Comments | giga_city: He's not sulking. HONEST.

dwn_000 in giga_city

He's not sulking. HONEST.

Jun 17, 2010 03:32

It felt like he'd been running forever, but even a combat reploid like him had to wind down eventually.

I can't believe I actually did that.He'd run off like some cowardly little rookie who lost his nerve and for a moment he honestly couldn't forgive himself for it. He tried not to look absolutely mortified as he tried to piece together the pieces ( Read more... )

[layer] moe_rapier, [rockwoman] mega_maiden, [x] tothexthpower, [axl] gun envy, [x] totalpacifist, [zero] dwn_000

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tothexthpower June 17 2010, 06:48:00 UTC

[The open happiness almost caught X off-guard. Zero almost never let his emotions show so openly these days. Not since Repliforce-

But then Zero sobered so suddenly that X felt a pang of sadness that Zero wouldn't keep smiling like that. It was as much because this younger-looking Zero had stopped as it was that the older Zero he was more familiar with rarely looked so happy.

But the way Zero sized X up was odd. It was the same kind of instant evaluation Zero gave to someone he'd just met for the first time. Not a look he'd given to X in ages - not since they'd first met. But then... he supposed they technically were meeting for the first time - whether or not he was a copy or a time-tossed Zero. It was still strange to get that look, though. For a moment, it seemed to put an uncomfortable distance between them, and X didn't like it.

But then Zero smiled at him. X smiled back, oddly relieved somehow. He walked up to Zero and reached down to put a hand on his shoulder and give a bit of a squeeze before moving to sit beside him.]

Hm... I think I'd rather cheer you up. There's been more than enough gloom and stress to go around, lately.

dwn_000 June 17 2010, 07:21:13 UTC

Yeah, seems like it. I don't know what's happening around here, but it doesn't seem good.

[He's still a bit too gloomy to be all that talkative, but he noticably brightens a little when X sits down next to him.]

Thanks X.

tothexthpower June 17 2010, 07:34:35 UTC

[He leaned a little to brush shoulders with Zero.]

That's what friends are for.

[X reached up to hit the release trigger on his helmet and tug it off. He set it next to him, opposite Zero, then reached up to brush a hand through his hair, fluffing it up into it's usual tousled look.]

No... can't really call it good. [Then he gives a hopefully reassuring smile to Zero.] But it's not all bad either. [He rubbed the side of his head a little, an awkward gesture that he'd never really grown out of.] A lot of it's just... strange -- unsettling. Worrisome.

We have more questions than answers right now.

dwn_000 June 17 2010, 07:45:52 UTC

[Zero definately relaxes more at that little gesture, the unhappy tension easing out of him. He's genuinely touched. Nice to know that X will still always be X deep down.]

So ... what the heck is going on? There's a guy who looks like me, another guy who looks like you, and I have no idea what this place is ...

tothexthpower June 17 2010, 08:20:53 UTC

[X will always be X, just like Zero will always be Zero - no matter how much they may change on the outside. It's something X hopes the older Zero will realize sooner rather than later. It hurts him to see Zero thinking he's a fake...

He's glad to see this Zero relaxing more. It felt wrong to have Zero nervously alienated from him. It wasn't the same kind of wrong that he'd felt around the black Zero copy, though. X still felt comfortable and familiar with this Zero, even if Zero didn't feel so with him. After all, X had always been very familiar with Zero, no matter how old Zero had been. X might be older, but that didn't mean they weren't still best friends - if anything, their friendship had only gotten deeper and closer as they got older.

Even if they were both different, they were still the same. It wasn't something he could easily explain.

He smiled a bit sheepishly over at Zero and held up two fingers.]

Ah, actually... there are two guys who look like my long-lost twins.

But let me start with the easy question, first. [He chuckled a little and gestured at the city around them.]

This is Giga City. It's an artificial island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It was built on top of a meteor impact site. The original reason was to study it, but as you can see, it's become a lot more than just a research station.

dwn_000 June 17 2010, 08:35:08 UTC

What, two? Geez, this is gonna be hard to keep straight ...

So this place was for research? That explains the labs downstairs ... but then, how the hell did I get here? I've never heard of Giga City, and definately not anything about a meteor.

tothexthpower June 17 2010, 09:15:44 UTC

[X gave a weak laugh.]

You're telling me. We're so identical that one of them and I swapped buster arms for a while with 100% compatibility.

[A pause.] ...that... shouldn't really be possible, you know... Not with one of us. [A slight gesture indicated himself and Zero. The two great, unanalyzable black boxes of reploidkind.] As near as we can tell, neither of us is a copy of the other.

It only gets stranger from there.

dwn_000 June 17 2010, 09:23:36 UTC

[He gives X a wide-eyed stare.] You're kidding. Doctor Cain would have a heart attack if he ever heard about that.

