"Hoo! Huh!
Huwoa!"
Zero executed a perfect triple slash
combo on an incoming batonton bat. The
black bowling ball exploded in a sphere of light with harmless black shrapnel
littering the ground. Two rolling tanks
emerged from doorways on opposite sides of the room. Zero jumped up while their turrets tracked
him, and landed on the top of the one on the left. The second tank opened fire, scattering
plasma blasts against the wall. Zero
skyrocketed off as the shots peppered the tank, causing it to explode. Zero aimed his arm cannon and rained down
plasma shots at the remaining tank. The
tank's turret readjusted its angle gradually as Zero careened forward and
sliced off the barrel with his energy saber.
He switched his body around and around the tank several more times,
whipping his saber up and down, and jumped back as the tank exploded in a
shower of light.
"Computer – advance difficulty
to Rank S," Zero demanded.
*Rank S is not recomm-*
"Just do it!" Zero
screamed primally.
The computer blipped in compliance
and dark red light flooded the room.
Suddenly, robots began pouring out of all sixteen entrance panels around
the room. They started firing plasma
shots immediately. Yellow globules of
energy spattered the room around him in crossfire.
Zero dashed forward and slammed into
one of the humanoid robots with a cycloptic eye in the stomach. As it doubled over he thrust his arm back up,
knocking it in the face with his bulbous forearm. It swayed back and the red commander blew it
away with his arm cannon. A plasma burst
made impact with his right shoulder blade, leaving a smoldering mark. He winced and looked behind him, ferocity
masking his face like war paint.
Zero took off at an inhuman sprint
under the chaotic blitzkrieg with his saber blazing. He dashed towards the wall and sliced a
soldier robot in two at the torso.
Rust-colored red metal innards spilled out. The next one he decapitated, yellow sparks
fountaining forth instead of blood.
Plasma shots pelted down hard on him as the others locked onto his
stationary position. Zero looked back in
fury at them and raced along the edge of the wall, cutting dummy robots open as
fast as they could emerge. The enemies
respawned just as fast as Zero could do away with them. Still sprinting, Zero's foot touched the wall
itself and, using his centrifugal force, he began running along the wall. Smoke and sparks flew left and right from the
bodies and machines littering the floor.
"RrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Zero spun off the wall like a
tornado and cut the last robot down the middle, head to toe. The two halves fell apart from each other and
flopped to the ground.
The red android squatted on the
ground, posed with his saber arced behind him and holding the ground for
support with his other hand. The
lighting in the arena switched back to hospital white.
*End Program* the computer
said.
"Not enough," Zero
muttered as he turned off his light saber.
"Commander."
Zero looked up and saw Janus
standing in the open doorway.
"Janus? Are you going to use the Beta Room?" he
said as he rubbed his wrist, testing its tensile strength.
"Oh, no, sir, I fight my
battles in less violent terms... and with less debris to clean up."
Zero took a passing glance at the
wasteful mess he'd made. "Well, do
you want something then?" Janus
could tell by the angered look in his eyes and his heavy breathing, Zero was
still agitated from the battle. .
"I'm just curious, sir, as to
how X's extradition proceeds."
"Don't talk about X with me.
I'm really not in the mood for it."
Zero said as he sheathed his saber into his belt.
"Oh, I know my timing is off,
sir. But I was wondering just how well
you know X."
Zero thought Janus was taking a
serious risk continuing the conversation.
"Know him? I know him like
he was my own brother."
"Then why did he shoot
you?"
"It wasn't on purpose. He was aiming for Duplex, but he got me
instead."
"Pardon me, sir, but that's not
what I've heard from others in the company.
Though I bore no witness to the event, I understand that X fired at you
in defense when you assailed him."
"I don't know!" Zero threw
his hands up in the air and then clutched the sides of his head, "Rrrgh, I
don't know, and I can't get in to see him or talk to him because he's under
arrest." He propped himself up at
the side of the wall, his eyes growing and his pupils narrowing. "I keep telling myself it was just an
accident, but that look he had in his eyes, I see it in my dreams. What do you think?"
"Whether it was accident or
purposeful, I cannot tell."
"Maybe he was just defending
himself, right? He saw me jump at him
and he let it go. He acted
instinctively."
"Reploids don't have instincts,
sir."
"I know! That's the problem. So what does that leave? He did it intentionally? I can't believe that. I mean, I did tackle him, but that was just
to protect the other guy. And he let the
blast go into me."
