#x-87

Motherfucking dickfaced-! Lex raced towards the guard shooting at him and broke his arm; while the man was still breathing in to scream, Lex transformed his left hand and tore the guard's throat out with his claws. The guard made a gurgling sound as he fell, but Lex didn't give a fuck right then because there were still three more fucking guards and he'd already been shot four fucking times. "Lex, next time, follow protocol," B-01 said in his ear. Lex snarled at that, seeing the rest of guards pale, the sour scent of their fear reaching his nose, even with all the overpowering gunpowder trying to obscure it. Their aim went shittier when his regeneration shoved the bullets out his body. The bullets clattered to the floor. "It was taking too fucking long!" He barrelled forward, ignoring the sting of the few bullets that grazed him, and he punctured the middle guard's bulletproof vest with his claws, her hot blood splattering all over his arm, the metallic scent drowning out everything else. He grabbed her by the collar with his other hand and threw her at the guard on his right, hearing them both crash into the wall hard enough to dent it. He didn't need Xeno's hearing to hear bones snapping. Lex whirled around, focusing on the final guard- Xeno crushed the guard's head with his transformed arm, blood spurting over black tentacles thicker than Lex's wrist and they were running again before the guard hit the floor. "What difference does it make if ya get the information before or after?" Lex demanded. "They're dead either way." "Our orders were to extract the information first and then clear the target." And orders were to be followed to the letter. Tch. "I have not fully secured the inform - our target is aware of our presence. He is currently on the second floor of the car park." A pause. "There are currently five decoys." "Shit." "Lex..." He glanced across to see Xeno smiling softly at him and Lex scowled. "Fine, I get it - always follow the fucking orders." Even if they were fucking stupid. If their target was on the second floor and going for a car... They were about to pass another window and Lex grabbed the wall with his left hand, creating deep gouges in it and swung through the window, closing his eyes just before he went through the glass. "LEX-!" "What did he do?" "Jumped out the window!" As soon as he hit the ground, Lex sprinted, ignoring his cut skin, the wounds already healing by the time he'd taken two steps. "...I see. Xeno, you are currently near the car park's exit; Lex's route will take you there faster. 'Take the plunge'." "WH - All right." Lex heard the thump of Xeno's landing behind him, but he could also hear the roar of engines and the squeal of tires in front of him. A black SUV, more seen by the streetlight reflecting off its body, screeched out of the car park, smashing through the barrier, two more right on its tail. Fuck. There were more coming, and Lex ran faster - he reached the exit as another nose of a car slid into view. Snarling, he slashed, cutting through the driver to the other side of the car, and heard the human screaming inside just as Xeno punched through the passenger door, crushing the human. They both leaped out the way when the fifth car careened into the fourth, shoving it forward a couple of metres, sparks flying into the air as the sliced metal shrieked across the ground. Lex jumped on top of the fifth car's roof and grabbed the man by the hair as he stumbled out, yanking him off his feet - Lex sliced the man's head off with his claws, drenching his untransformed hand with blood, as well as the car and wall next to them. Lex wrinkled his nose at the mess but it was late, so the blood splattered over his clothes would be harder to see. At least his jacket was dark enough to hide it. "Two of the decoys are taken care of," Xeno informed B-01 as Lex hopped off the car, throwing the head further into the car park at the same time and then wiped his hands clean on the unbloodied parts of the man's clothes. Lex turned his hands over once he was done - hn, there was still blood under his nails, but that was fine. There weren't any curious onlookers yet and Lex and Xeno dashed into the closest shadowy alley, leaping over the wall blocking their way before any could start gathering. "Good. I am currently tracking the other three SUVs; I am slowing down their progress as much as I can." "How the hell're you doing that?" Lex asked. She could hack into computers, but the cars were being driven by people; she couldn't control them in the same way, or at all. "Changing the traffic lights to red is simple." "And how the fuck does that make a difference? They're trying to get away – why would they stop at a fuckin' light like a good citizen?" "Because they are trying to not draw attention to themselves," B-01 answered him. "If they are chased by police and detained, it would then be easy for us to 'pick them off'." Hn. "Fine." "Turn left at the second intersection," B-01 instructed them, "and follow it until the third crossing – go right from there." Lex nodded and pushed himself to go faster, trying to find a hint of the black car they were hunting. The blood on Lex's clothes cooled as they moved and it started to get itchy as it clung to Lex's skin. "I am unsure, but I think one of the decoys has stopped," B-01 informed them a couple minutes later. "'You think'?" Lex repeated. Either she knew or she didn't. "Affirmative. I am currently keeping track of the other two decoys while also trying to slow them down as much as possible. I may have missed the car being evacuated while I was concentrating with the other two." Right. They'd been following B-01's orders for a few more minutes when she said, "Stop," and Lex frowned, scanning the area around them as he slowed down, taking in deep breaths. There were a couple cars parked on the street, but none of them were black and they were shaped wrong. What the hell? "The SUV is inside the car park to your left – first floor." Lex eyed the entrance of it before he snorted. Another car park, huh? "I have not seen any movement from it for a while," B-01 said as Lex and Xeno entered. There were cars dotted around, but it was largely empty. No black cars in sight. "It is in the 24-T block," B-01 told them, and Lex frowned, looking at the pillars. They were at the U section. "This way," Xeno murmured, jogging to their right. It didn't take them long to find the right section and Lex smirked when he saw the black car. "Lex, wait!" Xeno hissed when he