"XR….. There is a chance to stop the weapon…. But I need to connect my core to stop it."
XR shook in fear as he kept trying to break through.
"I love you XR. Always and forever….."
"Nos!" XR sat up and groaned from his sleep before realizing he was asleep on the job! He was just finishing up the last of the files he had to work on but he was out asleep for some reason. He didn't know when or how he was asleep, but he felt he was something he was forgetting.
"XR."
XR perked and smiled to see it was Nos-4-a2. "Hey you're here! Weren't you supposed to be-!" He felt something in his motherboard hit, like a sharp zap of pain. He looks up to see Nos only smile. "Are you ready to head out? I got tickets to that museum to see the Arcanium Crystal-"
"I will use this Crystal to power up-"
XR pauses and looks around and for a second he swore it was not the place he's in, but he has been stuck all day in the-
"-Nox and Mor said they will meet us with little Lenore." Nos takes his hand and XR smiles before pulling him into a hug and feels Nos hugs him back. "Everything ok?"
XR tightens the hug. "I just miss you so much." XR smiles and cups his face and sees Nos only smiles back.
"It's only been a day." Nos cups his face.
"You know a day for a dog amounts to a year." XR grins and kisses his cheek and Nos only holds him.
"Lovebot, I will have to be gone for at least for a week-" Nos feels XR groans.
"The last time they sent you away, it became a month and almost Never-" XR stops and looks down. "I just hate it when you're gone." XR starts feeling that headache again until he feels Nos cups his face.
"But XR I'm not going away anytime soon. I will cancel the mission; Ryder can do it alone." Nos said and XR grins but that headache didn't go away. But it didn't matter, he just wanted to spend time with Nos now that he was free from work.
Nox frowns as he is sat by his dad who was in REM mode. It has been a year since his dad tried to start up his papa's core after being put together but it couldn't start up like before. He frowns to see the core was still lifeless and rebuilding his body was impossible because it needs the core on. It pained him and sister when they couldn't stop their father from stopping the Arcanium Crystal from overloading thanks to Zurg's weapon. Their dad tried to start their papa's core ever since and it's been heartbreaking. His father tried to interface but it was painful because the core was so complex, it was hard enough to fix the core with limited material. It was also dangerous to use the main uni-mind when it would absorb the core and dissipate the remaining pieces.
Nox tried to stop his dad from overloading his systems but his dad didn't stop. It pained him to try to rebuild a uni-mind from scratch in hopes the dead core aborbs it, but it was worse when he would lock himself away.
That was until someone sent a program. His dad thought it could work but now,
2 weeks and 22 hours in REM mode. It was by chance he found his dad on the floor lifeless but his optics were off. He thought he lost his dad too. It turns out it was a virus planted to get rid of any robots memory. Mor was out searching for the source but unfortunately it was hard tracing back any history or who made it.
"Dad, please come back.." Nox pleaded.
"Please…"
XR pauses and looks around to see who said that but it was too crowded in the museum. He kept his hand on Nos when they were getting further into the museum.
"Hey babe, did you hear something?" XR asked but saw Nos didn't say anything until he turned. "The Section is just up ahead." Nos smiles.
XR frowns but suddenly notices something that took his attention and hurried off to follow the hooded figure. He treaded until he turned to his organic disguise and ran. He hasn't been in this since- he stops when his head hurts and finds himself in a hall of crystals. "This is when Nos and I went to that aquarium zoo place with Vanet … twenty three years ago." He stops and begins shaking remembering he brought Nos here after missions or just to escape from work. He remembered it was a special anniversary because they were- they have been to it!
"Together for 23 years but it's not-" He stops and sees the figure stood across and he stops.
"XR?"
XR stops and turns to Nos but frowns. "Th-this isn't real, is it?" the room glitches
Nos walks over to him and reaches to him. "Of course it is-"
"When did we meet again?" XR asked. "What was it you said to me when you passed out?" XR began seeing the room changing now. He began crying. "We… I never left the lab…. Did I?"
Nos stood only this time his features changed to his worst fear.
"XR….. There is a chance to stop the weapon…. But I need to connect my core to stop it." The Nos he saw was changing.
XR shook as he watched Nos cracking. His parts are breaking off. "Nos please tell me this is a joke….!"
"There is a greater chance my core won't hold on-"
"Please stop!" XR grabbed his hand but it broke off.
