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Notes: This story is mostly about what X writes in his journal during the time that he and Dr. Cain are rebuilding Zero. The last part, "_Day Zero_" is written from Zero's point of view as he awakens.
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_~_

Well, that's it I guess.

All the pieces of your body that I could find are here.
Doctor Cain put them in a big white shipping crate for safe-keeping before he turned in for the night.

That's what he said, anyway...

I think he just didn't want them dripping oil on his work bench.
But I still shouldn't have opened the crate.
Maybe if I had picked up your head I would have been able to handle the situation better, but I picked up your hand instead. The left one. The one that's always a hand, even when your right hand is replaced with a cannon. I squeezed your fingers in mine, and for a crazy nano-second, I thought you were going to squeeze back.
-Stupid, really.

You didn't.
You couldn't have.

For someone with a name like Zero, there sure is a lot about you to miss.

_Day 1_

Dr. Cain says the relay circuitry in your joints was damaged beyond repair by the impact that killed you, so he's going to have to replace the fried chips as we go.
It's strange being a lab assistant again. I haven't used that part of my programming for a long time.

_Day 2_

Shopping trip. Dr. Cain sent me out with a list of spare parts and solvents that he wanted, and it was a HUGE haul!

_Day 3_

Dr. Cain has you scattered across his workbench, the counter by the lab sink, and a card table. That's what got me thinking about your hair today, actually. Your helmet is soaking in a plastic tub by the sink, and your head is on the card table, looking really awful.
Your right cheekbone-ridge has a dent four centimeters deep, and your right eye is... well, it's gone.
Don't worry, it'll be there by the time you wake up.

You are vain about your hair, but you're also secretive, so this is the first time I've had the chance to find out how you made it.
I have to admit, I'm impressed.
Whisper-thin strands of Nomex high-tension cord, threaded into a conventional Reploid scalp, and anchored right into your skull-frame.
-No wonder you don't like people pulling your hair... your enemies might try picking you UP by it if they knew how strong it was.

The kind of force that must have been required to rip off your ponytail at the clasp, I don't even want to think about.

Dr. Cain doesn't think that repairing your hair would be worth the time, but since he hardly trusts me with anything else even slightly complex, I might as well.

If Dr. Cain would let me do the kinds of high-level tasks that Dr. Light programmed me for, these repairs would be go a lot faster.

_Day 4_

_Day 5_

I saw what the inside of your central processor looked like today.

...Somehow it had never occurred to me that Dr. Cain might *not* be able to repair you, but I- I am not thinking this.

_Day 6_

False alarm. You won't have the memories from our last mission, but there was a copy of your program stored in the lab computer that can be uploaded into your CPU... once it's rebuilt, that is.

-I wonder how you would react to waking up with memories of seeing YOURSELF die from MY point of view?

_Day 7_

_Day 8_

_Day 9_

_Day 10_

_Day 11_

It's been busy around here. Dr. Cain finished repairing your lower body this afternoon, so now there's just the reconnection of your left shoulder and putting together the delicate electronics inside your head. ...Okay, that and about 64 other things, but those are the major ones.

_Day 12_

I was replacing the shock absorbers in your hand today. I took each joint of your fingers apart, and then put the whole mess back together. Every gel-pack in your knuckles was broken open, so your fingers must have been bent straight backwards at some point. -I hope that it happened after the initial explosion. You know, hitting the far wall or something...
The fun part was seeing all those tiny parts made back into a hand again. After I hooked up the motor-control cables and threaded them through your wrist-cuff, it just felt different. Asleep rather than dead.
You, 'Repunzel', are gonna wake up soon.

_Day 13_

Dr. Cain was out today. I got the conduit and cable-work inside your left shoulder done, but I'm going to have to make a new retaining ring before I can seal the joint.

_Day 14_

I finished your shoulder today, but that's not the interesting part... Around lunchtime, Dr. Cain stopped in the middle of calibrating the optical sensor inside your new right eye, and looked at me. It's strange, but I've never seen him look at *anyone* he wasn't actually talking to before, much less his humble -and temporary- lab assistant yours truly.
It gave me sensor-ghosts, if you really want to know. Talented scientist or not, that man is a creep.
He ordered lunch brought to the lab, got a data pad and a chair, and then just sat there for the rest of the day taking notes on... Whatever I was doing that was so interesting to him. Never asked any questions, never moved, just watched me work. I hope he doesn't do that again.