stepped forward, pulling him behind a pillar, and wrapping a hand around his mouth before Lex's snarl ripped past his lips. "Xeno is correct," B-01 said just as Lex was about to shove him away. "It could be a trap." Xeno dropped both his hands and stepped away before Lex's swing reached him. Glaring and baring his teeth at him, Lex whispered harshly, "And we're wasting time! The bastard could be inside the fucking building and we're waitin' here, worried about what?" Seconds ticked by, and all Lex could hear was his own rough breathing and the growl rumbling from his throat. "Xeno?" Xeno shook his head. "I can't hear anything coming from the car. No talking or heartbeats." "So they're inside the building," Lex said, trying to find the door. "That is a possibility," B-01 said. "But we cannot leave the car unchecked." Lex's lips quirked up into a triumphant grin. "We going to the car?" "Affirmative." Lex's grin widened further and he span on his heel, going towards it. "I will – retreat." Lex paused, frowning as he glanced around the area. He couldn't see anyone (or even the camera B-01 was using to spy through) but - He felt Xeno's hand on his shoulder just as he heard B-01 scream, "RETREAT." Shit. B-01 never raised her voice, and Lex was sure if she'd been fully human, her voice would have cracked. Xeno hauled him backwards and Lex turned with it, not snapping at him because there was something really fucking wrong. They'd made it three steps before a roar tore the air behind them and they were ripped off their feet as everything burned orange and yellow. Lex didn't have enough time to react (not when it felt like his entire back had been punched solidly by Xeno's transformed fists), bouncing off a car and then crashed to the ground, what little air he had left in his lungs whooshing out of him. It was as if someone had reached into his chest and squeezed his lungs so that he could only get so much air, but Lex snarled (he didn't hear that. Where the fuck was his hearing?), shoving himself to his feet, trying to drag as much air into his lungs as he could. The world span, but Lex glared around him anyway, at the blazing car in front of him, and the flashing lights of the car alarms. His skin was far too fucking hot, feeling like it was stretched thin over his muscles. He couldn't see anyone else though, except Xeno was still face down on the ground, his back swathed in red. His braid had survived somehow, but dark red patches stood out amongst the purple. While he couldn't hear, Lex could still smell and the scent of burning leather and Xeno's blood overwhelmed him. His concentration was a scattered mess, and he couldn't gather enough of it to transform his arms; he grabbed one of the knives he kept at his back instead, holding it in a tight grip. His scrapes and bruises were already mostly healed, and his breathing was becoming easier with every breath. "Szzk...ex...Zen..." Lex scowled - even though he was glad his hearing was back, the static grated on his ears. But if it was grating on his ears, then Xeno's ears - were bleeding, and Lex could see the shattered pieces of his communication device there. Shit, it wasn't surprising Xeno hadn't moved yet, only blinking as he lay there. "-no. Lex. Respond. NOW." Growling, Lex said, "We're here. The fucking-" "Good. You are alive. I - report your situation. The camera feed disappeared." Xeno groaned, his hands twitching as his transformation receded. Nodding, Lex got back to keeping an eye out for someone trying to pick them off. "Explosion," Lex told her. "The target's gone." Unless he'd been in the car at the time but that was fucking unlikely. "Huh, what?" Xeno slurred. "That was an explosion?" Lex glared at him. "Dumbass, what did you think it was?" "Dunno," Xeno said as he got up to his hands and knees – and then threw up the contents of his stomach. "The hell?" Lex yelped, looking at the mess – there wasn't any blood in it, this time. "What is happening?" B-01 said, almost sounding urgent. "Xeno puked his guts out. Again." "I see. The pressure of the blast may have caused that reaction." "I'm fine," Xeno said, shaking his head as he got to his feet, wiping at his mouth with a hand, a small smile on his face. And then he froze, his smile replaced with a frown; his eyes flicked upwards. Shit, what had he heard? "You need to leave," B-01 said. The last time she'd said that... They were already running as B-01 continued, "The integrity of the building is no longer sound - it-" Lex could hear the building groan after her words – it was a low sound, like someone waking up, and he swore again, just as he heard the first wave of concrete hitting the ground. It didn't stop, more and more of the building crumbling around them and the impact reverberated up Lex's feet and he sneezed at the dust trying to choke him. They got out, the cloud of dust chasing them further. "Hah, fucker," Lex wheezed as he and Xeno increased the distance between them and the collapsing building, "at least that bastard's dead – no way he survived that." "He was not in the building," B-01 said and Lex snarled. "No-one was; the building was completely abandoned." "Are you fucking serious?" Lex demanded. "Yes." "So it had been a trap," Xeno huffed. Lex scowled and they continued running. They stopped at an alley when they felt they were far enough away, watching the police cars and ambulances zoom past, their lights not quite reaching far enough into the alley to reveal them. The scent of Xeno's blood was still heavy in the air and Lex could hear him panting. "Oi," Lex said, keeping a look out just in case they had been followed as he leaned against the wall, hooking his thumbs into his belt hoops, "take your pills." "Lex, I'm-" He rolled his eyes, tilting his head to give Xeno a look. That made Xeno stop, his mouth still open as his gaze flicked away. "Lex is correct," B-01 added. "You need to take your pills. They will aid your regeneration." Xeno shook his head. "My back's already healed; I don't need-" "Yeah, and how much energy do you have left?" Lex interrupted, an eyebrow raised. "Xeno," B-01 said, "Your heart rate is currently 220 beats per minute. Your body will start degrading soon." "But..." Xeno opened and closed his mouth and he sighed, tugging on his braid as his gaze drifted away. "Am I gonna hafta to shove one down your throat again?" Lex said, eyeing him from the corner of his eyes. "Haha, no," Xeno said, shaking his head, a small smile on his lips. He sighed, looking up. "Okay, I'll take