'We still haven't been able to pin point X's signal. He might have gone offline again.'
The comment made Zero's already shaken state worsen. His sensors couldn't have been malfunctioning, Zero knew what he saw but his logic circuits weren't capable of bringing back an answer that he felt comfortable with. The enemy here must have been using Limited to revive reploids again but in their previous confrontations, it was almost always Mavericks with combat features that were used.
'Zero, are you alright?'
Zero hadn't noticed he went quiet. He didn't want Dr. Cain worrying over him when X needed to be located. "I'm fine. It just feels like we're in a graveyard..."
'...'
"I'll head back once X is located, and a not a second later. I need to focus, we should break contact until one of us finds something."
The old man looked uncomfortable. 'Be careful, Zero.' The communicator went black.
He didn't have time to comfort Dr. Cain. The only way for Middy to exist is if Techno did, their software had been coded that way when the twin reploids were created. Zero needed to be on guard, not just for himself but he didn't want know if the twins had been rebuilt with combat features and were sent out to scout for 'survivors'. X could be at risk while in an already vulnerable state.
His hair whipped behind him as he dashed through the region. The snow was melting beneath his afterburners, allowing him to speed up despite the slush covering the area. His scanners detected energy readings again, at first giving him hope that he had located his friend. Zero braked suddenly when he registered that it was another hunter. It was such a faint reading, this reploid was barely living. Zero fired at debris covering the source of the energy reading. It revealed a fragmented reploid, she was missing most of her torso and an arm. Her optics weren't online and it gave him sympathy watching her struggle to see him.
"Don't move. Save your strength once you're back at base."
She was struggling to get up. "T-turn back..." It was all she could get out before she started wheezing. There was frost and ice covering crevices of her exhausts that prevented her body from regulating temperature properly. When Zero leaned down to touch her, the metal stuck to his gloves.
"Once you're back online, maybe -you- can give us some answers..."
He said this, though there was a part of him that had been threatening to come out since he saw Middy. He would not panic. He couldn't, this was a survivor in need of serious medical attention, so Zero would just have to push away his worries of how awful a state X had to be in if one of his unit had gotten this level of injuries. Zero sent a brief message to their Lifesavers to let them know he was teleporting a hunter to their medbay. All that was left was the stains from her internal fluids from where her body had been torn apart, looking grim in slush-covered ground. It didn't make him feel any better to note that the only reason she didn't lose serious amounts of internal reploid fluid was because it must have frozen over time, not her system's nanites repairing the wounds.
"Damn it, X...You better not die on me." Zero was off and running once more.
He hated silver linings but if he found one of X's unit, then his friend had to be close by now. He fired at more debris to make a pathway in the abandoned base. The explosion that must have occurred did a number on the place, Zero could barely qualify being inside of it as he worked his way to build a path forward. The bodies he found afterwards didn't emit any source of energy. He couldn't distinguish hunter body pieces from remains of destroyed enemy mechaniloids.
It worried him when he had gone deep enough into the area and it had become less obscured by broken down chunks from the structure. Something was leading him forward.
"Just go ahead and try to trap me..." His buster had already been kept charging since the last time he fired. "I'm right here! Show yourself!"
At the end of a lengthy sprint, he was now in an area he could actually classify as a room. Lights were turned on shortly after he yelled. There were still mechaniloid remains around him, eerily being brought back into active status but not being functional enough to do anything beside move slightly. Sparks ran across a few of them, making Zero remind his instincts not to react. He wouldn't waste a fully powered shot on something that wasn't a threat just because he was scared.
...
He didn't like admitting to himself in this type of setting that he was scared. Zero wasn't given much time to dwell on the thought, either, there was a figure watching him from above. It must have been a type of computer room. His scanners picked up on the energy reading and Zero kept his voice steady when he addressed the presence above.
"Your brother already said hi." He didn't need the screen above to be made transparent for him to know it was Techno. "There's nothing here to defend yourself with."
'Maybe...' The purple boy always had a smug air around him. He looked pleased about something. 'Shows what you know. I gotta go back to check on an old friend of ours, in the mean time this guy can spend some time with you. That's how it works, right?' Techno sneered. 'You fight and he messes up because you aren't there to hold his hand.'
"X?!" Zero was ready to jump through the screen. "Where the hell is he---Oof!" He didn't see it coming when a large mechaniloid sent him flying.
His body collided with a wall, it would've been a worse impact if he hadn't caught himself while he slid down the side. His enemy was charging at him again, a guard 'droid that was in semi-functional state. He promised himself he'd beat the shit out of whoever revived the twins after he was done destroying everything around him and found X.
no subject
'We still haven't been able to pin point X's signal. He might have gone offline again.'