_Day 15_

More weirdness from Dr. Cain. This time he questioned me at length about why I went to all the trouble of finding your lost components and getting them back.

Hel-lo Dr. Cain, have you no CLUE? A certain red-armored loudmouth just happens to be my best friend, and he was THAT even BEFORE he got himself killed protecting me!

Honestly...

_Day 16_

Dr. Cain has finally returned to work on your eye, and I am relieved by that, but NOW he's set up a series of video cameras to record my every move instead. I still don't know what it is about routine repair procedures that has him so fascinated, but I'm willing to let it slide.

_Day 17_

I am finished with everything except your hair and the CPU, and the CPU is Dr. Cain's job anyway...
So between the two of us, we've got your head spread out over about two square yards of bench space, more if you count the spool of Nomex cord on the floor.
Speaking of your hair, I scalped you this morning. You look absolutely goofy. I took a picture for posterity, so you better think twice before razzing me any time soon.
No...
Scratch that.
Razz me all you like, but I've got better material. It WILL be nice to have someone with a sense of humor around here again.

_Day 18_

I'm about half done with your hair. I'm also more than a little curious to know how you got hair like this in the first place, since there's no WAY you had enough patience to make it yourself.
Trust me, you would jump into a spike-pit first.
It's like one of those stupid do-it-yourself rug things that Roll was into for a while, only this is even worse, because I'm working with several strands at a time, and they're all about six feet long. You are gonna owe me BIG for this, buddy...

_Day 19_

Finished! I am entirely done with all those little holes, your scalp is re-attached, and you look great! Something about your hair still doesn't feel right though, so I'm going to go back and have another look at the hair that survived the demolition to see of I can figure out what you did to it.

Tomorrow.

-Besides, with my luck you probably just poured a can of oil on your head or something.

_20_

So much for the oil theory.
It's Teflon.
You coated your hair with TEFLON. Not only does this make Nomex twine behave, it also seals the scalp at the roots so that you don't have problems with moisture seeping into your CPU if it rains.
-I had no idea that mane of yours was so technologically complex!

This afternoon, I found myself in front of a mirror checking out my own hair, and it's different from yours. My hair comes out of my scalp seamlessly, no little holes involved. My best guess is that Dr. Light injection-molded the material of my scalp through the back of some kind of framework that already had my hair attached to it, like a wig.
This means that my hair looks more human at the roots than yours does, but it's not as strongly constructed. Then again, my hair isn't six feet long either, so it doesn't have to put together like crash-webbing, does it?
Dr. Cain did his stalker imitation again today, and seemed particularly interested in the way I was using a metal comb to separate the strands of your hair after spraying them down with liquid Teflon. He couldn't get too close though, because Teflon melts at far higher temperatures than humans can stand. Ha!

_Day 21_

I got mad at Dr. Cain today. He wanted to watch me work, and I wanted him to continue building your new CPU, and I...
Okay, I yelled at him.
Not much, and I never threatened him or anything, but I did raise my voice.

-Maybe when this is all over I should go back and get MYSELF repaired.

Dr. Cain wasn't mad though, that was the funny thing. He just made some notes on his data pad, and waited until I was finished.

_Day 22_

I have figured it out. Dr. Cain is studying me because he thinks I have developed some kind of complex emotional response that Reploids aren't supposed to have. As aggravating as the interruptions to his work on your CPU are, I *am* curious to see what conclusions he will eventually draw.
I would rather he finished your CPU and THEN did his observations, but even with the interruptions we should be ready to switch you back on in a day or two.

_Day 23_

_Day 24_

_Day 25_

This is getting old. If Dr. Cain doesn't do something useful soon, I'm going to put the CPU together MYSELF, orders or no orders. -And that may be just what he's waiting for.
I think Dr. Cain is doing this on purpose just to see how far he can push me before I push back.

I miss you.
I mean that.
It's just gotten worse, the closer you get to being operational, the more I want to tell you everything and how the battle ended and what Dr. Cain had been up to and... everything.

Not making much sense, am I?

If I get much worse, I'll start sounding like YOU! THAT would serve ol' Dr. Cain right, wouldn't it?