them." Lex moved a little further into the alley so he could keep an eye on both their surroundings and Xeno. The pills Xeno shook out of his popper were blue, almost the same shade as a couple of X-series' hair he'd seen before, and Lex sometimes wondered if that was the point. If that was supposed to transfer to Xeno's hair or some shit like that. Whatever; it wasn't like the scientists would tell him if he asked. Or maybe they would, but would be a bunch of lies they said to amuse themselves as they laughed at him. Lex saw Xeno put one pill in his mouth and then swallow, grimacing afterwards. Lex turned his head away to check on their surroundings again, hearing Xeno slump against the wall, breathing deeply. "Still makes my skin crawl," Xeno muttered. "It'll pass," Lex said, seeing no-one who looked like they were interested in their little corner. "Better than fuckin' having to carry your body back when you faint." Xeno chuckled. "You can carry my weight." Lex snorted, relaxing further on the wall. Of course he could. "The hell am I supposed to fight properly if I'm carrying your ass on one shoulder?" "Ah? Can't handle a few unmodified humans?" Xeno teased. Lex sent him an irritated glare, and wasn't at all surprised to see Xeno smiling again but at least it wasn't as strained as his previous one. "Fuck you, asshole." They both knew he could deal with unmodified humans by himself. Xeno chuckled again. "Return to our hideout," B-01 ordered and Lex frowned. What about the other two cars? "What happened?" Xeno asked. "I was unable to keep track of the other two decoys," she informed them, the pauses in between her words longer than usual. "I focused on you when the explosion happened, and I 'lost them'." Haa, shit. There went the fucking mission. "That is not our only problem," she continued. "We have 'been had'." "Huh?" Xeno said. "What do you mean?" "I have been able to decode some of the information I managed to retrieve." She paused. "I will inform you once you return to the hideout." "Roger," Lex said, heavy with sarcasm, snorting. Great, what else was wrong? He looked back at Xeno. "You ready?" "Mm, yeah," Xeno said, nodding. He pulled off the remains of his top with a slight grimace. Xeno's blood had already dried at the ragged edges, staining the top a dark red. "I'm glad it's night," he muttered. "I'd draw too much attention." Lex snorted as he took off his own. "They'd only stare at you - they wouldn't follow us." "Lex..." Xeno said, shaking his head as he balled up the top in his hands. "We're trying to be discreet - that means not drawing attention and not being remembered." He rolled his eyes. "You've lost your top; that's not memorable. The blood would draw more attention than you being topless." Which was why they were taking them off. Xeno only sighed as they started moving again.

* * *

The return trip to the abandoned building they were using as their hideout was uneventful, and Lex and Xeno slipped in. It wasn't that different from the other places they'd stayed at – it was dirtier, with a couple broken chairs and a couple whole ones too, with a wooden table in the middle of the room, everything covered in dust that must have flown in from the bare open window. It had a damp, musty smell clinging to it that meant there was a leak somewhere but Lex wasn't bothered enough to find out where. And it wasn't like he was going to fix it, not when they only stayed around for a few days at a time. B-01 was waiting for them as she stood by a wall, her only movement blinking. Lex checked if she'd plugged herself into an outlet, not sure if she was sleeping or not. She wasn't, and she tilted her head at them when Xeno closed the door. Her eyes went to the tattered tops in their hands and she nodded; they weren't supposed to leave their genetic material behind if they could. They handed her their tops and Lex saw her fingers spark a second before the tops caught fire. She dropped them to the ground before it reached her fingers. While the fire spread, the scent of it far more soothing than the burning car, Lex went to the backpack at B-01's feet. "We weren't followed," Lex told her, and pulled out a pair of tops. He lobbed one to Xeno and slipped the other one on. He went to one of the creaky chairs on the other side of the room and lounged on it, propping his feet up on another chair and tipped his back so only its back legs were on the floor. "Good." She waited for Xeno to settle when he leaned back on the table before continuing. "From the data I have currently gone through, there was no target." Lex frowned, listening. What the hell did that mean? "All five SUVs contained a decoy." The front two legs of Lex's chair hit the floor with a bang. "Are you fucking - the target was still in the fucking building?" Lex demanded, lunging to his feet. They'd ran away, leaving their target behind? "No," B-01 said, tilting her head to look up at him. "He was never in the building." "What?" "The organisation knew we were coming five days prior to our attack and set up counter measures," she explained. "I cannot find any information on where our target is, but suffice to say, they will know that we were there, and may have already evacuated their safehouse." "Fuck," Lex hissed. She blinked twice. "We failed this mission." Lex threw himself back into his chair, scowling. "Incoming message," B-01 said, her eyes half-closing. "BLX-13 has completed their mission - all their intended targets were cleared." "Ah, that's..." Xeno trailed off. Lex looked across and saw him fiddling with his braid again, his head bowed. "It is a little worrying," B-01 said, her eyes fully open again. "If we drop down the ranking too much, we will need to go for another evaluation." Lex snorted, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, we don't need to be reminded." He was already growling at the thought of the scientists poking and prodding him again. Any time between evaluations was too fucking little. Xeno let out a breath, but when he raised his head, he was smiling. "We can't do anything about it now, but we'll complete our next mission." "Affirmative," B-01 said. "'Our hands are tied' at the moment; we can only wait for the opportunity to prove ourselves next time." Her eyes half-lidded again. "Incoming message: BLX-28's mission ended in failure." "Good," Lex said, a grin quirking on his lips. "That means if-" "Their entire cell has been 'wiped out'." Lex froze, his head whipping to her. "The fuck?" fell out of his mouth. "The hell killed