Zero had to spend a week recovering from his battle with the Reapers. A broken leg, 3 cracked ribs, a handful of ruptured blood vessels, a damaged eardrum, and extreme fatigue. Thankfully, hybrids are very fast healers. While this would cause a normal person to be laid up for months, hybrids will be able to recover from all the above within a week.

It turned out that even though most of the men from Command were passed out at the climax of the fight, the one who was hanging on to consciousness saw all that had unfolded. He told the others of Zero's exploits and how they're only alive thanks to his actions.

They went back to Command singing his praises.

Zero was currently on Day 3 of his infirmary. He wasn't allowed to do any training, so he usually spent his time in his room. Every now and then one of the others would drop by and check in on him. Well, everyone except Two that is.

He didn't hate the time alone however. It gave him time to read more of Zero's journal.

Most of the entries he's read so far just talked about him coming into his own as the ace. He was still on bad terms with Two. It started to seem like it's just fate for any Zero and Two to hate each other, he thought.

And he learned how full of himself that Zero was. Such as this entry:

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5/16/2037

...…

I don't understand Five's deal. Like she thinks just because she can out lift me in the gym that she's too good for me. Who wouldn't want to be with Mr. Ace himself???

Well jokes on her. I'm working on copying that muscle ability of hers. Once I got it we'll see if she can still ignore me. ;)

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"I'm starting to become lost on what everyone saw in this guy." Zero said as he rolled on his side in the bed. He winced slightly as he had put a little too much pressure on his leg.

His debut mission was put off while he recovered. Two, Three, and Five went out instead. One had decided to stay behind in case Zero needed anything. Last he saw, One was heading outside the base to practice his archery. He had only recently learned that One loved doing archery in his spare time. It was a relaxing hobby for him apparently.

After seeing that the next two entries were about Zero's infatuation with the Five at that time, he decided to just skip a few entries. That's when he landed on something interesting…

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5/24/2037

So I took my second trip into the city yesterday with One and Sadiki. Since we had only checked out the President's office the first time, I wanted to get more of a sense for the rest of the city. Anyone would get tired of staring at the same shit everyday at the base.

Part of me wishes I hadn't though…

You'd have to be blind(sorry One) to see that no one in the city wanted us there. This one lady even shielded her child from us. Sorry, we weren't exactly dying to speak to your kid anyways. Ugh.

But that wasn't the worst of it. There was this guy. He was homeless, I think. He had the hybrid badge just like us. He…..

I don't think I can talk about this right now. I'm going to bed.

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"Wait, really?" He flipped to the next entry but it spoke nothing of the trip to the city or the homeless guy. "So you finally talk about something worthwhile and you just skip over it??"

Zero had to flip past several more entries before finally seeing something about that day.

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6/3/2037

So I've been having trouble sleeping. I wish Five was still here…the old Five.

It all started after that day in the city. I keep seeing that guy. Fuck. I hate talking about it. Thinking about it. But…if Five was here, he would tell me that I needed to get it out before it eats away at me.

Haji had gone into the outpost to check in on something. We were just about to leave the city. That's when it happened.

A guy stumbled upon the outpost, the one with the hybrid badge, asking for food and money. Hybrids don't actually get paid for being in the military - they see our service as a gift for being able to rejoin society. Yeah, right.

But he had stumbled upon us and was begging for really anything. His clothes were riddled with holes and stains, his hair matted and greasy, and it was easy to tell that he was a bit delirious from hunger. We told him that we didn't have any money. It was like he wasn't hearing us. He just kept asking for help. That he was starving. That he got kicked out of his home. That he couldn't find his child. It was like everything all at once. I couldn't help but think that maybe this guy was just….not all there.

It was during this that one of the guards at the outpost walked out to see what all the noise was about. The guy walked up to him next asking the same questions and telling the same story.

And the guard shot him. On the spot. Then there was just silence. I didn't know what to say and neither did One. When I asked him why he had to go that far, he just said "If they're going to cause trouble then their welcome has been worn out. They need to realize it's a privilege to live here. Not a right." He had said those words as if also a warning to us.

I've killed quite a few Reapers since joining the military. This was the second time I saw a person die in front of me. Could I have helped him? Could I have done more? Or did I fail him just like with Five.

There's gotta be more I can do for people like me. I hate feeling this helpless.

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Zero stared at the last line for a few moments. This didn't seem like something that would be unexpected of non-hybrids after having visited the city himself.

"Even someone like him felt the despair of the city.." Zero spoke softly.

As he lingered on the weight of his predecessor's words, a single question jumped to the forefront of his mind:

Was Nora really taken back to her father?