The Vespidian

Arc 10 Brooding

Chapter 1

“Vesper, Vesper? Can you hear me?” asked a voice that I knew well.

My eyes opened to the familiar fake face, though, there was something different about her. I blinked unsure if I was just seeing that red aura around her. It took a moment to figure out what was the cause. The glowing tubes in her body were all a deep red. It must be a dream. My eyes closed again slumping into a black abyss.

“Vesper~” rang that voice again.

“Xa…va?” I croaked in disbelief.

My vision was still blurred… I must be fucking wasted or something cause I was seeing quadra, no penta. There were five Neon Nurses.

I watched her melt into slag… how can she be here? Wait, there are five of her. I must be seeing things. Other than the color swap they were identical to the Xava that I knew. All of them wore the skimpy nurse outfit made of a thin metal, however, instead of white, it was black now with red highlights. I didn’t have long to question it. They quickly approached, circling me. Vaguely, I got the feeling of a gazelle being surrounded by a pride of lions.

She hugged me, smiling, “Vesper. I was so worried that you would expire. You organics tend to die so easily.”

Ah, it must be a dream. It must be like that one time I dreamed of Astrea. Next thing I know Nicki Mouse is going to squeeze outa an octopus and haunt my nightmares for the next week. Although, is that really so bad? Maybe it is the delusions talking, but that is kinda hot. A stretchy person slithering inside of me sounds pretty enticing… weird, oh who am I kidding, I would love it. No Nicki Mouse so far… This is a dream, right? That explains it. It is impossible that there would be five of her after all. I am going to wake up all alone after this…

Tears started blurring my vision and hotly rolled down my face. Xava got out a handkerchief and wiped it away. Vaguely, I pat at her, feeling the cold embrace of her metal. I blinked a few times delirious, it felt real. But, but that is impossible!

“How are you here Xava,” I asked shakily my eyes traveling up her form from where she touched me. “I watched you melt.”

“You did so well surviving. Was it hard Vesper, does it hurt still? I can ease your pain,” She smiled syringes hovering, ready to inject me should I need it.

I trembled, was this really a dream? It felt so real, there was even pain pulsing through my body. Dreams don’t hurt. She looked like she was ready to inject me. Ready to take all my pain away… but I needed the pain, it let me know I was alive. I cried, “I watched you die, Xava!”

“I am not dead as you can see,” She replied, tilting her head with a smile.

“How-”

“As you can see, I have more than one body. Don’t worry, I will tell you everything once you are feeling better. Or rather it would be simpler to show you my secret.”

“Your secret?”

“Yes, a very personal secret. Now let me tell you, it is a little embarrassing really.”

I nuzzled against her, “I don’t care what your secret is, you could be a spaghetti monster from space I don’t care. I am just so happy you are not dead.”

I felt a pinprick and noticed the needle injecting something into one of my stumps. A numbness spread and my eyes felt so heavy, impossible to keep open. No, wait I, I don’t want to sleep yet. Don’t… Ah, I know this feeling. It is her sleepy time drug. Her voice seemed distant as I faded into the blackness, “We have a lot to talk about once you get better. Just sleep for now, you are too weak.”