them?" Killing one member of their cell was hard enough (and that was when they had Xeno in their cell, whose body seemed like it'd rather fall apart than fucking stabilise); who or what the hell had enough power to kill all three? With the types of missions they got, the only thing Lex could think of was other modified humans. "What was their mission?" Xeno asked. "Accessing..." B-01 blinked, and then a minute crease appeared on her forehead. "The mission is classified." "Classif - How the fuck did they get a classified mission?" Lex demanded. BLX-28 hadn't been that much higher than them in the ranking. "It would seem - Incoming message." B-01's eyes half-closed again. "BLX-54 and BLX-22 also failed their mission." She paused, the crease deepening on her forehead. "Their status is also dead." "...What the fuck?" Lex breathed, shaking his head. "Somethin's up. There's no fuckin' way three cells got wiped out at the same time." Xeno nodded. "Yeah." He peered at B-01. "Did they upload what their mission was?" B-01 tilted her head. "Their missions are classified." Lex lifted his lip, baring his teeth before he got to his feet again and started to prowl up and down the room. "Fucking scientists," Lex muttered under his breath. "They were probably testing something." It would explain why so many cells got a classified mission. "I find that unlikely," B-01 said. "If that were true, then I would have been recalled as well." Lex stopped pacing and frowned at her. "Why would you have been called? The scientists would've just grabbed a couple cells and did whatever." He swept out an arm. "It's not like it's a big deal or anything if some of us die," he spat. "There's too many of us around as there is." He growled, jerking his head away as he remembered the bits of conversations he'd overheard between scientists. No-one said anything to that before Xeno hummed. "B-01, what were their ranks…?" he asked. "Accessing... BLX-28, group ranking: sixteen. BLX-54, group ranking: twelve. BLX-22, group ranking: twenty." B-01 blinked. "They were not the 'hot shots', but they were not in the re-evaluation zone either." Lex growled as he went back to pacing. "So what about the high rankers? What were they doing?" There had to be something that wasn't just 'dead'. "At this point, all top rankers are currently alive, but their mission details are also public and not yet completed, with the exception of BLX-95. They have a classified mission, but they have yet to complete it." She paused. "Incoming message: BLX-95, mission success." Lex snorted, shaking his head. "One. One cell made it out alive." He crossed his arms, already feeling his nails start to sharpen into claws, his fangs lengthening as his body responded to his want to fight something, do something to get rid of his restless energy. That was far too many classified missions all at once; something was happening. "It would appear that the power of a single-digit rank was what was needed to complete the classified mission." "Experiment," Lex corrected, growling. "Yeah…" Xeno said, playing with his braid like he usually did when he thought, wrapping it around his hand. "Maybe their strength was what was needed to resist whatever the scientists were doing to them." Lex nodded. "The remaining BLX cells are on missions that are publically displayed." B-01 paused, tilting her head. "We have moved up a rank." Lex turned back to her, frowning. "How the fuck did we go up a rank when we failed?" That didn't make any sense. "With the deaths of BLX-28, BLX-54 and BLX-22, all cells were moved accordingly to 'fill the blanks'." B-01's eyes fully opened again. "However, I cannot 'shake' your idea, Lex. There are far too many coincidences." He snorted, looking away and he started to wander up and down the room again, kicking at bits of trash in his way before going to the fire and he started to kick whatever he could into it. "They're scientists," Lex said, curling his lip. "They do whatever the fuck they want. We can't stop them, and they wouldn't tell us anything if we asked." Fuck, if they did, the scientists would probably use that as an excuse to say they volunteered to whatever shit they were doing. "Yeah, they wouldn't," Xeno agreed, unwinding his braid now, running his thumb over the tail. "But..." He took a deep breath, glancing at B-01. "I think we should still try to find out." Lex span sharply to gape at him, his thoughts halting. Was Xeno asking what he thought he was? B-01 didn't say anything in response to Xeno's hint, but Lex couldn't help his half-laugh. Maybe. Maybe they could convince her. B-01 was a bioroid - she was almost just as much nanotech as she was human, and that meant practically having no will when given orders by the Union. If the Union told her she wasn't supposed to dive too far into their database, then she'd store that in her memory and never think about it again. Orders were orders. It was that simple. But. But she'd let them make their own names, even when they'd already been assigned one by the scientists. Even if she hadn't made one for herself, that still meant she was willing to bend the rules, just a little. He growled, crossing his arms, bringing his attention back to her. "We need a heads up, in case the fuckers are going after us next." "That is against regulations, Lex," B-01 said, tilting her head up at him. He smirked anyway, seeing what her answer really meant: it wasn't a no. If she had no intention of following through, she would have shut him down immediately. Which meant there was some shred of human in her somewhere, even after what the scientists had done to her body. "Yeah," he drawled, pressing his point, "but those scientists could be doing this shit for their own fuckin' amusement. I'd rather be a traitor and alive than dead because they wanted to test something out and we got picked from the hat." Even if they wouldn't survive for long, one way or another. He didn't look away when B-01 continued to gaze at him, flexing his hands on his biceps, his heart racing. They'd just asked her to hack into the fucking Union's database. She had every right to report them for that and if the scientists killed them because they were getting too wilful, it would be their own fucking fault. B-01 nodded and Lex watched her every move, trying to pick out a twitch, a tilt of the head, anything that could tell him what she was thinking. "'All is fair in love and war'." Lex sucked in a breath, his eyes wide. She was going to do it? She was actually going to break