...stupid little piece of frilly scrap.' Even his rage was reduced to nill, he could only fear and feel happy. And worried too.
"wait...someone groped you?" Karuna's pupil turned a glowing red, and Yavata's jaw clenched in anger.
"yeah...grabbed me by the back-piece up in the new Delhi station." He finally informed his two guardians. Sad that the transcendental atmosphere had disappeared with his declaration of injustice.
Suddenly, the entirety of the newly grown forest grew deadly silent...the two Vaishnava positively burning with barely contained rage.
"Omega..."
"Yes?" He wasn't sure if yelling...or just getting mad at Karuna-Sindhu was really such a good idea anymore.
Actually, he felt terrible about it...
"Did you see the …guy who dared to...desecrate you?" The plant-like Vaishnava's eyes turned black, while his iris remained brass-like. The core of his sight-giving organ was a glowing red...and for the first time in his life, Omega wanted to run…
And no..the ribbons had nothing to do with this.
He nodded.
"Wonderful!" Karuna-Sindhu's behaviour turned...saccharine. "And did you also happen to record that, snookums?" He asked with a very fake smile that stretched his lips a bit too far for a human.
"ahh..."
"It's alright Omega, I'm not mad at you," Karuna assured. "But I still do need the...future pile of ashe's mugshot you know, can't let him run around and mess with other Matajis now!" He spoke in a very sing-songy voice, and Omega complied.
He thought he had felt Karuna's complete power…
He was wrong.
He sent the picture, Yavate took a look and...a hidden 'Cyber-Elf' flew out of his head…
The Karuna sighed, his eyes and the sound of the forest returning to more or less normal.
"Alright...enough dawdling, let's go home before the sun bakes us." and with that, the two Vaishnavi and their Robotic...charge resume their trek through the Renaturalized forest of Rtu-dwip.
They walked in complete silence, and, to Omega's great delight, their pace was almost militaristic. Meaning that the amount of ground they covered was just right!
Omega just loved the feeling of a brisk walk...especially in the unscorched and mildly polluted countryside. It was something else he's never had the chance to experience while in the hands of Albert.
Eventually, Yavata and Karuna arrived in front of a gate hidden in vines, and yet, he still could not see what was inside.
Karuna sighed. "Home sweet home."
"I can't see it." Omega flatly informed the plant.
"Of course not, It's still further in," Karuna-Sindhu stated as Yavata opened the gate and let the reduced God of Destruction in.
The place resemble any other place in the forest, except a wall was around it. There were flowering trees and vines, and some wild vegetables too. Omega could hear and smell more cows and a horse, birds and...so many animals.
'I want to see them!' He took a few steps forward, following the sound of livestock, especially the cows.
He smirked, he still had a score to settle with those tricky creatures, no one who dares to make a fool of Omega lives to tell the tale...except for Karuna-Sindhu and Krishna-bot.
But those two were the only exceptions...same as Zero since….Since he would never make fun of Omega, he respected the God of destruction too much.
'Great...I made myself sad Again.' He didn't like being sad...being sad sucked the life out of everything.
Karuna-Sindhu grabbed the mopping walking apocalypse by the hand and began showing him around the compound. Showing him plants, big and small bigs and the facilities.
The Bathroom was outside, consisting of a small shed with a hole in the ground. It was different from the seat with the water inside. there was also a shower with a hot water heater at the top, for winter, Karuna said.
There was the bathing pond, the orchard, the garden, the cowshed and finally the housing area.
The house was built high off the ground, the bottom floor dedicated to bikes and an electric vehicle Karuna had identified as a toto. Oh, and Mukhara was there too, she was still in her pink sari, standing here with love pouring out of her every pore…
or it could just be sweat, Humans would get awfully sweaty in hot weather.
Karuna-Sindhu dropped whatever luggage he had been carrying and fell at the feet of his mother, he was followed by Yavata. Mukhara held them up and smelled their heads as she embraced the two overpowered youth to her heart. (also, she wore the same U-shaped mark with the leaf at the bottom her sons would wear.)
Omega looked at the display, unsure of what he should do.
Should he follow the example of the two powerful youth surrendering to someone much weaker than them? Or should he...remain standing like a statue?
'Well… Imitating Yavata and Karuna made them pleased with me...maybe I should.'
"Omega?"Mukhara addressed the Walking apocalypse. "I can hear that you desire to imitate my son." She spoke with a fond smile on her lips.
"Ah...yeah?" No, he was not intimidated by the short woman (?)...she just naturally commanded respect.
"Alright, the first lesson in the Path of Bhakti; before you imitate, know the reason why the person is performing a particular action. It will save you from ridicule and will let you reap all the benefit of the action performed...also, nothing bad will come for your rolling in the dust, it's actually a religious principle to do so and the reason why my-"
"Omega, please bow down to my worshipable mother." Karuna-Sindhu interrupted his...worshipable mother, who looked at her Son with outrage.
"Kazaami-" she bellowed, her face going red without her forehead being caved in.
Omega did as he was asked, once again embracing the golden dust of Mayapur.
It felt right...it felt right to do this...even if his mind told him otherwise.
But what would his mind know? The only thing it wanted was destruction, carnage and bloodshed. But Omega wasn't satisfied with that…
well, maybe he could kill a few random people here and there...but not with the stupid ribbon.
"Omega!" He heard Mukhara's commanding tone. But Omega wasn't in the mood to listen and thus remained on the ground!
"Omega..." He heard him sigh. "Listen, I know your nature but please don't go and rain destruction on my kingdom." she pleaded. "If you thirst for violence and destruction, I know where you may vent...but not here. Is that clear?"
The god Of destruction, who had raised his head from the ground, looked at Kripa's mother. The woman was sitting on the ground, the pink sari spread about like a dusty lotus upon the golden ground.
Omega peered at her through his fringe… "...why?"
"Because killing innocent people for fun will get you into trouble," she explained.
"Like...going to hell?"
"Yes. And no, you can't conquer hell my dear...rare are those who can. And I know that Killing is not what you really want." Mukhara spoke knowingly. "You want to speak to Zero, you want to explore more and you want love and affection."
"No, I Don't!" The coal and Crimson reploid vehemently denied a bit too quickly.
"You do...we all do." Mukhara's gold eyes shone behind her eyeglasses. A weakness for sure, but protection too.
Omega tried to deny it but… the way this confusing woman had said it…
It hit something deep in his heart, a wound, a sore that he had hidden even to himself.
Mukhara took Omega from under his shoulders and lifted him up, smelling the top of his head before embracing him. Flooding him with causeless love.
Omega clutched the otherwise fragile woman as emotions exploded from inside his heart.
He felt safe…
He felt loved…
He was home.