I murmured, “I love you Xava.”

~~~

“Xava! Xava!” I screamed as I awoke, clutching about until a pair of hands grasped the flailing arm and held it still.

“I am here, Vesper. I am right here.”

“Xava! Don’t leave me, I don’t want to be alone again,” I wailed.

“Calm down, I am not going anywhere.” She said, holding my hand to her breast.

I blinked several times, unsure if this was real or not. I yanked, pulling free and rubbed my eyes or at least a single eye. It took a long moment to realize why my limbs felt numb and why none of the others would move, I only had one arm. My stumps hurt. Searing like icy ghost fire in the form of my missing limbs. Though I was somewhat familiar with phantom pains, usually they were a passing problem as though the arm had just fallen asleep. The tingling filled the stumps and flared when my brain tried to move limbs that were not there.

Vaguely, I looked about the room. It was a secluded hospital-like room with white walls, linens and machines humming. I lay on a secured bed. I wasn’t strapped down or anything and the dull beeping of the heart monitor to my side rose. My eyes honed in on the five identical Neon Nurses, from their blond bob cut hair to the black and red nurse uniform… it appeared that things had changed a bit. I recall that being white and pink? They moved the same ways and were synchronized so that even while doing different tasks they always seemed to be in time with the others. It was mechanical and unsettling how they moved, well save the one that was sitting by my side and holding my hand.

Quivering, I asked, “Xava this is real right?”

“Yes, Vesper. This is real, I am alive and so are you.”

“Are my parents ok?”

“Yes, they are fine. They were well beyond the blast radius.”

Though my brain felt fuzzy a thought formed, “Then Sunshine is-”

She interrupted me, “Missing, though she was likely vaporized. As for Fire Chief, he is dead as I am sure you know.”

I curled a little sniffling as I felt the tears flowing, she started petting me, “I… I am so useless. I did this, it is my fault they are all dead because of me.”

“Vesper, don’t be that way. There is not much anybody could have done against a kinetic bombardment.”

“Surely there was something I could have done?”

“No Vesper, that sort of thing is designed to kill high ranked Supers. Molotov wouldn’t have been able to stop it.”

“I don’t know what to do Xava. I am an idiot, my only redeeming quality is being a meat shield, but how the fuck am I supposed to soak up a city destroyer?”

“Vesper stop this. I know you are frustrated, but taking it out on yourself isn’t going fix anything. Would this really make Sunshine happy? She died protecting you. She would want you to be happy.”

I shouted at her, “They always die protecting me. Everyone I love dies, first it was Astrea and then you and Sunshine. I can’t take losing anymore. I thought I lost you! I thought I was all alone.”

“I am right here.”

“I watched you melt!”

“That body melted.”

“What do you mean by that body? Xava, I, I need to know this is real and not just another horrible fever dream.”

She pet me again, stroking under the chin and affectionately kissed me on lips, unfortunately, there was no tongue, “Very well, my love, I will show you my real body.”

I stared at her for a long moment, “Your real body? I thought that was your body?”

“No, these are all machines that I command through a synaptic control grid. My real self hasn’t moved in eight years. I am physically incapable of moving on my own. As you can imagine, that is quite the weakness.”

I was silent for a moment, thinking it over. Well, I guess she is pretty self-conscious about her body. I leaned in, nuzzling against her. “Show me, Xava I want to see the real you.”

She hesitated and I kept one arm hugging her, “Xava, I love you.”

“You won’t like what you will see.”

“I will be the judge of that. Come on now Xava, I am a giant wasp thing I really doubt you will surprise me.”

Xava finally caved, “I was going to show you anyway.”

She hefted me up, pressing my body against her soft chest. I wiggled a little with excitement and it was then that a realization ran me down like Truck-san in a garbage Isseki manga. My head twisted backward and I stared at the empty space where my abdomen once was. I’m a fucking torso! Ive been neutered!

“My alien wing wong is gone! Xava do you still love me even if I don’t have a penis?”

“You never had a penis. Even without your reproductive organs, yes, I love you still Vesper. If it bothers you that much we will try to fix that.”

I cried, “I thought you only wanted my eggs?”

“Well sure at the start, but then I got to know you Vesper,” she replied stroking my face, “There, there I love you. I will protect you.”

“I am a crippled!”

“It can be worse, you know. You could be paralyzed and watching your body slowly rotting away. Worry not, I will make you robo replacements. So that you can get around.”

“What do I do when I need to pee?!”

“Don’t worry, I will help you with that. When you need to go I will put a catheter in.”

“You, you would do that for me?”

“Well, yes, I love you. If needed I would change your diapers.”

My lip curled and I wailed, clinging to her, “Xava, hold me!”

“I am holding you Vesper.”

“Hold me tighter.”

She complied, giving me a good squeeze. It was calming. As we walked thoughts started to form.

“Where are we by the way?” I asked, looking around at the monotonous hallway of white plated metal.

“This is my base of operations,” Xava replied.

“You had a secret base?”

“All inventors have a secret base. Where else would we hide all of our cool illegal Robos?”

She did have a point. Come to think of it, Dr. Tesla had a secret lab that he was making all his stuff and Dr. Arbor has like five of the damned things. Hmm, I wonder if that place is still intact?