regulations for them? Her eyes travelled to Xeno. "Your expressions are surprised." "Ah, of course we're surprised," Xeno said, the corners of his mouth lifting up in a quick smile as he shared a glance with him. "We thought you wouldn't do it." "Your safety is important to me," B-01 said as she reached into her backpack and pulled out her orange metal collar. It was thick enough that Lex wouldn't be able to wrap his hand around the main body of it and it wasn't a complete circle, the front of it open, the ends of the collar tapering off to blunt points. She clipped it to her neck. "I have been trying to access the main database since the last time we were evaluated." Lex couldn't stop himself from straightening when he heard that. She'd already-? He glanced at Xeno, whose eyebrows were also raised. Huh, maybe they didn't have to worry as much about her reporting them to the Union as they thought. Lex went to the window, leaning against the wall as he made sure there wasn't anyone hanging outside. Xeno went from his table to the door, peering around it, even when his hearing would tell him if there was anyone there. B-01 didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Thank you." Lex snorted, not turning to her. "What for?" She was silent before saying: "They have reinforced their firewalls." Her voice was lower than usual and when Lex looked, her eyes were dimmer as well. ...She really had been hacking into the database for their sakes, huh. It was weird to think about when he'd gotten used to the fact that she was barely human, far less human than they were. While he and Xeno were modified humans, they could pass as them; B-01, on the other hand, was still learning about the little things that made her stand out - facial expressions, humour, and gestures, to start off with. Yeah, she looked human, a foot shorter than him with shoulder length white hair for whatever reason the scientists had chosen, but even Lex picked up something was off when she talked - there were too even breaks between each word when she spoke and there was no lilt to them. She sounded like one of those voice programmes one of the scientists had installed in their computer before being told to shut it off because it pissed off everyone else whenever it talked. He'd just gotten used to her being a good little bio, always doing what the Union told her. If she wasn't like that, hn, maybe he didn't have to worry so much. "I am in," B-01 said, and Lex shook his head, pulling himself away from his thoughts. She had plugged a white usb into her collar, probably to help with her hacking; he hadn't seen her hack much, not when they were usually in the middle of a mission at the same time. "I cannot control what I am seeing, however," she told them, "or else I will be detected." Lex snorted. "Just tell us what you see; anything could be important." With how the scientists had named their generation, he wouldn't be surprised if the information they needed had a title that was just a string of numbers. "Doctor Khang is playing solitaire," B-01 said, and Lex huffed, already knowing what she was going to say next. "Breach of conduct." "B-01," he said, "they don't give a fuck about that. And that's not important." B-01 only blinked, going silent again, and then said, "'Jackpot'. The BLX cells that were given the classified mission...were given the same one. I cannot access what it is yet." Lex growled, glaring out the window again. That confirmed it – the scientists were up to something. There wasn't anything that would take out three cells at once. B-01 pulled out another usb, this one blue, and plugged it into her collar next to the other one. "Saving file. I need to get out now." "That's fine," Lex said, looking away. They would have what they needed, and if not, it could give them a lead. "Saving comp-" Thud. Lex whirled around. B-01 was sprawled out on the floor, far more loose limbed than he'd ever seen her, and he could see just enough of her face that her eyes weren't focused on anything, her irises dim like she was recharging or busy.

Lex scowled, not looking at the piece of paper B-01 had placed on the table. He'd seen it enough times already that he hated them on sight. "Why are you askin'?" B-01 blinked and then tilted her head. "It is a simple question, Lex," she said. "What is on the paper?" she repeated. "There's fuckin' circles of circles!" he snapped, one hand slamming down on the table. "You did not look at them properly," was all B-01 said and Lex shoved himself away, growling. "I don't need to," he said, pacing up the room they'd holed themselves into while they waited for their next mission. "The scientists kept showin' me those an' askin' what was on it!" He'd eventually just given up and kept giving the same answer because nothing changed. They showed him the same thing over and over again, as if his answer would change for some reason. "Uuuh," Xeno said, a confused expression on his face as he looked over B-01 to peer at the piece of paper. "That's…" Xeno blinked at him. "You really only see circles?" "Yeah," Lex stressed, "'cause there are only circles there." But Xeno's expression didn't change, and Lex's frustration withdrew as he realised they weren't messing with him. "What?" "You are colour blind," B-01 said, and Lex sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'm not – I can see colour." "But…" Xeno glanced at the piece of paper again. "There are numbers in the circles." "No there-" Lex started to retort, but he stopped when B-01 nodded. "Being colour blind does not mean you are unable to see all colours - it would appear you are green-red blind. It usually occurs in males more than females." Lex frowned. What? "Oh," Xeno said, his eyebrows going up, "that's why you went after the woman with the green top." Lex didn't say anything for a few seconds, remembering what had happened in their previous mission. What Xeno said didn't make sense. "…She was wearing red." That's why he went after her. But that explained why Xeno yanked him towards another woman wearing the exactly same top. B-01 nodded. "I will adjust my instructions so that you will be able to carry them out properly, but I will need to know what colours you perceive as what colour." Lex eyed her. "Which means what?" She started walking to the door. "I will point something out to you and you will tell me what colour it is." "…Are you fuckin' kidding me." Xeno chuckled before following her and, grumbling, Lex did the same. They had nothing better to do anyway.

