Chapter 2: Afterwards

________________________________________ ________________________________

21XX:  New Tokyo, Maverick Hunter Headquarters (MHHQ), 0417 Hours GMT

My eyes shoot open.  I can’t see.  It’s too bright.   But I do hear a familiar voice that seems to be coming from above me.  Also, the noise of something hard slamming on something that sounds like plasteel.  Then I can see again.…Oh crap.

“Zero!  Are you okay?”

I gave my capsule its open command and the plasteel cover slid off.  “Yes X, I’m finAckk!”  X had just trapped me in a bear hug.

“Oh thank goodness!  I heard you mumbling in your sleep, and then you started to scream and then…”

“Ummm X?  I appreciate the concern and all, but could you please let go, your starting to choke me.”

“Oh!  Sorry about that.”  He got a shy look on his face.  Heh.  X could be stoic as stone most of the time, but was also known for his amazing mood swings, especially whenever someone he cared about was even in the slightest bit of trouble.

“It’s alright X.  I was just having a bad dream.”  More like a nightmare.

X showed a look of concern.  “Really?  Want to talk about it?”

“Not really.  I…wait a minute.  Why are you in my room?”

“Oh that.  Well, I was talking with Signas earlier this morning and he said he wanted to brief us on our last fight with Sigma.”

Oye.  I don’t want to talk about that.  Oh well, he is the boss.  I glanced over at my clock.  1319 hours already?  That dream must have taken longer than I thought it did.  Well, at least that explained why X came looking for me, I never usually sleep in this late, even after a late night out hunting.  “Alrighty then, you head on over there and tell him I’ll be right there.”

“Sure thing Zero,” X said with a grin and he was off to Signas’ office, deep in the bowels of MHHQ.

I got out of my recharging capsule and walked over to my sink.  I looked at myself closely in the mirror; seems like everything is fine.  I close my eyes and let out a sigh of relief.  But when I open them again, I'm totally covered in blood.  I panicked and went for the water faucet, but suddenly my hands were clean.  I looked at myself again and there was no trace of any blood.  “Great, now I’m seeing things too.”  I breifly considered telling X about this after our debriefing, but than quickly reconsidered.  No reason to let him fret over something that he couldn't really help with anyway.  No, I needed to finish getting ready and head out.  I'm already taking too much time as it is.

***

“You did tell him that I wanted to see both of you, correct?”

“For the fourth time Signas, yes I did, I could’ve sworn he would be here soon.  Oh wait, here he is now.”

I walked in with a half finished burrito. “Sorry, I stopped by the cafeteria on the way over.  I haven’t had anything to eat all day.”

Signas frowned as he let out a sigh of someone who had to deal with someone he didn't want to.  To be sure, he had the utmost respect for Zero, however, there were times when the Crimson hunter tried his patience.  “Well Zero, if you kept better hours with your recharging sessions, this sort of thing may not happen.”

It was at this moment that X decided to chime in.  “Sir, I think it’s something else.  When I went to get him, Zero said he was having nightmares and...”

“X!”  I can't believe that he would just blurt something out like that.  On the one hand I understood that X was just acting protective of me, but this could end up causing trouble in and of itself.

Signas, meanwhile, had quickly looked up from the papers he had been shuffling and looked at Zero with an incredulous expression.  “What?  Is this true Zero?”

I looked at X, who looked at me like he had just realized what a faux pau he just made.  I looked back over to Signas and gritted my teeth, readying myself for the lecture that was about to come.  “Yes, Signas, I have been having nightmares, what of it?”

Signas raised one eyebrow at Zero's accusatory tone, but then dismissed it and continued to shuffle papers.  “Nothing.  It’s just odd is all.  Since it hasn't seriously affected your work, it’s none of my buisness.  I would suggest that you talk to someone about it, but you seem to be confiding in X and that’s good enough for me.”

“Really,” I asked, slightly surprised that Signas would let me off so easily.

“Yes, really.  However, the minute your performance starts to suffer, you will go see a professional.  Understood?”