"Did it hurt, sir?" Janus
cocked his head to the side. "I ask
because I've never been in full combat before.
I've never taken a charged blast, though I doubt I would withstand
it."
Zero sighed. "It hurt. It hurt like hell. He knew it, but he didn't stop. It had to have been an accident. Right?
Right?"
"I... er," Janus stammered,
surprised at being asked his own opinion.
"Janus, tell me what you
think. You work under X, right?"
"Yes, sir, but that can't mean
that I am a judge of his character."
"You must know. What have you seen? Has X been acting weird?" Zero grabbed Janus by the shoulders with a
pleading look in his eye.
"Weird? Weird is such a subjective term."
"Yes, yes, but do you know if
he's been acting weird?"
"Know? I cannot 'know' someone is weird. Just like I cannot 'know' if a person is
kind. It's a matter of opinion."
"Fine, fine, then
what do you think?"
"Think, sir?"
"Are you stuck on repeat?"
Zero released his shoulders and stepped back.
"Do you know something? Are
you trying to hide something from me?"
"Sir, please calm down. You know that I am dutifully obligated to
serve you."
"I know,
I know you are a fine Maverick Hunter and would never disobey an order. And I order you to tell me what you think of
X!" Zero glowered hatefully at
Janus, never wavering from his battle gaze.
"I think X is an honest
hunter."
"And?"
"And what, sir? If you'll forgive me, my opinions are
irrelevant in this matter."
"I assure you they are very
relevant."
"But what I may say has the
chance to be misinterpreted. I'd hate to
be the source of an ugly rumor, especially one damaging to X."
"My god, man. Did you take classes in verbal manipulation
or something?" Zero threw up his
hands and paced back to the wall.
"If I should speak badly of X,
it would ruin him for all time. A man's
treasure is nothing if he has no reputation to spend it."
"What? What are you talking about? Reputation?" He spoke slowly and deliberately so that
Janus would understand him. "I just
want your opinion of X."
Janus kept his mouth shut and stood
there dumbly, his hands behind his back.
Zero approached him infuriated. "Braah, tell me! Tell me, or so help me..."
"I cannot, even if my memory
was ripped out of me."
"RRRAA!"
Zero wound up his arm and his meaty fist punched clear through the titanium
padding of the room. Zero retracted his
hand slowly, pulling out sparking wires and wall debris. A soft screeching metal sounded as he moved
his hand. Janus' expression remained
unfazed.
Zero pulled his undamaged hand out
and looked between it and the wall.
"My god, have I lost control too?
Is this how you felt, X?"
Janus stepped closer to Zero with
his hands clasped behind him. "Dear
sir, be wary of suspicion. It is a black dog that sinks its teeth in
once and never lets go."
Zero propped his arms against the
wall, stared down at the floor, panting like he was sick. His eyes were gaping wide, looking for
something to believe in.
Janus continued, "If you were
rich and were constantly paranoid of those around you trying to take your
earnings, it would be better to be poor and content. Don't you think?"
Zero futily tried to shove back in
the wires he had pulled out of the wall.
"You're right," Zero quick-turned back to Janus, regaining his
composure. "I'm not a suspicious
person. I don't behave irrationally like
this. X might, but I don't. Never knew he had it in him, but he is
capable of that. I've just demonstrated
it." He gestured to the newly made
hole. "I regret it, but the
writing's on the wall, so to speak."
"I just don't want you to
become as paranoid as X."
"Do you think I'm seeing
conspiracies everywhere? People know me
as level-headed. If I'm in doubt, then I
stay in doubt until the issue is resolved.
I already know what I know, now I want to know
if there is more to go on."
"Good," Janus stood at
attention and smiled. "Then you are
ready to hear what I have to say.
Although this is not proof, I suggest this: keep X under
observation. See how he is avoiding
contact with humans over reploids."
"What makes you think I can
keep track of his movements that closely?
After his arrest he'll be making sure to keep his suspicious behavior to
a minimum. We're not living in an
Orwellian society. And I don't want to
have to put a camera on him at all hours.
Even if I did that wouldn't go through with command. They'd say that's the very reason we're
trying to stop the Mavericks."
"But isn't that what we're
doing here?"
"X? As a Maverick? Now you are wasting my time. Don't you know that X and I are impervious to
the Maverick virus?"
"There's still a lot we don't
understand about the Maverick virus, sir.
