Utopia

Chapter 6: Decision


The two Maverick Hunters returned to the shelter in the Yashichi mountains bright and early. Jade and Kate opened the door to let them in. The two girls guided them through the building giving them the grand tour they had missed the previous day.

The shelter was not much for decoration. The walls were all metal and the lights seemed bright because of it, but the space that was available for rooms and operations along with the many people living inside more than made up for it in Xs mind.

They entered the small office room where they were talking the other day. Jade walked to the back of the room towards the window and turned to face the rest of the group “There! We have finished the tour. What do you think?”

“It’s ok.” Zero answered.

“It’s very nice. I can tell you guys have been putting a lot of work into this place.” X smiled.

“We try… Thank you.” Kate said returning the smile.

“What made you start this place?” X questioned.

“Yeah, there is a belief in something and then there is doing something about it.” Zero chimed in.

“Well, it was a group effort actually, but I couldn’t have done it without my gal Jade here…”

Jade blushed a crimson red “Hah how odd. It was you who inspired me to do it in the first place… I mean I was just a street kid back then…”

“I’m afraid we can’t answer this question without explaining the story of how we met…” Kate explained.

“Yeah, so Zero you might wanna grab your barf bag because this will get sappy.” Jade warned jokingly.

“No worries.” Zero replied in a nonchalant tone of voice “I couldn’t care less about the icky love stuff! Not for me thanks.”

Kate and Jade both smiled at each other rolling their eyes at him.

“I was born and raised in a family that was very sheltered towards new concepts. They feared anything different from them and they weren’t prepared to even try and understand any of it, but such is life and I could live with that growing up. Once I became a teenager things began to change. I noticed that instead of just talking discriminately they began to take action too. My parents voted for hardcore conservative parties, joined social gatherings that were only for people like them, and they even became active members of numerous anti-rights movements, the Anti-Reploid Rights Movement, ARRM included. Suddenly they started disowning family members who fell into these categories. Because of this I decided to hide my sexual orientation. I wasn’t ready for them to discard me, which I knew they would do… I fell for this girl at school and we started dating secretly, somehow my parents found out and in short they made me break up with her. They kicked me out of the house a month later and I lived on the streets for a year hiding from the police. I was 16 at the time… Through connections I met an acquaintance of Kate who happened to introduce us. We got to know each other and we fell in love. We both feel strongly about equal rights for all living things whether it is sentient machines or humans…”

“I could sympathize with her coming from a similar background. Even so my family wouldn’t abandon me for my beliefs. A year later word on the street had spread about a possible upcoming war between humans and reploids. Since we had several friends who were a mixture of human and reploid we noticed the change in how reploids were being treated in society. Society has yet to accept reploids in it, but the treatment was worsening to the point where some of our friends feared for their lives because of organizations that were forming like the ARRM. Jade and I felt we didn’t have anything to lose, so we located an abandoned factory in B-Block of Able City. Originally it was only a handful of us living together, trying to survive, to make a home for ourselves.”

“Our friends spread the word to their friends who were experiencing the same things we were. Either homeless people looking for refuge or reploids who were looking to flee from society’s injustice… You guys know the rest…”

“What a sad story…” X spoke looking down at his lap.

“Makes you think that infected reploids aren’t the only mavericks in the world…” Zero added.

“This is why we were looking for you X and Zero. We can’t hold off the ARRM much longer. They are getting stronger and more persistent with destroying the reploid race and those who create and serve them. I’m afraid they will try and attack us soon. If that happens we can’t fight by ourselves. Jade is the strongest defense soldier we have and she can’t go against all those people alone. I hate to think about what would happen to the people here if we were attacked. If that happens will you please help us?” Kate asked squeezing her hands together in her lap.

“I will help you.” X agreed.

A look of determination formed across his face. Zero could tell X was passionate about their cause and that he could feel their struggles. He knew that he couldn’t let them be sitting ducks, especially while in the midst of the maverick wars. They had fought too hard and too long to be destroyed now. Zero knew he had to help them as well.

“Ok. I will help also.” Zero nodded in confirmation.

“Thank you so much!” Kate beamed looking overjoyed.

“Yes, thank you. I know we are safe in your hands. I will do my best to keep this shelter safe while you’re gone.” Jade promised “I’ll lend my help on your missions as well. Let’s work together for the future of humans and reploids!”