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Snarling, L-68 swung around and punched the wall. "Fuck this shit!" X-87 had just sat down on his own cot, rubbing the crook of his elbow where the scientists had drawn his blood as he watched L-68 - he was usually testy after a re-evaluation but not usually to the point of lashing out. "L-6-" "No," L-68 snapped, whirling on B-01, baring his teeth. "I am not a fucking number!" B-01 blinked and X-87 slowed his hand, looking at L-68 in confusion. L-68 usually grumbled about any orders B-01 gave him, but he always carried them out, and he never interrupted her, no matter how much his temper had flared. "Your design-" "I don't give a fuck about what those scientist bastards 'gave' me!" L-68 roared, his fists clenched at his sides and X-87 could see the ripple of fur going up his arms. X-87 leaned back on the wall and asked, "All right - what do you want to be called?" That stopped L-68 and he opened and closed his mouth, a frown deeping on his face. "...Fuck." X-87 chuckled at that and L-68 scowled at him. "Dunno," L-68 said, looking away, his lips pursed. "Just somethin' that's less like a number and more like a name." "Elle?" X-87 suggested, not sure how to start. It was the first thing that came to mind. L-68 wrinkled his nose and X-87 shrugged, running his fingers through the tail of his braid, not sure how else to create a name. "Hex is the prefix for six," B-01 said, rejoining the conversation, and X-87 blinked, turning his head to look at her. Was she actually...? "You could replace the first letter with 'elle', and if you add the 'eight' at the end, you would have 'Lexate'." She paused. "Is that an acceptable name?" X-87 found himself straightening, studying her. He'd been told a Bio's top priorities were her team's safety and following the Union's regulations. The three of them had been given their code names by the Union; she shouldn't be suggesting what they could change their names to. Was her personality matrix already developing? L-68 frowned for a second. "Lexate. Lex. Hn." He nodded. "Yeah, that'll do." B-01 blinked twice. "Command prompt understood. L-68, aka Lexate, Lex. Information stored." She then turned to him. "And you, X-87? Do you wish to be called by another name?" "Ah?" X-87 said. "Me?" L-6 - Lex snorted. "She's lookin' at you, she said your code name, and I've already picked my name - yeah, it's pretty obvious she's talkin' to you." A-ah, right. X-87 shrugged, playing with his hair again. "I...don't know; I haven't really thought about it." He was used to being called 'X-87' and had seen it more as his name than a code name the scientists had arbitrarily assigned him. ...Though, putting it like that... "Would you also like some assistance?" B-01 asked, her head tilted, pulling X-87 away from his thoughts. He could hear the attempts Lex was making with his code name and the results weren't working out as well. "Uh, I guess?" he said, trying to think how else they could create a name for him. Oh, that was one way. "Does the X stand for anything?" B-01 blinked, her eyes not fully opening afterwards, making her look like she was on the verge of sleeping. "Command prompt. Voice Identification: X-87. 'Does the X stand for anything?' She didn't say anything for a second. "The 'X' stands for 'Xenomorph'." Xenomorph, huh? Hmm. That sounded...weird. "A xeno-what?" Lex said, wrinkling his nose. "That's too long and complicated." Hah... Yeah. But- "'Xeno' is fine," he said with a smile. That didn't seem too bad. "Hn." Lex crossed his arms, peering at him through his hair. "You sure that's what you want?" X-87 nodded, letting his smile slip a bit. "Yeah. I...don't really know how I feel about all this, so this is fine, I guess." If he didn't like it, he could choose something else later. "Command prompt understood. X-87, aka Xeno." Lex tilted his head at B-01. "What about you?" She didn't say anything for a few seconds, blinking her only movement. "I share...Xeno's sentiments, but for different reasons - I do not understand why this 'name' is necessary. Will it make me more efficient?" Lex huffed, shaking his head. "No." B-01 nodded. "I see. Then I do not require this name." Lex shrugged. "Fine. Your choice." B-01 tilted her head at his answer. "Do you see me as unoriginal?" "No," Lex said, rolling his eyes. He flopped onto his cot, putting his hands behind his head. "You want to be called by that, fine. I don't." B-01 nodded, studying him. "Perhaps I will understand when my personality matrix becomes more complex." From what Xeno could tell, it was already on the way there; the way B-01 looked was almost indistinguishable from humans - he wondered if she would eventually be completely indistinguishable once her personality matrix had developed. With how fast it had already progressed, he didn't think he'd have to wait long to see.

