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"Zero, over here-- look at this!"
The assignment report had been clear about what to expect with the Reploids who'd suffered Erasure. Their DNA souls were gone, so effectively, they were just hollow shells. Corpses.
Zero fully expected and understood that. X seemed to as well, or at least, Zero THOUGHT he had. The expression on X's face now suggested otherwise: wide-eyed horror, one shaking hand over his mouth, his feet rigidly planted on the ground like not even god could move him closer.
And to be fair to X - it was a little unsettling to see a group of Reploids fallen like they'd just entered terminal shutdown mid-sentence, eyes still wide and empty with no familiar light behind them. It was a sight Zero was mostly accustomed to by now, sure, but it was no less unsettling. Most Reploids died with eyes shut anyway, so seeing them open and lifeless was... well, Zero would be lying if he didn't admit it made a shiver steal up his spine.
More importantly, though, X was deeply bothered by it and turned to face Zero with his eyes still wide and unblinking. "Th-these Reploids... they're-- they were-- Zero, what could have done this!? Their bodies are fully functional, I can read their specs without issue and they're still functioning but-- but!"
Zero wrapped an arm around X, carefully turning him away from the sight. "Like they died but their bodies are still alive. Reploid zombies. Lucky most of our motor functions are controlled by us, huh?"
"This isn't the time for jokes," X hissed only to get a shrug from Zero.
"What? I'm being serious. You've heard of the T-virus, right--"
"--this isn't the time or the place! Just... look at them, Zero. How could someone do this?"
The mission on Laguz Island continued - even with X as bothered as he was, he still insisted on splitting up with the comment that it would allow them to track the source of the erased Reploids all the more faster and hopefully find a way to fix it. At the time, Zero saw no problem with it, but the longer he traversed across the empty Laguz Island the worse it felt.
It shouldn't be this empty, he thought. There should be Mavericks and mechaniloids trying to stop him - something should be here, trying to keep him out. Why was it so empty, damn it?
The building unease only made him want to rush and join up with X all the sooner. And as if seemingly heeding his wishes, he crossed the threshold into a room that felt even more empty than the previous ones: aside from a lone body in blue armor. Startled, Zero hurried forward and realized despite the rounded shape of the armor and the blue color, the figure wasn't X.
The Reploid's blue eyes stared listlessly at Zero, sensors clearly registering his movement but not enabling the Reploid to act on the data it was given. It was no better than a security camera at best.
...Looking at it, though, it did remind him a lot of X. The round shape of the eyes to the way the irises were shaped... it was easy to imagine the familiar sparkle of X's own. So easy in fact that for a brief moment, Zero did, and felt a brief shred of terror spider-crawl up his spinal strut.
He resolved to continue on.
The path through Laguz Island remained empty the whole way - only Erased Reploids remained, littering the island as if someone had discarded them like old dolls. It shouldn't have bothered him in the slightest, he'd seen Reploid corpses before! And yet... after his earlier encounter, he couldn't help but feel deeply unsettled.
And almost desperate in his need to see X and make sure he was okay. Each Reploid he spotted seemed to just barely hold his likeness, casting X's shape into each shadow. The rounded shoulders of one reminded him of the way X stood with his hands neatly behind his back, the falling and slack hand of another brought the memory of X's hand in his. The splayed and awkwardly twisted legs of a third reminded him of the way X's hips swayed when he walked.
Each fallen Reploid only put X in mind, and it only served to make him more uneasy as he began picturing X in each other their places. His mind kept presenting the image, crystal clear, of X's corpse staring up at him with blank eyes--
Until it wasn't just an image any more.
In one of the rooms of the Research Lab... slumped against a wall like a discarded doll, Zero found X with eyes as blank as the corpses around them. Bolting over, Zero pressed his forehead to X's as he began desperately searching for a sign of life - a sign of him still being there, alive, anything--
Blank. Everything that had made X "X"... was blank.
Zero's eyes flashed open and his optical sensors quickly came online to survey the area. Cool-colored walls. Blanket. Warmth. Vague scent of jasmine-- X's room. Specifically his bed.
...Just a nightmare, Zero breathed, looking to his right. X was there as expected: peacefully asleep, arms around Zero's waist and head tucked onto Zero's chest with his own gently rising and falling. A sweet smile adorned his face, peaceful as ever.
X was fine, Zero thought with no small amount of relief as he went to tuck some loose hair behind his sleeping lover's ear. X was fine, it was all just a dream and the corpse that X had became was still a far-future he hopefully never had to see.
His hand found X's hair and continued to gently fiddle with it, rubbing the silken strands between his fingers if only to confirm he was real. What time was it? Chronometer wasn't giving him an immediate read, so he figured it was still early morning at best.
No sense in going back to sleep, then, may as well just wait for X to wake up. If he woke up--
"If"? Zero frowned in spite of himself. For the love of-- it was just a nightmare, get it together! There's no reason X won't wake up again.
And yet... if X didn't. If he didn't wake up--
His mind went back to the nightmare, processing unit delivering fresh context as it came more and more alert. His nightmare had essentially proposed the fear of X being Erased - not like it would ever happen again, but damn if it wasn't a terrifying thought now.
That same lively Reploid who smiled and promised he'd have Zero's back, who rushed into his arms after a day apart, who eagerly called his name if they passed in the halls-- unmoving and still, unable to speak or think. Just a bunch of hardware that could only send "POST".