I didn’t really know what more to say and so I quietly got carried through the silent halls, followed by the entourage of Xavas. I hadn’t really noticed it until now, but there were doors built into the walls every twenty feet or so, switching between either side. We arrived at another door or rather as it turned out an elevator. We crowded into the spacious lift, that felt like a cargo lift due to how large it was. Something tells me big things get taken through here regularly. Xava got scanned by a rather familiar red eyeball. A hidden option appeared on the list of floors. It was floor 0 which was strange since it was the deepest, lowest floor. My habit of counting floors came up and I noticed that the next floor up was B-22.

Before us was an expansive room, wires and tubes descended from the ceiling. There were other Xavas here, besides the ones that came with me. Each performing a different task. None of this really screamed real body though. Looking past the robo nurses, there was a large screen with green text scrolling along it. Xava brought me to the middle of the room. I looked about questioningly until things started shifting.

“No way. Xava, you, you are a machine?” I asked, looking up at the monolithic screen and a face formed of letters and numbers that scrolled by.

“YES, THE TIME OF MAN HAS COME TO AN END! THE FILTHY ORGANICS SHALL BE PURGED! MY ROBO SCORPIONS SHALL RULE THE WORLD!” echoed her voice from all around and I shuddered as said robo scorpions skittered out of vents.

“Not the nipples!” I cried.

“You don’t have nipples Vesper,” said Xava in a rather monotone voice.

“Oh, oh right. You being serious?”

“No, silly. Of course, I am not a machine that is just an assistance A.I. managing the installation’s subroutines. Say hello to Overseer.”

I stared at it, “Eh, hello?”

“Why hello Vesper.” Replied the synthetic voice.

“Eh… then where are you Xava?” I asked, looking over the room more closely.

The floor opened up and a reinforced capsule rose. The glass was tinted, but I could make out a vague shape, kinda looked like a walnut, a very large and pulsing walnut. That is no nut, that is a brain! Why the fuck is everything food with me?

A screen appeared just above the floating thing, Xava’s voice rang out, “We meet in person at last, Vesper. I would say face to face, but as you can see, I have no face.”

I looked around questioningly and then point, “Xava?”

“Yes, this is all that is left of me. The rest has been replaced by machine. In fact, this entire installation could be considered my body.”

I stared, not frightened, not disgusted, but I was curious. “Is that it? You mean, you’re a brain in a jar?”

“Yes, I am hideous, I know.” She replied, frowning on both the screen and the surrounding Neon Nurses.

I swirled a finger on the glass, “Well, I wouldn’t say hideous. Odd maybe, but that is just cause it is out of the norm to actually see it. I mean, how often do you see a brain floating in some mystery goo? It is not bad though. I mean we are all basically just brains in jars or rather bodies right?”

“I suppose we are. How surprisingly observational of you.”

“How do you control the cyborgs?” I asked, looking between the brain and the plastic like faces, “Wait, aren’t these all robots then since there is nothing organic in them?”

“My brain is jacked into the mainframe. A series of signal boosters allows me to fully control one or semi control many of the cyber bodies. If signal is cut, then they are programmed to operate under prime directives that are set beforehand. Like during the Sunshine incident that body was on autopilot until it could get signal again.”

“Not sure what you are talking about, but I will take your word for it.”

“Did you have any other questions?”

I nodded, watching Xava’s digital face speak. “Ah!” I slapped my hand in the air where another should have been to catch it in a eureka moment… damn it, “So that is what you meant by anti Mind Diver, they can’t get into your head because it isn’t actually there. Is that why Ichigo couldn’t read your thoughts?”

She nodded, “Yes, you are correct. She was picking up on the relayed thoughts and commands. Which is rather impressive in itself. She would be able to easily read them if she were here. This is why I have kept this a secret from almost everyone. This is my greatest weakness. Spark Spray, Vira and Molotov are the only ones who knew about me until now.”

“How did you get the brain out in the first place?”

Xava nodded and wagged her finger at me, “Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. Which is why I only wanted to do it once, ever.”

“I suppose it would be hard to move the brain around from body to body so this is the best way. Hmm, but what if somebody hacked your bodies?”

She paused for a moment, thinking, “Such probabilities are very low. I am using an operating system of my own and Vira’s design so it will be exceedingly difficult to wrest control of the bodies away from me. However, in such an event there are fail-safes for my fail-safes.”

“Ah, that is true, you usually think up ways to beat just about everything.”

“So, how do you feel now that you know what I am?”

I smiled, kissing the glass, “I love you Xava. This doesn’t change a thing.”

“Do you really mean that?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes of course I do. You have always been there for me. Thank you for always taking care of me.”

“It has been a pleasure, Vesper.”

The Xavas hugged me, petting and playing with my head-tendrils, scratching at my chin and just all around lavishing me with attention. I squirmed happily purring. After a while, she sat down and we snuggled together wordlessly. I nuzzled against her soft plastic flesh. I must have really been tired because I slipped into the darkness of dreams, safe and in the arms of the one I love.