_Day 26_

As soon as I saw Dr. Cain's face this morning, I knew he was going to try and get out of working on your CPU. So I tried something new.
I stone-faced him.
I just put my hands on the edge of the workbench between us, looked him in the eyes, and froze. It took him almost two minutes to figure out that I wasn't just looking at him, but when he realized what it was that I'd really done, he scurried away to get his data pad and take more notes.

As I predicted though, even the patience of a scientist can wear thin, and he cracked around six PM.
He looked crossly at me, eyebrows bristling, and said that if I would condescend to MOVE so that he could continue his observations, he would start working on your CPU again.

I un-froze, and grinned at him.

_Day 27_

Tomorrow! Well, today, technically. Three hours forty seven minutes, and if Dr. Cain stops for coffee on his way to the lab I am going to-
Naah, bad idea.

You are lying on your back in the middle of Dr. Cain's workbench, arms loosely at your sides, eyes closed. The only light left on in the room is one fluorescent tube, located directly above you, like the subtle lighting in a jewelry case. The blue crystal mounted on the front of your helmet just adds to the image. I cannot get enough of you.

We are in a fairy tale, and once the wicked wizard would shows up, he and I will awaken you from death itself.
I am so glad we're Reploids and magic like that actually works...
...If we were human, I would have lost you forever.

The heck with it. I am re-activating you up right now, and Dr. Cain's 'observational opportunity' can go chew tinfoil for all I care.

_Day Zero_

Blink.

I'm still alive?
No, that can't be it.
I'm alive???
How the-

"X!!!!!"

I see a hopeful little face hovering above mine, and as he hears that I've recognized him, it breaks into a glow and a smile.
I lunge up from whatever coffin or coffee table I'm lying on, and glomp him with a resounding clang.

"X!!!!!"

I'm repeating myself.
So sue me.
I guarantee a beam saber will beat a lawyer nine times out of ten.

"Mh mumuumh Mph m hm-mumph..." says X.

I loosen my hug enough that X can peel his face off of my shoulder-plate.

"I'm REALLY glad to see you..." X repeats, a bit more clearly this time.

"Yeah, it's mutual, but what the fu-" I begin.

"You died."

"I know... Wait a minute, this is YOUR memory-file..."

"Well, you died. And then me and Dr. Cain kinda put you back together. I patched in my memory-files about that mission that GOT you blown to bits, and, uh... I am really glad to see you."

I cup the back of X's head in my hand, and draw circles in his hair with my fingers. I couldn't answer him now if I wanted to. That little blue idiot's overloaded me again, and he doesn't even know it.
So I draw more circles.

Strangely, X seems happy to stay like this, and rests his head against my shoulder.

While I am collecting my thoughts, I sort through the rest of the data he's given me, along with the memory of my rather gruesome demise.
Wait a minute. WHAT?

'-complex emotional response that Reploids aren't supposed to have-'?

YEEEEEESSSSSS!!!

'-I cannot get enough of you-'

About damn time he noticed me!

'-I am so glad we're reploids and magic like that actually works...
...If we were human, I would have lost you forever-'

Aww, X... You're gonna overload me again...
And then I realize that was the whole idea. -X is getting sneaky in his old age.

"Zero?" he mumbles.

"Uh... yeah?"

"You have it too, don't you?"

I don't have to ask what he's talking about. Not with his head on my shoulder.

"Yeah, I do."

"How long...?"

"Long ENOUGH!" I announce to anyone within a half-mile radius.
With that, I push him away just enough so that we're nose-to-nose.

X blushes, big time.
Not being one to disappoint, I lean in and give him a small kiss.

When I let him up for air, a pair of very round and very shiny green eyes are looking back at me, and X doesn't say a word. -I guess *I* overloaded *HIM* for once.

"Too fast?" I ask.

X swallows, then nods once, and looks down.

"That's okay. You'll get used to this upgrade eventually." I grin.

"I guess you would know, wouldn't you." replies X, from behind a wry smile of his own.

"Gaaah! Don't *remind* me! You've got it easy man, at least YOU know you're not going circuit-crazy!"

"I didn't know that when I gave you my journal." X reminds me.

"...You got a point there." I admit. "But I'm -still- gonna tease you about it."

"Maybe we're BOTH circuit-crazy..." X begins, only half joking.

"Maybe." I interrupt, "All I know is, we're both alive, and we're both on the same side, and that's good enough for me."

I drop a kiss on X's forehead, and this time he doesn't freeze...

...And it's more or less at this point that Dr. Cain walks in.

-END-