"Please take our children out of here-"
"This-this isn't real!" XR holds him and Nos was breaking down.
"I love you XR. Always and forever….."
XR was shaking when Nos turned to rust before breaking apart in his arms. "Nos!" He cries and screams.
"Poor Nos."
XR grips tightly and glares at Zurg. "You did this!"
"Did I? Oh little one-"
"You don't get to say that!" XR glares. "You spiteful, wretched evil wackjob!" He punches him but instead of Zurg, he punches a mirror that had Nos and he cries. "I couldn't save him!" He tried to collect the pieces.
"Oh you're so right~! Poor Nosy! You know I thought he would be in so much pain to scream like he did before, you remember that right? When you destroyed his weaponed? Tell me didn't you feel happy he was gone then?"
"Th-that's different! I didn't want to kill him! I-"
"Oh don't lie XR! You and I know monsters deserve death!" Zurg towers over him.
"No! Nos changed for the better! He loved me- I love him!" XR cries punching Zurg but it was air but he didn't care. "He loved us so much that he treasured us all. but he's nothing like you!... he was different…" XR cries. He watches his memories of much he tried to bring him back alone. Ald couldn't stay after the incident, he felt so bad when he yelled at him for running away. He should have asked for help. He was so much in denial, refusing to believe Nos was dead. He then sees him push his children away and even his brother. All because he felt he needed to be the one to bring back Nos. He felt alone with a core and his lover's corpse.
He misses Nos,
He missed his laughter
His smiles
His stubbornness
His creative imagination
He misses how much Nos has love for his family.
He was his everything.
But he missed his family so badly.
XR felt misery, spending days alone in the lab with a broken corpse and his core. He couldn't believe it was his Nos lying there. He could not give up!... He just couldn't.
"Why did you do this to me?"
"Because Nos became the very thing I despised when I saw him with you. I wanted revenge over the one who changed him! The one who made him go all noble!" He feigns his voice to emphasize it. "I was proud he was becoming far more evil! In fact if he did I would have used him! But then after his destruction, he was gone! So much for rebuilding him until I found news! To think he became like you! A waste of time!"
XR glares down at him.
"There's that look, that vengeful look! Tell me what would Nos think? Would he still love you if you murdered me?!" Zurg laughs
XR then sees Nos and he sees his body broken and missing parts once again.
XR felt he was being tortured all over again.
"You could be free if you give up saving a corpse. I just want you to give up on Nos."
XR rage turns to fear. "Please don't! I don't want that!" he watches Nos die again before rewinding and Zurg was laughing. "Please stop!" He cries as it continues on. Just when he could plead to stop it, he felt someone hold him from behind.
"This is impossible! You can't- NOOOOOOOOO!" Zurg was disappearing. "CURSE YOU NOS-4-A2…..!"
"I am so sorry you have been suffering. He kept me from you."
XR cries and turns to the Nos he knew, his Nos-X-Atu, Nos-4-a2, his other half. He held him tightly and cried. "You died! Gone for a year!" He yelled. "I tried so hard to bring you back! So hard to put your pieces back together…!" He cries. "But nothing brought you back! I failed you I …. I failed our family."
"No you did not fail me or them." Nos pulls away and lifts his face up. "We knew the weapon that was going to destroy our home planet was not something that could be overridden or stopped by any program. Only someone from the same mainframe could override it but the Arcanium power was too much for any core to handle. Even if we share the pain, I cannot let our children lose both of us. I could not lose any of you."
XR looks down, "Am I talking to you or is this another hallucination from that program?"
"I am from each interface you and I made, part of me that stayed in you. I guess the soul, the very essence of me." Nos held his hand and the scene changed to the top of the mountain, close to their home.
"Funny you chose this spot," XR sat on the rock. "The very special spot we kept from everyone else. Even our kids. Didn't we make our kids up here?" He jokes but can't bring himself to smile.
"We did. It was a special place I brought you when we became officially friends." Nos smiled and sat with him.
"Nos, is there a way to bring you back? Even if it takes a lifetime- I'll stay with you-!"
"Dad please wake up!"
"DAD!"
"Daddy!"
"DAD!"
XR heard and knew well who was shouting. The last one sounded clearer than before.
"They need you, Lovebot." Nos pressed his head to XR's.
"They- they need you too! I need you! I can't be without you." XR held him.
