What Next?
"Hey, so you really did survive."
The security Reploid glanced up when he heard the familiar voice, simply nodding after a moment and turning his gaze back to the technology magazine he'd been reading on a datapad to pass time. Though he showed no signs of wanting to try to stand up, his optics were clear, no longer hazed with the beginnings of static and looming with death.
"Wow," Axl said, moving to drag a chair up next to the other Reploid's bedside and trying not to wrinkle his nose. He hated hospitals and medbays, they always carried such a sickeningly clean yet somehow sour odor. "What a friendly greeting. Good to see you too." Still, it was a relief, in a way, to see Skrah acting his usual stoic self. It felt normal.
"I'll be stuck here at least another week," Skrah said, placing his datapad on his lap and shifting to lean his back against the wall at the head of the bed. "My core is back in one piece though."
"That's generally a good thing." Even so, Axl couldn't help but let his gaze fall on the other Reploid's bare chest, on the long scar that ran from his left shoulder to the bottom right side of his ribcage.
"It doesn't hurt any more," Skrah pointed out quietly when Axl continued to stare for several long moments. "Synth skin patches aren't exactly well-stocked right now. It's just a scar."
"I know," Axl sighed. "But it only happened because you were protecting me."
To his surprise, Skrah shook his head patiently, his eyes betraying far more emotion than his unwavering expression. "That was my choice and you know it. Besides, you're easily distracted. Someone has to pay attention for you."
For a split second Axl felt offended, until he noticed the faint glow of amusement in his friend's eyes. "You know," the gunner said with a weak smile, "if you're going to crack a joke, the least you could do is pretend to look amused."
"Why's that?"
"Asimov you're impossible..."
"I know. So what's next?"
"I..." Axl hesitated, finding himself back in their escape, trapped in that moment of terror when everyone had stared him in the face and expected him to know exactly what to do, exactly how to save them. "I don't know," he replied after a long pause. "A lot of these Reploids don't have anywhere to go any more. No jobs or families left, or homes to go back to, or...anything like that." His lips twitched in a frown. "If I tell them all to leave and fend for themselves, they'll just get arrested again.
He folded his hands in his lap, drawing a soft sigh and closing his eyes. "For now, anyway, the ones who have no need to be hospitalized are staying in Donnelsbury. It's not perfect, but-"
"Donnelsbury?" Skrah interrupted. "Axl, that city was destroyed and abandoned years ago."
"Exactly," Axl said. "Anacua's on our side for the most part, but relations still aren't exactly at an all-time high. We need someplace where we can lay low and not worry about being questioned by every human that walks past."
"So you're going someplace with no humans," Skrah said with a thoughtful nod. "Is there enough of the city left to be a viable place to stay?"
"We found a block of apartments that seem to be intact," Axl replied. "And a couple pretty big warehouses. There's a group of Reploids checking for structural integrity there now, I said I'd meet them for a report this evening."
Skrah nodded, deciding not to voice what was on the forefront of his mind- that what these Reploids really needed, almost more than they needed a place to stay, was someone to take charge and give them guidance. Nor did he voice that it was plain to anyone's eyes how naturally Axl had taken up that role. "In that case, what are you doing all the way out here?"
"I dunno, I missed you and wanted to make sure you weren't dead?" Axl couldn't help but crack a grin, reaching over to rap his knuckles against his friend's temple. "Too bad that blow to the core didn't fix your lack of ability to emote and socialize."
"I'm rusty," was the dry response. "Besides, you want me skipping around with a basket of flowers tossing roses at people and preaching love and peace?"
That earned a full laugh from the redhead, and Skrah's lips twitched in the faintest hint of something that was almost a smile. "God you're such an asshole," Axl snickered. "Sometimes I wonder how I put up with you."
"The feeling's mutual."
It suddenly hit Axl like a punch to the chest how much he'd missed this- how badly he'd been longing for someone to jest and snark with. It also hit him in an even harder pang how much he didn't want to lose it.
"I should rest," Skrah piped up before Axl could find the words to voice any of what he was thinking. "My core levels are still readjusting themselves."
"I'll hang here a while," Axl said. "This is about the only time I've had off in the past few days."
Skrah merely nodded, perhaps sensing Axl's need for some peace and quiet to collect his thoughts, and lay down on his back, soon slipping into a doze. Axl allowed his mind to drift for a while, soothed by watching the slow, steady rise and fall of his friend's chest as he slept.
Asimov, I don't want to lose you...
Truth be told, Axl thought as he leaned back in his chair and let his eyes drift halfway shut, the last thing he wanted to do was face everything alone. They were far from truly free, after all. Not with the anti-synthetic sentiment spreading so far. Not with numerous other arenas still out there, countless Reploids still trapped and scared and fighting for their lives.
The more he thought about it, the more Axl knew that there were few other people he'd be so pleased to fight alongside.
Still...he couldn't help but wonder if it would even be right to ask someone to risk themselves like that. To risk everything so soon after finally getting a taste of freedom.
Was it selfish of him, he wondered, to want to ask as much?
One way or another, he was jerked from his thoughts a minute later by a startlingly loud cry, the sound full of a mix of pain and fear that Axl had never heard this particular Reploid express aloud before. The gunner was quick to shift as though to shake his friend awake, only to pull his hand away when Skrah rather suddenly pushed himself into a sitting position and clasped his hands to his bare chest.
"You alright?" Axl asked after what felt like an awkwardly long silence.
Skrah nodded slowly, his breaths still coming in too-shallow pants and pain clear on his features. "Just a nightmare," he said quietly. "My core levels spiked; they're stabilizing out. Slowly."
To Axl's surprise, Skrah's expression gradually eased from pain into utter exhaustion, his violet eyes holding more emotion than he could- or would- ever voice out loud. "I keep waking up thinking I'm back there, Axl," he murmured. "The...the paranoia hasn't stopped."
The gunner hesitantly opened his mouth, only to remain silent when Skrah continued to speak after a moment's pause. "You're right, you know. If they all just go their own way, they'll end up right back where they started. Any of us could. We're not..." For a split second, the former gladiator's voice almost seemed to waver. "We're not really free yet, are we?"
In that instant, all of Axl's courage and will to speak up suddenly deserted him, leaving him sitting with his mouth open and his gaze slightly blank, as though he was lost in thought. A strange kind of fear settled itself in the pit of his stomach, cold terror in a way he'd never experienced before.
"Axl?" Skrah prompted quietly. "Something on your mind?"
"I..." Axl's eyes seemed to clear, and he blinked several times as he snapped back to reality. "No, I'm alright," he said, something in the back of his mind knowing that he was lying through his teeth.
He stood up, straightening and clearing his throat quietly. "I should head back to Donnelsbury before everyone gets antsy. They should be done scouting soon anyway."
To his surprise- and maybe a little fear- Skrah fixed him with a long, hard stare, his violet eyes dark with seriousness and unreadably calm. "All right," the former gladiator said at last. "I should rest a bit longer while I can. Ping me your coordinates. I'll meet you there tomorrow."
"You're not-"
"I know," was the flat response. "And you know that I'm not just going to sit on my ass. Now don't waste the time arguing about it with me and go get to work instead."
"You..." Asimov, that stubborn frown and stern tone, the concern behind the stoicism and near-lectures, that...reminded him far too much of Zero. And as he nodded mutely and turned to head out of the room, Axl couldn't help but wonder if that meant that he, himself, reminded people of X.
Honestly, he wasn't sure if he found the thought comforting or downright terrifying.
