Past Prologue

Light entered his eyes slowly, as if the world came into focus at a rate of one pixel at a time. Then came touch close behind, allowing him to note a chill in the air, and the hard confine of the stasis capsule. Hearing came online next a moment later, though the quiet might have fooled him—save for the light rasping of a creature beside him. He glanced over, seeing that the creature was hunched over, resting its head next to him with its eyes closed. He took in the bright blue shell of said creature, and the stunning ruby red crystal adorning its head, and became entranced by the serenity of its slumber.

His trance may have been confused with fixation, but in truth, his mind was already working furiously to figure out his surroundings, and to make sense of who and where he was. Nothing came. He stared as if willing the blue creature to answer him. He reached out a hand, though rather timidly, for as much as he needed assurance, also seemed afraid to break the spell.

Placing a hand lightly on the creature’s shoulder, he felt the creature react slowly, shifting a bit and opening his eyes as if he too awoke from his own stasis capsule. The creature recovered its senses much quicker, for it dawned that it was no longer alone.

“What the…!” the creature began, leaping from its seat and landing heavily on its rear. Eyes wide, the creature was paralyzed with fright. It then sputtered nonsense before saying, “How? Zero?”

Zero opened his mouth, unsure of whether he knew how to communicate. The physical cue seemed to trigger his vocabulary, and words spilled out: “What is this? Who are you?”

The creature appeared puzzled. “How are you able to speak?” it asked.

Zero looked to the floor and appeared to be trying to access an answer for him. He drew a blank.

The creature then relaxed, his face abandoning fear for a mixture of wonderment and disbelief. The creature then rose to his feet and said, “It doesn’t matter.” He took a step forward and gestured to himself saying, “My name’s X, and welcome back.” He smiled broadly.

Zero furrowed his brow, trying to recall anything at all. He said, “I can’t remember a thing about you, or anything.”

X approached him further, saying, “To help you, we had to wipe your memories. I’m sorry, but there was no way to get your consent. But I can’t believe it. I can’t believe that you’re alive, and awake!”

“I must have been in pretty bad shape,” Zero guessed, quirking a brow.

“More than bad,” X replied bluntly. “I thought you were as good as dead.”

Zero was about to reply, but stopped when he saw a glint in X’s eye. “You’re leaking,” he stated.

X chuckled, saying, “I guess I am,” and wiped his face with a hand. “This is the first time it’s happened while I’m happy. Usually it happens when I’m sad.” X pressed the hand to his face, willing the tears to stop. “I’m sorry,” he said again.

“Maybe you should get that fixed,” Zero suggested.

X laughed loudly at that remark. Thinking he was being helpful, Zero was blindsided by what he felt to be an inappropriate response. Nonetheless, he took a strange pleasure in watching X’s boisterous fit, and smiled at the situation.

“No offense,” X said, removing his hand from his face but still very much amused. “But my leakiness has always been a part of who I am.”

Zero softened and said, “Guess that’ll be the first fact I will remember about you.” X blushed and nodded meekly.

Talking normally with the red Maverick was very much a surreal experience for X, so much so that he subconsciously put aside finding out the explanation for Zero’s miraculous recovery. Even more bizarre was that he was suddenly much more concerned with Zero’s proximity, and his blush response had not faded even though several silent moments had passed. In fact, it seemed to become more intense when X met his eyes.

A dampening fact then dawned on X. He realized he was unsure of what to do next. He would inform Dr. Cain, and then what? Worries entered his mind about how Zero would reintegrate, and what Sigma might do. Sigma would have to know of this eventually.

“What’s wrong?” Zero asked. X noticed then that he was scowling.

“Nothing,” X said. “But if you’re feeling okay, I would like for you to meet someone.”

X moved to go call Dr. Cain, but Zero’s hand suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him instantly. He looked over his shoulder to see Zero attempting to hoist himself out of the capsule.

“Zero, I think you should stay here just in case. I’ll only be a second,” X assured. He gently pushed him back in, leaning over with hands on Zero’s shoulders. He blushed again at the unavoidable contact.

“I want to stand,” Zero said, protesting. X then received a taste of Zero’s strength and determination as he pushed X aside so he could hop out of the device instead. Proud to be on his own two legs, he shook them out and flexed the rest of his joints. X, meanwhile, looked as though he believed Zero to fall apart any minute. Zero smirked and said, “Relax, I feel fine. Great, even.”

X nodded, still usure, but said, “Just stay here. I’ll go get Dr. Cain.”

Zero nodded, though the name was meaningless to him. He watched X exit through the door and smiled, saying to himself, “X, right? If I knew what I was missing about you, then I’d probably be angry.”