"Then talk to them, hear them out. Let them be there." Nos nuzzles him, looking at him. "Besides, I will be back when my core heals on its own. We both have been through worse."
"But it hurts missing you! I hate it!" He cries and feels Nos kisses him. He kissed back and held him close he notices they wer in their organic disguises but he knew this felt like their real selves. "I lost so much time in mourning, it's hard to want to keep living. M-maybe it's why I did this. Put myself in this… just so I can be with you." He holds his hand to his face. "This is the one time I let Zurg's stupid plan work."
"It was stupid but then again we both are. XR it takes a year or more to let the core rebuild itself. For now spend it with our children, so that when I return, you can tell me everything."
XR feels everything fading. "This is not goodbye-" He smiled tiredly but he couldn't stop crying.
"-Just until we can say hello again." He kissed him one more time until everything went dark.
{Turning back on}
[processing]
…
…
XR sat up only to be bombarded with hugs by his three adult kids and young teen daughter, who was leaking so much water from her optics. He frowns to see Nos across from him, not by his side awake. He took a moment to just hold his kids together. "I'm so sorry."
"This wasn't your fault! This was the scum that did this!" Nox nearly growls.
"Agree. Clearly this was someone else's stupid scheme to hurt you. I will find them and make them rue the day!" Mor growls.
"I will hunt them down." Vanet glares already thinking of what to do. He felt somehow all of them were parts of Nos.
Lenore however was quiet. "Did you get lost in it?"
All adults were shocked, but XR could feel guilt and it hit him hard and to see Lenore was more calm like Nos, it made him realize just how foolish he got in his goals. "I couldn't stop it, I let a stupid simple trap keep me in because… I really miss your papa." XR frowns. "I'm so sorry all of you." He feels them hug him tightly. He felt so drained and tired he just felt like passing out.
He hopes he can still dream of Nos.
XR frowns as he places the core in the body as he feels more scared than ever. He hadn't been in the lab for a few months, due to the much needed rest and his kids keeping him from overworking. It was hard but one of the things he did was write letters to Nos. It was part of his healing system or something but it was something he could do that wasn't self destructive. It was also his way to just express his feelings. He wrote to Nos how much he missed him. How he spent time with their kids.
Having the most awkward talk with DRAC but he was the only few who can help him figure out how to help Nos's core. He found out after a awkward meeting, Nox and he broke up and was surprised when he saw Nox staying home rather than being with DRAC. Nox didn't talk about it but he was able to comfort his son. He figured it had to do with a new antimatter vampire thats been a thorn in DRAC.
So he has been writing over 100 letters to Nos since the incident. He can't say he's been ok, but it was better than before. But the plan his kids have was crazier than his. "I don't like this idea with what you kids are going to do, especially you Lenore." He sees his kids, and even Vanet who was their adopted kid, 31, had brought her memory cores Nos made for her.
Vanet pats his back. "Dad, I know you're scared, but even with a cracked and broken core, we can help heal it. You said papa can comeback with time-"
"So we will just help his core get back up!" Mor spoke with excitement.
"And when he wakes up, we'll be here." Nox states as he types away. "You said papa is in a manner of speaking, alive but as memories-"
"-We are made up of you and dad!" Lenore cut in, "that means we have fragments that can fill the gaps papa needs for his core!"
"It has been proven when Nos helped me."
XR looks up to see Ald walks in. "Ald, you came? What happens to working in another galaxy?"
"Lenore told me what happened, and I came in speed. I'm sorry I just left, I wasn't the only one who was mourning but I…. I left my brother in law to clean up the pieces alone" He walks over to help Nox type a few more instructions. "If what you tried wasn't enough, it was probably because one core isn't enough to support it. Nos's core is more unique thanks to the antimatter so before coming here, I snuck into Zurg's lab and stole some."
XR was surprised and saw the name on the canister when Ald handed it to him.
Nos-4-a2 sample XX-XX-XXXX
XR was nearly in tears but held the canister carefully and placed it in the machine to transfer the A.M in the core carefully. He pulls away and frowns to see Vanet plugging each one in so he moves to his spot to connect. However instead of being his robotic self, he changes to his organic self. He could tell his kids were surprised but they smile and sat ready to begin. Vanet types away and begins to start it. The machine starts up and soon they each feel the transfer process and energy emitting into the broken core. XR was used to the pain but he can see them all struggling.