The comment made Zero's already shaken state worsen. His sensors couldn't have been malfunctioning, Zero knew what he saw but his logic circuits weren't capable of bringing back an answer that he felt comfortable with. The enemy here must have been using Limited to revive reploids again but in their previous confrontations, it was almost always Mavericks with combat features that were used.
'Zero, are you alright?'
Zero hadn't noticed he went quiet. He didn't want Dr. Cain worrying over him when X needed to be located. "I'm fine. It just feels like we're in a graveyard..."
'...'
"I'll head back once X is located, and a not a second later. I need to focus, we should break contact until one of us finds something."
The old man looked uncomfortable. 'Be careful, Zero.' The communicator went black.
He didn't have time to comfort Dr. Cain. The only way for Middy to exist is if Techno did, their software had been coded that way when the twin reploids were created. Zero needed to be on guard, not just for himself but he didn't want know if the twins had been rebuilt with combat features and were sent out to scout for 'survivors'. X could be at risk while in an already vulnerable state.
His hair whipped behind him as he dashed through the region. The snow was melting beneath his afterburners, allowing him to speed up despite the slush covering the area. His scanners detected energy readings again, at first giving him hope that he had located his friend. Zero braked suddenly when he registered that it was another hunter. It was such a faint reading, this reploid was barely living. Zero fired at debris covering the source of the energy reading. It revealed a fragmented reploid, she was missing most of her torso and an arm. Her optics weren't online and it gave him sympathy watching her struggle to see him.
"Don't move. Save your strength once you're back at base."
She was struggling to get up. "T-turn back..." It was all she could get out before she started wheezing. There was frost and ice covering crevices of her exhausts that prevented her body from regulating temperature properly. When Zero leaned down to touch her, the metal stuck to his gloves.
"Once you're back online, maybe -you- can give us some answers..."
He said this, though there was a part of him that had been threatening to come out since he saw Middy. He would not panic. He couldn't, this was a survivor in need of serious medical attention, so Zero would just have to push away his worries of how awful a state X had to be in if one of his unit had gotten this level of injuries. Zero sent a brief message to their Lifesavers to let them know he was teleporting a hunter to their medbay. All that was left was the stains from her internal fluids from where her body had been torn apart, looking grim in slush-covered ground. It didn't make him feel any better to note that the only reason she didn't lose serious amounts of internal reploid fluid was because it must have frozen over time, not her system's nanites repairing the wounds.
"Damn it, X...You better not die on me." Zero was off and running once more.
He hated silver linings but if he found one of X's unit, then his friend had to be close by now. He fired at more debris to make a pathway in the abandoned base. The explosion that must have occurred did a number on the place, Zero could barely qualify being inside of it as he worked his way to build a path forward. The bodies he found afterwards didn't emit any source of energy. He couldn't distinguish hunter body pieces from remains of destroyed enemy mechaniloids.
It worried him when he had gone deep enough into the area and it had become less obscured by broken down chunks from the structure. Something was leading him forward.
"Just go ahead and try to trap me..." His buster had already been kept charging since the last time he fired. "I'm right here! Show yourself!"
At the end of a lengthy sprint, he was now in an area he could actually classify as a room. Lights were turned on shortly after he yelled. There were still mechaniloid remains around him, eerily being brought back into active status but not being functional enough to do anything beside move slightly. Sparks ran across a few of them, making Zero remind his instincts not to react. He wouldn't waste a fully powered shot on something that wasn't a threat just because he was scared.
...
He didn't like admitting to himself in this type of setting that he was scared. Zero wasn't given much time to dwell on the thought, either, there was a figure watching him from above. It must have been a type of computer room. His scanners picked up on the energy reading and Zero kept his voice steady when he addressed the presence above.
"Your brother already said hi." He didn't need the screen above to be made transparent for him to know it was Techno. "There's nothing here to defend yourself with."
'Maybe...' The purple boy always had a smug air around him. He looked pleased about something. 'Shows what you know. I gotta go back to check on an old friend of ours, in the mean time this guy can spend some time with you. That's how it works, right?' Techno sneered. 'You fight and he messes up because you aren't there to hold his hand.'
"X?!" Zero was ready to jump through the screen. "Where the hell is he---Oof!" He didn't see it coming when a large mechaniloid sent him flying.
His body collided with a wall, it would've been a worse impact if he hadn't caught himself while he slid down the side. His enemy was charging at him again, a guard 'droid that was in semi-functional state. He promised himself he'd beat the shit out of whoever revived the twins after he was done destroying everything around him and found X.