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Xeno let out a breath, sagging against the closest available wall before sliding down it and sitting on the ground, not minding the dirt or debris he was on top of. The mission had been a success and they'd gone up a ranking; he'd used more power than he expected though, and he could feel the tremors throughout his entire his body. It wouldn't take him too long to recover so- Weight on his right side. "Huh?" Xeno turned his head and got a nose full of brown hair. Uh. "Lex?" What was he doing there? "What?" Lex shifted slightly, settling further against his shoulder. "Why are you leaning on me?" Lex hadn't been injured as far as Xeno had heard, and his heartbeat was strong and steady too. "I felt like it," was the sarcastic answer and Xeno felt Lex roll his head slightly. Unsure, Xeno looked at B-01 to see if she had anything to say, but she was only gazing at them, her head tilted. "Physical contact between people has been found to reduce stress and relieve pain." Xeno blinked and glanced back at Lex - he was already sleeping, his breathing deep and heartbeat slower. "Rest," B-01 said. "I'll keep watch." "I… All right," Xeno said, nodding, his eyelids drooping. He drew up his knees, resting his left hand on the floor and let the familiar sounds of both Lex's and B-01's heartbeats lull him to sleep.

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"Chairman," Seira said from the kitchen and M-21 looked across to see her frowning at something, "two knives are missing." M-21's eyebrows rose. Everything was kept in its proper place in Frankenstein's kitchen and no-one had any reason to take anything from it. "Ah…" Takeo's…clone (M-21 was still trying to wrap his head around the fact he, Takeo and Tao had clones. Not one each either. Tao's clone –Rend?- had said they were a generation.) said from next to Seira as he chewed on one of Frankenstein's latest experiments, "that'll be Lex." "Oh?" Frankenstein said, tilting his head and M-21 hid a grimace, tapping his fingers on his mug. This was Frankenstein's kitchen they were talking about here; their clones hadn't seen what Frankenstein was like when there was a mess and M-21 had hoped it would be later before Lex found out. "Yeah," Xeno said, nodding, and that gesture drew M-21's attention to his hair again - he still hadn't gotten used to seeing 'Takeo' with hair shorter than Regis', blue roots announcing their presence under purple hair. "He steals knives whenever he gets the chance – they're his speciality." If he stole knives and used them only once (why else would he keep stealing them?) it would leave less of a trail and would make them harder to track. Made sense. But… Frankenstein shook his head. "There's no need for him to do that – you're safe here." The hooded look Xeno gave Frankenstein made M-21 purse his lips because he knew why Lex would steal the knives, and it was part of the same reason why Takeo and Tao slept with their weapons under their pillows, why he practiced his transformation at every chance he could – they never knew when a 'safe haven' could suddenly change and even while he, Takeo and Tao knew they were truly safe in the house, some habits were hard to break. The other reason was standing in front of them: they didn't know what exactly the Union was planning or what they would send out next. Xeno's expression disappeared, replaced with a smile. "I'll talk to him about it." "Nonsense," Frankenstein said, waving a hand, and Xeno blinked. "You're still eating-" Xeno glanced at the nearly empty plate in his hands. "-M-21 can talk to Lex in the meantime." …Dammit. He hadn't tried talking to Lex yet, but there was no way he'd be able to back out after Frankenstein had volunteered him. He sighed, getting up. "All right." M-21 went to the kitchen but he paused when Seira held her hand out towards him. "I'll do that," she said. Do-? Oh. "Ah, thanks," he said, nodding as he gave her his mug. She gave him a small smile in return before turning to start washing the mug. Xeno was studying them from the corner of his eyes but M-21 ignored it; it wasn't like he hadn't been doing the same. Finding Lex wasn't hard – he was downstairs in the lab like he always was after he'd regained consciousness, staring at one of the tanks. Just like how Xeno had short hair compared to Takeo's long hair, Lex not only had brown hair, but it also reached the small of his back, even in the braid. The thing was, while M-21 could see a bit of Takeo in Xeno –a lot of it was how polite he was and in his smile, even if Xeno was using it as a mask to hide behind- Lex- "The fuck you want, asshole?" -was a damn teenager. Sighing, M-21 went further into the lab, hearing the door swish shut behind him. "Hand them over," M-21 said, and Lex finally looked over his shoulder, more baring his teeth at him than sneering. "Hand what over?" "The knives you stole." He held out his hand, an eyebrow raised. "Tch." Lex turned around, crossing his arms. "Why should I?" "Because," M-21 said with a slight roll of his eyes, "Frankenstein'll be pissed at you." Uncertainty flickered across Lex's face for a second before it was replaced with a scowl. M-21 sighed, resisting the urge to rub his forehead. "Look, I'll give you money for some of your own." "Hah." Lex glared. "I don't want money for 'em, especially from you." M-21 didn't doubt that, considering BLX-3's beginnings. "Right," he said, shaking his head. "You don't want anything from me, fine - I'm still getting Frankenstein's knives back." Lex snorted, lifting his chin and smirking at him. "If you can." M-21 felt his own lips twitch into a smirk as he walked towards Lex. He hadn't expected Lex to lunge at him, transforming his arms between one blink and the next but M-21 narrowed his eyes at the reckless way Lex did that. It was far too easy to sidestep and trip him; Lex hit the ground with a 'thump' and M-21 pinned him with one knee on his back, flipped up Lex's top and slid out the knives he'd hidden there. Knives retrieved, M-21 stood back up and took a step back, waiting to see what Lex would do next. The muttered, "Fuckin' asshole," was expected as Lex got to his feet; what wasn't was after Lex's dark glare, Lex merely shrugged and looked away. "Whatever." M-21's eyebrows rose. "You don't care?" Lex snorted, looking back at him. "No." It took a second for M-21 to figure out why. "Because you're going to steal them again." His only reply was a smirk. M-21 sighed as he turned to leave, listening in case Lex tried to attack while his back was turned. Lex didn't. Looked like he was going to have to tell Frankenstein to lock up the knives… __________________________________________