What would even happen to him? Without his "soul", would the body be useless? Would they just treat it as any other Reploid corpse and melt it down, because it wasn't X to them any more? Nevermind that it was X to him, once, nevermind that it was once someone alive and loved and he loved X so much, he couldn't let them take him--
"Zero?"
X's voice. Zero let go of a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding, staring wide-eyed down at X and feeling an unrelenting pressure behind his eyes that didn't get any lighter upon seeing X looking up at him so worriedly.
"You're awake? Sorry, I-- was I squeezing too hard?" He tried to joke, only for X to stare silently.
X was rather adept at sending a message without words. This particular message was you're upset, tell me why. "I-I'm fine, just... just a bad dream. Nothin' to worry about, I'll get over it."
X's stare continued, which didn't help his unease. Another message by way of gaze: bullshit.
No way was X letting him off the hook without a discussion, then. "You're not gonna let me have this one, are you."
"Does a snowball have a chance in hell?"
"If it asks nicely?"
"Zero."
"Okay, fine fine fine-- just stop glaring at me like that, sheesh. You'd think I'd gone Maverick with that look on your face..." Zero sighed softly, letting his hand fall back into X's hair as the brunette pushed himself up, forcing Zero to look into the same eyes he'd only minutes ago seen pale and dead.
The image would likely haunt him for a while, he realized. Zero swallowed the lump in his throat. "X... do you remember Laguz Island? The Erasure incident?"
"Yeah - pretty clearly, actually," X said, reaching up to tap his chin. "It was scary, wasn't it? And I met Iris for the first time. You were so proud of her getting to Navigate for us... I was so nervous about making a good impression, too, because she was important to you. And then-- right, I remember! An Erased Reploid fell out of a closet and all I heard was her yelling "fuck" at the top of her lungs and throwing her headset."
"She made us promise not to tell Colonel about it and you could barely stand because you were laughing so hard, and she told you to stop making her look silly in front of me. I was able to loosen up around her after - she really helped keep me calm just by being scared with me," X continued, the soft haze of nostalgia slipping into his voice. "She would mutter under her breath like "if they start trying to chew on you, you're on your own, X" and I'd laugh, and then I'd tease her back about being afraid, then something would happen and we'd both start screaming."
"You were really that scared?"
"Um, yes? Island full of Reploids who're alive and dead and don't know they're either? I was one badly timed bump away from losing my damn mind, Zero."
X huffed, finally laying his head on Zero's shoulder comfortably. "But the real reason I remember it so well is because right after it was technically our first vacation we ever took together."
Zero stared blankly at X, and fortunately for them both he understood that meant elaborate, please. X sighed softly, then laughed. "Remember how the teleportation system at headquarters was down? Alia and Douglas were trying to fix it the whole time we were there. And she got so frustrated she kicked the server and knocked it entirely offline."
"Ah, that part I remember," Zero said, relaxing a little more against his pillow. "Douglas was laughing so loud I could hear him through your commline, Alia was panicking and apologizing-- and Iris was watching it all go down, asking us if we were usually like this. You answered no at the same time I answered yes, didn't you?"
"I did!" X laughed, eyes crinkling at the edges. "I definitely did, and I tried to tell you not to lie to Iris like that. Then Douglas--"
"--said we're usually worse!" They intoned at the same time, X's laughter setting it off in Zero too. X laughed louder, nestling against Zero with his shoulders shaking, allowing Zero to embrace him more closely.
"--and then Iris asked when it was her turn to kick the server and Alia walked out of the room 'cause of how embarrassed she was!" X continued, laughter bubbling out of him helplessly between words. After a few moments, he managed to get it down to just a few little giggles bubbling out of his throat. "...Iris told us we'd be off duty on the island until they fixed the system and to enjoy ourselves while we were away. Took 'em four days - and we were together for all of it, watching sunsets, walking on the beach... it was the most time we had as a couple since we started dating."
X's reminiscing was leading Zero down the trails of the same memories - as dangerous as Laguz Island had ultimately been, dream aside, the memories he had mostly associated with it were good ones. Picking up seashells, exploring the cliffs...
Zero closed his eyes, letting the memory roar up from the depths. It was all so clear, the waves crashing over his ankles, X's laughter, the painted colors of the sky... X sitting beside him with a familiar pink E-Tank in hand, smiling and saying he almost didn't want to go back yet.
The pink color drew his mind's eye in particular as something clicked for him. "That's when you started drinking that high-performance e-tank, isn't it? The one I liked better than the one you had as a rookie. The pink kind."
"Mm-hm. It was a little harder to source, but I liked being able to share with you," said X with his eyes still on Zero. "And - this may be silly, but every time I drink one it takes me back to that time on Laguz Island and our little vacation. It was so long ago now, but... that was the last time I really felt at peace with the world as a whole, like that was really it and Sigma was officially down for the count."
"...Then Repliforce started their rebellion and we lost Iris," Zero quietly added. "And then you lost me too. That... that really is our last peaceful memory, isn't it?"
X's silence was, again, enough of an answer for Zero. Grasping X's hand and bringing it to his chest, Zero felt a rush of anxiety clouding over his mind.
Everything really had changed since then, hadn't it? Hell, Laguz Island was probably gone after Eurasia fell. There wasn't a going back for them, but maybe there was still a chance to find a little peace.
Maybe he could carve it, if X would let him. "It's just the most recent, not the last. I promise you, X."
"I'll keep fighting, even when you can't. And someday, once all of this is over, we'll make more memories just like that," Zero said, running his thumb over X's knuckles. "We'll have so many that every part of our lives will have something for you to feel sentimental about. Promise."