"J-just a bit more!" Nox shouts and winces in pain. Soon the machine stopped, they all saw everything turned off.
XR was shaking, the last hope they had was gone, he felt his world shattered. He felt he was going to be without Nos-
He stops to see a faint but dim light coming From the cracked but glowing core. XR was shocked but felt something in his core felt a zap. It was hoped to see some life in the core but not just life, Nos's core was a bit bigger and the core was healing parts of Nos's body that needed patch work. He saw parts were from each of them but about close to half was his melding with Nos.
Everyone watched in relief to see it worked. It was a matter of when nos will wake up.
…..
….
….
….
… Reboot(ing)…..
[reestablishing program]
[10%]
{Rebooting}
….…
…
…
[40%]
….…
….
{system back on}
…..
….….….
….…
[60%]
…
….….
…
….….….
….…
[95.8]
….…
…
…..….….….…
{reboot completion:100%}
{Objective: wake up}
{Uni-mind status: healed}
{Antimatter: effecting the subject's fuel efficiency but sustained core}
3
2
1
Nos woke up, feeling weird until he remembered what happened.
The Arcanium weaponized cannon.
Capital planet,
How much he was willing to protect them all.
At the cost of his life. He remembered that and shuddered before noticing envelopes and makeshift flowers around him. He smiles a bit and looks around before reaching out for a connector that says "play me first". He connects it to him and perks to see it was a recording.
"If you're seeing this and I'm not here, I'm at work and already thinking of when you are waking any moment!"
Nos was surprised to see XR looked tired but he still watches it.
"Not to worry I got an alert when you wake up. Don't move or leave yet! I'll be there….. now!"
But it was not just him, he saw his children and XR practically crash in the lab. He moves instinctively but forgot his system was buffering being offline for so long, he fell. He would have hit the floor had his son and mate caught him.
"We got you!" They said at the same time. Nos was held up from falling to the ground and all he could do was hug them tightly. "I am sorry you all waited long." He felt Mor and Lenore tackled him and cried out. He sees that Vanet was there in tears.
"Papa…!" Vanet cries and joined the hug pile.
"Babe, we can wait longer than that! You're back!" XR hugs him tightly.
Nos only smiles tiredly and nuzzles against him. "I miss you; I am so sorry-"
"We know Nos, any of us would have done the same" XR kisses him. "I'm just happy you're back."
"Nos?!"
Nos looks up to see Ald enter and runs to him but stops. "You look drained." Nos stated.
"You look like a rag doll!" Ald retort. "Now you're two tone blue and instead of a monocle, it's a normal optic but dark pinkish orange. A-and you didn't call me to help! You should have!" Ald shakes and begins crying as Nos bud heads to him. "I was scared to lose any of you. I am sorry." Nos soon felt them hug him again.
Nos would have laid out in the coffin but after being destroyed, again, he felt uncomfortable and chose to lie on the grass, but he saw everyone he knew was here.
From his family to friends. And a new member in the group.
It was unsettling to see Svarfit, the clone of Al-2-0R, standing by but close to Nox.
"I read the letters, but I am still unconvinced of what I see lovebot." Nos watches him talk to Nox but he sees Drac looking from afar.
"Yeah even I'm just as confused and it's only been 1- 2 years, 8 months, 24 days and 5 hours." XR sat by his side and leaned against him. "But he hasn't shown any psycho signs being around Nox so I think we're good."
"I cannot say I am thrilled, but it is nice Nox is happy. And to be here with you." Nos holds his hand.
XR smiles and kisses him. "Same here and I got alot to tell you about but I got a gift for you." He holds an envelope. Nos perked and opened it to see it's something shocking.
"You are retiring?" Nos looks at him. "but this is your-"
"It's not my dream anymore and I came to a realization. I don't want to be away from you. Not a minute or a second! I had done so much for the galaxy, but when I lost you, I couldn't have it in my core to be a space ranger anymore. If you want to still work-"
"I sent a resignation letter to the agency." Nos stated. "I was going to surprise you but you beat me to it."
XR chuckles and nuzzles him. "I was thinking since we are both retired, we can be Nosferatu And Xavier Ramone Atu. Husbands that work in the cafe and bookstore. But if our kids ever need us, we go from there?"
Nos smiles and changes to his organic version and XR does the same and smiles, cupping his face and pulls him into a kiss.
"I love you, my Nosy."
"I love you, my little one."