L-68 eyed X-87 across the room from him, not sure what to expect. The scientists had told him the X-series were better than the L-series, their transformations stronger and more widespread than their own. Rather than accepting what the data the main server had told her, B-01 had wanted to see their strengths first-hand so there they were, about to spar. He transformed his arms, feeling the familiar itch of his fur spreading up them and he flexed his hands, preparing for whatever was going to happen next. X-87 did the same, only one of his ar - "Are you fucking kidding me," L-68 demanded, gawking at X-87's transformation for a second. A line of white spikes ran down from his shoulder to his elbow - the reason why they stopped at his elbow was because the rest of his arm decided it wanted to be a fucking tentacle monster, thick black tendrils spreading out above his hand like they were extra fingers. Except each of them were the width of his wrist. And if that wasn't enough, X-87's transformed black hand was three times the size of his regular one, every joint tipped with a spike. It was like the scientists decided, 'Well, fuck, I don't think they have enough spikes – let's add more'. X-87 quirked a small smile at him, only one side of his mouth going up and L-68 scowled. Whatever. He was going to give it all he had either way. He wasn't going to back down just because of what X-87's transformation looked like. L-68 dashed towards X-87, slashing straight at him. He wasn't surprised when X-87 leapt out the way but L-68 kept going, using the wall as a springboard and redirected himself at X-87. His next attack actually connected with X-87's arm and L-68 shoved- "Fuck!" He scrambled back, yanking his arm away from the fucking tentacles that had wrapped themselves around his arm. So they weren't just decoration. Shit. Attacking at a distance meant X-87 would see him coming, and moving in close meant he got in range of the tentacles. If he had a couple of knives on him, they would have helped, but he didn't and there no point whining about it. And that was all the time he had to think, X-87 closing the gap between them and fuck, L-68 was just able to block but even then, X-87 had been so fucking close to breaking his guard straight away. As soon as they made contact, X-87's tentacles grabbed his arms and L-68 snarled, twisting his wrists to slash at them. It worked, X-87 backing up a step, letting go and L-68 lashed out again, trying to make more space for himself. They went on like that for a few minutes, X-87 nearly overwhelming him through sheer fucking power and L-68 only just able to hold him off. One arm. X-87 was like this with only one fucking arm transformed; it was no fucking wonder the scientists said the X-series were stronger than them. But X-87 was tiring, his attacks a hair slower compared to earlier and L-68 spotted a gap in his attack. It would have been covered by his tentacles, but if he could force X-87 back again properly, then he could get away from the fucking wall and maybe start his own counterattack instead of def- L-68 halted when blood splattered across the floor, surprised he'd managed to connect. Yeah, X-87 was slowing down but he hadn't expected by that much. Thump. L-68 stared incredulously, wondering if this was a trap because all he'd done was scratch X-87's face (and his regeneration should have started to kick in already) so what the fuck was he doing falling to his knees? Was he that unused to pain? "L-68, stop." He jerked back at the order and glared over his shoulder at B-01. "Why?" She was staring at X-87, her eyebrows drawn in. "His heartrate is currently 260 over 170." L-68 blinked, lowering his hands. That was not normal. "I'll be fine in a minute," X-87 wheezed, his arm reverting back to normal with a hiss. "…You sound like you can't even breathe," L-68 said, gazing at him. He reverted his own arms back, scratching them when they done. This was the powerful X-series? "I – I can." "X-87." X-87 lifted his head to look at B-01. L-68 could see the sheen of sweat on his brow amongst the blood – the sweat was too much to have come from just the spar and he looked paler than before. X-87 fucking smiled at her. "Heh," he said, his chest heaving. "My body's pretty unstable; I can't hold my transformation for long before I get tired." "You're…kidding," he said flatly, looking X-87 over. He had pretty much been getting his ass kicked by someone whose blood hadn't stabilised. …So how strong did that make the others? "Nope." X-87 held his relaxed smile, but his tensed shoulders were easy to see and so were his clenched fists on his knees. Well, fuck. With the re-evaluations, they could be shit out of luck, but it wasn't like that was anything new when you were owned by the Union. L-68 crossed his arms, sighing. "Fine," he said, shrugging. "Eh?" X-87 blinked, his smile melting away to confusion. "You're not mad?" He glanced at him and then looked away, rubbing a spot where X-87 had left a bruise. "You can fight." That was what mattered, and once his blood settled… It would be interesting to see what X-87 could do then. "Ah, you're good too," X-87 said as he hefted himself to his feet. The smile on X-87's face was smaller than the one he wore before, but it seemed more real. L-68 smirked at him.

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