All the while Charlotte cried, eX-0281 stood by her side with his anxiety building. Please come back soon…. He trained his gaze to the ceiling, knowing that eX-0704 had gone just upstairs.
First, Charlotte's father came back. His furious countenance only deepened as his eyes set upon eX-0281.
"Uh, hello sir!" He leaped halfway across the room to get away from Charlotte whom he had been hugging.
Otherwise ignoring him, her father took his place and wrapped her in a hug. "Lottie, it's okay sweetheart. Victoria is going back to Grandesia to get Mom, okay?"
When he heard that, eX-0281 could almost not believe his ears. After she had left Charlotte behind to die, eX-0281 could not imagine the Disco Menace risking her life to save anybody except her little brother.
It just so happened that Marcel also needed a healer.
Though eX-0281 did not like it, he understood exactly what was going on here. So long as someone did not outlive their usefulness, the Disco Menace saw them as an ally. As much as it left a bad taste in his mouth, who was he to judge?
I'm not so different from her, am I?
Out of place in this house, he stood quietly to the side and began to reminisce on the place that used to be his home: Grandesia Power Company. eX-0281 could not enumerate all his fellow clones that he had watched die, indifferently. Not long ago—literally hours ago—he had been a lot like the Disco Menace. Perhaps worse even, given how he had always followed the whims of the company.
The mere thought made looking at Charlotte unbearable, how she was crying in terror. His guilt threatened to close up his throat as much as hers. The ordeal of these past few hours started to weigh on him.
No, I'm different now! eX-0281 reminded himself. He had left the company and refused to be separated from eX-0704. It was that choice which made his path diverge from the likes of the Disco Menace.
Still, it pained him to lift his eyes and observe Charlotte.
Some hiccups had started to make her lurch with her shaking frame. Between that and her sobs, she gave up on talking altogether. She clung onto her father and continued crying whilst he rubbed her back.
"While we wait for her to get back," he said, "we should get you more comfortable." By that, Charlotte's father meant addressing the frostbite and gunshot wound.
At that point, eX-0704 came down the stairs after the Disco Menace. A breath of relief escaped his lips, and eX-0281 hurried to join at his side.
"Let's look up how to properly staunch the wound," the Disco Menace said. "We should thaw out her leg if possible. The more tissue dies, the harder it will be for Josie to heal it."
Although eX-0281 was prepared to help, eX-0704 put a hand on his shoulder to put him at ease. "The Disco Menace—I mean—Victora said that we should take a break."
The others were already busy moving Charlotte upstairs to take care of her, so no one thought twice about the dragon duo's nickname for Victoria.
"Did she really say that?" eX-0281 gave him a few stunned blinks.
"Yeah."
In the house, they shifted about awkwardly. The two of them were now alone in the kitchen. It did not feel right to make themselves comfortable, so instead, eX-0281 and eX-0704 stepped outside and sat on the porch. The lump of the dead bone-crusher dog could still be seen from here, adding to the dreary atmosphere.
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"What happened upstairs?" eX-0281 asked.
With a shrug, eX-0704 relayed some of what happened and continued to express his worries.
"I don't know how to feel about the Disco Menace. Obviously she was just trying to save her brother, and maybe abandoning Charlotte made sense when she didn't take the jump… but wow. It seems she knows Mr. Bouchard—Charlotte's father—and deliberately screwed over this whole family. I actually thought he was gonna shoot her in the hallway!"
"I-I honestly believed that going after the Disco Menace was a good idea," eX-0281 admitted.
"It was a good idea," eX-0704 said. "We got out, didn't we?"
"Yeah…" How they would have gotten out if not for their spontaneous allies, eX-0281 did not know. After everything they had just been through, he felt confident that they would have found a way no matter what.
But where would they have gone? How long would they have lasted before the GPC caught up to the various location trackers? For all that, they were indebted to Charlotte.
The two clones got to sit beneath the gold-tinged dome, the night sky a checkered pattern of leaves and stars above. eX-0281 admired the outside world with all wonder in his eyes. "Is the Disco Menace really going to save Lottie's mom?"
eX-0704 nodded hastily. "She said so herself, real mean like: this only benefits my brother!"
"Figured that much," eX-0281 muttered. Now that they had escaped the company, he felt so relieved. It made them entirely different from the likes of her.
"She did give us a choice though."
"Huh?"
"Do we want to help her save Charlotte's mom?" eX-0704 gazed on at eX-0281 steadily, giving him a chance to mull this over.
"Ugh." Huffing, he dropped his head into his hands, all which rested against his knees.
eX-0281 wanted to wake up tomorrow, find some nice rocks within the [Air Purifier], and lounge beneath the noonday sun. They had already done well in defecting from the company. He thought they deserved a long rest.
Actually, if it were entirely up to eX-0281, he would never lift a claw nor finger ever again. A lazy life would be a good life in his eyes!
"I don't want to go," he confirmed.
"Me neither."
eX-0281 and eX-0704 had just agreed and made up their minds, it seemed. Nevertheless, they sat together in a moment of solitude.
"Yet…" he began to say.
Almost at the same time, eX-0704 had started to say, "But…."
The two of them laughed. eX-0281 sat up while eX-0704 bowed down a bit. They found their heads close together like they could interlock horns. A wild happiness coursed through him, that he could have a best friend that was so much like him.
"Charlotte brought us here. She knew how to make us invisible from the GPC. Supposedly, she can fix my helmet again…." That did not include any of the ways that she could help them that they did not know yet. Besides, she was a really sweet girl who had gotten mixed up with the Disco Menace. Charlotte could use the help.
After giving her the full consideration that she was due, he determined, "It'd be wrong if we refused to save her and her mom. Especially because I'm assuming we'll still want help from her."
"Yeah. I was thinking that would make us no better than the Disco Menace."
eX-0281 nodded along fervently. "Exactly! We don't wanna be like that."
"Definitely not."
"So, I guess that means we're going."
"Yep."
It had been decided. eX-0281 and eX-0704 had talked each other out of their first instinct to take the easy way out. Instead, they would charge headlong back into danger, back to the very city that they had fought so hard to escape.
"704," eX-0281 said carefully, "I think you should stay here."
"What?" eX-0704 gasped. "Why? I haven't been a burden to you, have I?" With that last question, a raw and hurt tone dominated his voice.
"No! Never!" Equal distress entered eX-0281's voice at the prospect of hurting his friend. "I only said that because you had such a hard time with the Disco Menace. I would've gone after her and told you to save Lottie if I knew!"
Sadly, eX-0281 shook his head. "If you want to stay back, I totally understand. It could be my turn to have a hard time with the Disco Menace…."
eX-0704 puffed up his chest with pride. "No! Wherever you go, I go. Splitting up is not an option, not unless we have to. You hear me?"
Again, eX-0281 shook his head, but this time at his own silliness. How could he really think that he could leave his best friend behind like that?
"We said we're brothers."
"Yes! Brothers."
Each of them took a deep breath, and enjoyed the moment of quiet. With his chin tilted up to the sky, eX-0281 closed his eyes against the stars.
It was peaceful if they ignored the faded, high-pitched scream coming from within the house behind them.