He wouldn’t waiver on this bit.  That much I was sure of.  “Sure, that sounds fair.  So, what did you want to see me and X for?  Something about a debriefing?”

“Correct.  First off, congratulations again for stopping the uprising.  I've been examining the data from the reports that were filed, and they all seem to indicate that Sigma's forces are dwindling.”

X quickly jumped in to elaborate more.  “Yes, and they were greener than usual.  This leads me to believe that he's running low on maverick generals, seeing as how the lack of training means he hasn't had the time to train them as well as they should have been.”

Signas nodded, taking in all the information given to him.  He then looked at me, as if to signal me to start talking.

“I concur with X in that the maverick generals were less experienced this time around, but not necessarily that that means Sigma is running low on forces.  The more generals he has the less time he needs to actually train each one of them as each successive general can assist in the training of others.  The fact that these generals were green could just mean that they were the new guys and that there are still some more dangerous ones still at large, probably trying to figure out a way to bring Sigma back again.  Call it what you will, but I have the strongest feeling that we will see more of Sigma soon.”

Signas calmly considered this for a few minutes.  “You both make good points, however, what we can all agree on is that the destruction of Sigma, once again, will most certainly stall any larger plans the remaining maverick generals may have had.  It’s almost a certainty that they will go into hiding for the time being while they try to 'get their acts together' as the saying goes.  If they do go into hiding it will most certainly be next to impossible to find them before they make their next move.  Seeing as how we are the reactionary force in this war, what we need to do is focus on recruitment and training while we have this window of opportunity.  Zero, I want you to set up meetings with the other unit commanders and begin drafting up new training policies and systems.  I want all of our hunters to be at the top of their game when Sigma's forces make their next move.  X, I want you to focus on reviewing and, if necessary, revising our recruitment policies.”

“Should I offer more incentives for enlistment?”

“No, we have plenty of people who would give an arm to get in here.  What we need to do is make sure the ones giving the arm will meet our duty requirements.”

“I’ll start as soon as I finish my appointment.”

“Oh that's right, you're guest lecturing over at NTIT right?  Good luck with that X.”

X beamed with pride at the compliment.  “Thanks although I doubt I’ll need it, I've been ready for this for a week now.”

“Excellent, you'll have to tell me how it goes.  Well I guess that's all for now.  You're both dismissed, enjoy some time off.  God knows you've earned it.”  Signas gave a quick salute, which we both returned and then got to work on his computer organizing files.

X and I left out the door into the hallway.  “Well Zero, I have to go get ready for the lecture.  I’ll see you later tonight, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah later X.”  I began to walk to my room.  For the last few minutes the nightmare was running through my head again.  Who was that old man, and why did he want me to hurt X.  What else bothered me was the fact that the nightmares had been increasing in frequency over the past few months.  Fighting Sigma's forces had only exacerbated the problem.  The zone I go into when I fight is something that no other reploid, save X, has ever come close to.  Sometimes I get so into the fight that I don't stop battering my enemy, even after he is already dead.  The only thing that gets me out of that battle rage is when my beam saber begins to run low on charge.  It’s only then that it really hits home with me.  The amount of destruction I cause and am capable of causing is mind-boggling, even for a reploid.  It makes me wonder.  X was created to be a protector and he fills the role perfectly.  Me, well I'm not sure what my creator had in mind when he was putting the finishing touches on my body.  I wonder if he deliberately made it so that destruction was second nature to me.  It sure seems that way sometimes.

I got to my room and laid down on my bed.  Who would want X dead, besides one certain tall, bald reploid who had a knack for not staying dead and said reploids' minions?  The list was pretty short.  This strange old man seemed to want it pretty badly.  He called me his masterpiece.  Does this mean that I was created to destroy X?  I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to do some personal investigation into just who else has reason to want X dead.

I sighed as I stared up at the ceiling.  “X, I have a bad feeling.  Like for some reason, this is the end of days and that nothing I can do will alter my destiny.  I trust you though.  If something happens, you’ll help.  That’s what you do.  That’s what you've always done.  I just hope it won't be too late for either of us.”

________________________________________ ________________________________

End Chapter 2