And Again

'How many times...'

Over time, he became aware that he had been categorizing every event, every occurrence, and then pushing them off into their own organized folders as they've had to be remade.. reformed.. changed.

'How many times... How many?'

It wouldn't make sense to count all of them... It would take too long to do manually and it took up too much valuable processing power to perform as a background task. Everything had to be concentrated on one solid point - everything. It was the only reason he even bothered trying - they
even bothered trying.

And if they stopped trying, what would they be left with?

Nothing. They would be left with nothing. They were the only two left and they were the only ones that mattered. They were the only ones and yet.. The red one stopped his line of thought, already knowing where it would lead him before he glanced around, taking in his surroundings.

While there wasn't much to look at, it certainly did, at least for a moment, keep his mind off of the past. The white that currently engulfed them was blinding. The only other presence in the expanse was the flittering of particles, the tiny pieces of data that dispersed endlessly upwards, the small indistinct sounds filled the space as they rose with their carriers. Heat didn't register, cold didn't register; there was no such thing as temperature.

Once again, he created another file, moving it over in his memories to a set of organized folders before he closed out of his interface, registering the sight that was around him, before him; the sight of who he was holding.

X. Originally he was an android. His name was one given to those with infinite potential.. and those given the stigma of being a potential danger. No one could fully predict him, no one could completely recreate him.. He was unique, one of a kind, and no copy - no other sentience - could replace him. He was.. himself. He was just as much his name as he wasn't, his thoughts and emotions were his own and nothing could ever taint them, nothing...

But that was a lie, wasn't it? They wouldn't be here if that had been the truth.

The one he held opened his eyes, their once brilliant emerald was now a tranquil aqua, their gaze turning to face the only other being in existence. He gave a smile for his holder, who felt he did not deserve such a gesture, as blue spoke to red.

"Again..?" Soft words, a sound that filtered through the mixture of nanites that had formed a whimsical ghost alongside someone else who also shared his same design, his same fate.

He received a slow nod in response.

"Ah.." the blue one, the one known as X replied, his head turning ever so slightly to bring his gaze upwards. "It's funny.." He spoke, his smile doleful, and they both knew why. "I'm missing a response.. An.. emotion.." His words, quiet but not inaudible, filtered through the auditory sensors that seemed to pick up nothing else except the evaporating data. A hand, one he had to learn how to reform, slowly raised upwards as if to block out a non-existent source of light. It twisted and turned.. "This.. feeling.. Did I..?"

Another slow nod.

"I see.." His lids seemed to close into a well known melancholy as his hand came to rest on his chest. The silence around them continued before the red one spoke, a deep somber tone in contrast to its receiver, "It's not your fault."

"I know." His eyes were still closed and the smile remained, though it felt clearly out of place. The others previous words filled his mind and Zero knew which emotion he must have been missing.

"It's never your fault."

"I know." He repeated.

"They're always doing this.." A pause, but one of acknowledgement, one of knowing. They had been through this topic before. "Hurting themselves, being tricked into everything imaginable, refusing to understand what they're seeing.. refusing to analyze the data.. refusing.." Resentment seemed to narrow the red ones eyes as he spoke. "Refusing to acknowledge that they've hurt you, what they've done to you just by acting how they are.. each and every-"

"Zero." Two sets of blue eyes met before the blue one continued. "... It's not their fault."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not."

"How can you say that so plainly?" Anger flared within his voice as his eyes turned from a brilliant azure to an irritated yellow hue. "You know that they were the ones that still despised you, even when it was proven you were the original. You were the one who had to save them when no one else was doing it... You had to strain yourself to find ways of doing that, to regain a body, to save everyone even if.." He paused. "Even if he-"

"Zero." A stern voice. A tone used to counter an ever rising one. "... You forget..." Eyes relaxed back into their dreary reminiscence. "...That's what I was built for. To learn.. to adapt.."

"You weren't built to break." A bewildered expression met Zero, an expression that turned into slight puzzlement. A small smile of amused understanding spread from ear to ear a moment afterward, before he gave a light hearted chuckle.

".. Nothing's built to break, Zero." He smiled, happy for a moment before the atmosphere again drew weary, his smile once again falling. It was hard to keep up a cheery façade when they both knew why they were still there; why both, to differing degrees, were still in reverie. The silence that followed in and of itself could have been an echo, but neither saw it as such as they continued to remain, continued to exist.

"... Let's go," Zero said, shifting as he unbent his legs, floating as if he were standing, before setting the other up to do the same. An arm was draped over X's shoulders as if to hold the other steady, regardless of how unnecessary it was. X looked only slightly surprised before his eyes glanced upwards - no, in front of him, to his dear friend. They had been through so much.. and yet, it had been awhile, X had noticed, since he'd been able to be with the other like this... In a simple peace, of sorts. To notice the small things, like how their current 'bodies' were now the same height, instead of one or the other being slightly taller. To notice his friends hair, golden like always, draped behind him in a brilliant stream, no less dull than the day he had taken the time to truly appreciate it..

His friend only made a small motion, gently moving his hand to pat X's shoulder, before he spoke in a hushed voice, ".. I'll follow." Gentle wisps of data filled their auditory sensors. The soundless echo of the area no longer held a dreary tone - instead, a tranquil one took its place, even if only for a moment.

Zero's gaze was downcast while X seemed to look at him in mild astonishment. The expression he held slowly turned to a more relaxed one, the mindlessness of the quiet persisting they stay this way, just for awhile. It was tempting, but X knew that sense of peace was false. He gave a solemn smile at his friends words, at last, before he nodded.

"Alright."

It was then that the red gem embedded in the center of his helmet seemed to react, glowing softly as a white, vibrant crown formed atop his head. More and more data seemed to float and correlate at its appearance, the sound enough to make Zero glance upwards towards him, his arm falling from X's shoulders as he moved a bit away from him. A soft, vague smile brushed his lips as X looked to him and spoke.

"Let's keep trying."