So ... the other guy that looks like me? Is he me? If he is, why does he look so different?

tothexthpower June 17 2010, 09:59:15 UTC

[At the question, X hesitated. Then he closed his eyes for a brief moment to think and figure out how he felt. He knew the older Zero was Zero - even if his body was a copy. But this Zero... He'd originally assumed this Zero had been a copy back when he first contacted him over the comm. It made sense, if the other one was the real deal. But now--

Actually sitting here, talking with him... He wasn't the same as the older Zero, but, even so, he still felt like Zero. He reminded X of Zero when he was much younger and less jaded - before events made him fear what he might do if he lost control. It made X a little sad, though it was good to see Zero being so open.

He sighed softly, more an exhale than anything.]

It's... complicated.

[He opened his eyes and gave Zero a searching look as he extended his hand to offer a hand-clasp. Yes, it was sort of a test (that had no basis in analyzable data), but more than that, X was offering the contact to ground Zero when he explained this mess to him. He'd seen how badly it had shaken the other Zero.]

dwn_000 June 17 2010, 10:12:17 UTC

[At seeing the offered hand, Zero immediately became wary. The other X he'd met tried the same sort of kind placating before dropping ... that on his head. He hesitated for a moment, before meeting X's hand with his. No more running. You gotta face up to it sooner or later.]

[He sighed.] Alright, hit me. Can't be any worse than last time.

tothexthpower June 17 2010, 10:34:05 UTC

[Oh Zero. Don't worry, X isn't offering that kind of connection. He doesn't have fifty-plus years of explaining to do. No, this is about the kind of physical BFF contact that tends to trigger all kinds of positive emotional subroutines.

I'm with you in this too, so don't freak out.

X noted the wariness, though. But considering the topic of conversation, it only reminded him more strongly of the older Zero's reaction when bracing for bad news. Zero's grip returning his own only cemented his belief. He gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.]

He's Zero, even if he's afraid he's not.

But I believe you're Zero too. [He hesitated.] ...But you're going to need a deep scan to prove it to everyone's satisfaction. There's a chance some of us might be copies or tampered with... and just not know it.

dwn_000 June 17 2010, 10:50:21 UTC

[Now that was something he wasn't expecting. Copies and tampering were things that were starting to develop back in Abel City, but nothing severe. For it to be bad enough that the other-him doubted himself, and he needed a deep-scan just to prove he was who he said he was ... he was much more out of his depth than he thought.]

... That bad huh? No wonder things are crazy around here. But I'll do it, no problem.

[He returned the BFF hand-squeeze.]

tothexthpower June 17 2010, 11:09:04 UTC

Good to hear. [X offered a small smile at Zero agreeing to a deep scan so quickly, despite certainly still being confused about everything going on. Then he sighed softly.]

I'm afraid that's not the half of it.

[Better to just get it out there than dance around it.]

...The other Zero and I were both tampered with and, most likely, experimented on, even though we have no memory of it. [He frowned, looking a touch queasy if you knew what to look for. Just thinking about it made him want to shudder. His grip tightened slightly, glad for the contact.]

We, ah- We think we know who did it. But we don't know where he is right now. He's almost certainly still on the island. But we've no way to know how many he's grabbed to experiment on. ...Or how many have died from it.

It's why we need to check everyone who's experiencing lost, or displaced, time.

dwn_000 June 19 2010, 17:25:01 UTC

[He frowns angrily, his squeeze tightening involuntarily. No one screwed around with his friends and got away with it.]

So who is this creep, so I know whose face to smash in?

[He suddenly paused, his processors picking up a certain odd phrase.] Wait, what do you mean, 'lost or displaced time'?

tothexthpower June 20 2010, 03:24:41 UTC

[Zero's reaction sent a warm, fuzzy feeling through X, helping to chase away the sick feeling of knowing he'd been tampered with. But at his question, X sighed softly.]

His name is Gate. We've had some dealings with him before...

[Zero might just recognize that name from the Nightmare incident in the data the other X had given him.

At the next question, X frowns and reaches up with his free hand to run a hand through his hair as he considered how to explain.]

That's the other half of it.

Here's where it gets really weird. None of our timestamps match local, and most don't even match each others'.

Near as I can tell, there are three of me, two of you, two Axls, Alia, Layer, Rock, Harpuia, and possibly at least two others who are effected. There seem to be three different ways all of us ended up in this situation. Some of us woke up in the lower levels with no idea how we got down there - myself, you, and Rock, that I know of so far. Some of us came to Giga City normally, but once here started running into doubles. And some of us were somewhere else entirely and then were just suddenly here on the island.

The thing we all seem to have in common is having experienced a strange vertigo event. Some kind of power surge that caused disorientation and even nausea. It occurred at the same time for everyone, regardless of date. 15:45:17

Did you experience it too?

dwn_000 June 20 2010, 05:53:00 UTC

Gate? [That name sounded familiar, rustling those memory clusters that he hid in the back of his mind. He winced a little, but nodded.] Yeah, I think I was told about him.

[He frowns.] Yeah, I experienced that too. So all of these doubles are just being dumped here? But why here? Is there something drawing us all here?

Geez, this sounds like some sort of sci-fi movie ...

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