It's called a virus, but who knows where it came from. All we do know is that there was no virus
until X surfaced."
"That doesn't make a case for
it. And even if X were a Maverick, why
would he have attacked me? Wouldn't he
have wanted to attack humans, like Dr. Cain maybe?"
"Reploids don't need to hate
humans to fight each other. We've seen
plenty of evidence of that in our battles."
"Yeah, well, they also don't
need to be Maverick to fight each other, as we've seen with Repliforce."
Janus cocked his head to the
side. "I thought the report on that
was that they had gone Maverick."
Zero slumped
his shoulders. "Never
mind."
"Sir?"
"In any case, I'll need more
than what I have now to be able to make any sort of accusations against X. You've given me nothing to go on here,
Janus. You're wasting my time."
"That's
why I suggest you keep your eye on him.
X is a conflicted soul. He's a
pacifist at heart, yet he continues to fight in every war, to assume the role
of Commander. Somewhere in there, X must
be experiencing wrenching inconsistency.
But he must cover it up to maintain his demeanor. The trick is to separate the lies from the
truth."
"And what are the lies? There's got to be something you can offer me
that's a little more substantial. I
don't make these kind of accusations without
evidence."
"That, you must see for
yourself. But the evidence is
there," Janus said.
"Now, I want some actual
proof. Some hard data. Something I can see with my eyes that X is a
Maverick." Zero clutched his fist
in front of him.
"Sir, I must again suggest that
you back away from this manner. It can
only end badly. You're taking it too
personally."
"Nothing is too personal when
it concerns the safety of the world. The
world I've sworn to protect. I want a
reason to bring action to X."
"I can only tell you this. One day, I managed a glimpse of his
diagnostic log. His dreams. They were on the monitor clear as day. I know dreams are wayward and random, but
this one... it involves your saber."
"Go on."
"The dreams involved X
surrounded by shadowy figures. He took
his beam saber... yours. The one given at the third rise of Sigma. And he stabs the figures repeatedly, over and
over. And out comes blood. Human red blood. The
look in his eyes is just..." Janus trailed off.
"No... NO!" Zero raised his arms and shouted to the sky.
"It was only a dream."
"X doesn't dream of such
things. His dreams are of peace, where
there is no fighting among humans and reploids."
"That is the nature of
dreams. Sometimes they show the truth
beneath the lies." Janus
paused. Zero put a hand over his heart,
as if it were breaking. He staggered
back as if he had been hit. Janus
continued, "Sir, you know the nature of reploid dreams. They are always true events. Somewhat obscured, but always true. Reploids cannot create in imagination."
"It's not possible. It's not.
I'll tear him."
"Sir, please, contain yourself.
Your reputation would be marred with this display."
Zero sank to his knees. "It's not... The logs-" he looked up to Janus
pleading.
"Erased. X would surely not let such a truth
escape."
Zero bent down with his head
touching the ground. "I can't. I can't.
No, I had a duty. I made a vow to
stop Mavericks everywhere. I swore I
would carry it out when I became commander."
"Sir, I'm afraid there's no way
around it. If you find X's saber, you'll
have the evidence you desire."
Zero put a hand to his eyes in
anguish. "Oh, X, X, X, X. When did you go wrong? Why would you do this? The humans... was it
because they weren't good enough? Not
strong enough? Was it really the
virus?" Zero looked back at Janus
from the tops of his eyes. "I swear
you had better not be lying to me."
"I swear I have told you no
lies."
"Are you listening to me,
soldier? Do you understand the stress
I'm under?" Zero pointed his finger
angrily. "If I find out you've
given me false leads I'll have you dismantled so fast it'd make your head
swim. I'll have you hooked up to a power
reactor. Got it?"
"Yes, sir."
Zero looked up at Janus with watery
eyes. "I must... I must stop
X. I have to," he said weakly.
Janus kneeled down to Zero's
level. "I know, sir. I made the same vow. That means I must help you." He put his arm around his red armor, cradling
him.
"Good, Janus. Good."
Zero coughed back to a steady stream of voice, his commanding tone. "I will need a hand in this. Janus.
X is as powerful as me. He won't
go down easy, and he won't go down by myself
alone. Only you and I know of this,
Janus, and we have to keep it that way."
"I understand, sir."
"In order to do this, you'll
need more privileges. I'll have you
promoted to First Lieutenant. And
transfer you to my command."
"Thank you, sir. I shall serve no one else above you."