This is a little something I wrote to amuse myself, so I hope it amuses you as well. Contains lots of ship teasing, impossible shipping, characters that look suspiciously like other characters, some OoC-ness for humor, and a bit of cross-dressing. Yeah, the description does not lie.

What Friends Are For

The conference table was full, with someone in every seat. Most were reploids of the Maverick Hunters, including Zero, X, Axl, Signas, and Lifesaver. There were also a few humans, part of the Hunter's research department. While the main discussion at hand was Zero, the red armored Hunter was quiet, slouching in his chair and considering things.

"In summery," a blond-haired human woman said, standing whie operating a projector, "to neutralize the source virus within Zero, we are going to need to use a very slow acting program to comb through every line and code within him, then to rewrite the viral material into something beneficiary instead of malicious. The method we propose is to do a double layered search by transferring Zero's conscious to a secondary body, putting both into a deep hibernation, and run the program over both bodies. Even so," she grimaced, "it could take a full century before we can be certain this process is complete and someone will have to monitor progress regularly."

Several of those attending had already heard of this plan, including Zero. Axl hadn't; his eyes widened. "A full century? He's going to be out of commission for that long?"

"Things are quiet," Zero finally said. "You two can handle anything now."

"Still, part of the reason you'll need continual checks is that there's no way to fully test this method before using it," X pointed out. "Similar operations taking a few days have been successful, but none have gone for longer than a week. And there is a major risk that you may change as a result of this."

He nodded, closing his eyes a moment.

"Work on the Elf project is nearly complete," the speaker added. "So there should be fewer threats to peace."

Zero looked over to her. "This secondary body, does it have combat capabilities?"

"Actually, we haven't begun work on that yet," she admitted. "That will take another year, so you won't be going into hibernation any time soon. Why do you ask?"

Straightening up, he answered, "I know it's just a temporary body while this is going on, but even with the best of intentions, things can screw up fast. If circumstances force me to use that body actively, I want to ready for any threat that might come up."

She nodded. "That would be a wise precaution. I'll add that to the project goals. I'm not sure I can match you exactly, but I'll do my best."

"Good. So I have a year left then."

Axl smiled, but kicked his foot nervously. "Come on, man, don't talk like you're going to die."

"I know," Zero said.

"Although you'd need part of that year to prepare yourself for this," Signas said. "Is there anything that you want to get done this year? Think that over."

He nodded. "I have been. I know what I want to do."

"Oh, and what's that?" X asked, turning to him.

Zero looked back at him and plainly stated, "I am going to find you a girlfriend."

A snorting laugh came from Lifesaver. Putting his hand over his face, Axl tried not to break into chuckles. A few others in the room looked puzzled, but Signas smiled and shook his head. X stiffened with his eyes wide open, stalling a bit before speaking. "Uuhhh… you're kidding, right?"

"Not kidding." Zero stated, putting his arms on the table and giving a look that said nothing would sway him now.

Signas cleared his throat. "All right then. Is there anything else to discuss?"

The woman engineer shook her head. "Unless anyone has further questions, no."

"Then that's that," Zero said, getting up to leave.

X looked down at the table, biting his lip and looking distinctly nervous.

Dressed in civilian clothes, X walked with Zero in the halls of their home base. "What's with this interest in my love life all of a sudden?" he asked. "You know I've never been interested much in dating."

"I know," Zero replied. "It'll be a good thing for you."

"Why?" he asked, fiddling with his tie. He was looking forward to this a little, but far more nervous than that.

However, his friend remained infuriatingly vague. "If you still don't get it by the time you have a steady girl, I'll tell you then. For now, just have fun." He nodded to the reploid woman who entered the hall then. "Evening, Alia. I made sure to drag X here."

He huffed at that. "I wasn't that reluctant."

"I don't think you had to, but thanks anyhow," Alia said. She had her blond hair curled a bit at the ends and wore a casual red dress.

For this date, the two of them went out to a coffeeshop they both frequented. It was special that evening, as a trio of musicians were playing old and ethnic music that day. X ordered a spiced hot chocolate while Alia took a caramel latte. Finding a small table that was partly blocked off from the rest, they sat there and listened to the music.

"I'm sorry about Zero dragging you into this," X said. "It's very odd; I don't know what he's getting at."

"It's okay," Alia said. After tasting her latte, she added some more creamer to it. "Although I have noticed that you don't usually go out on date-dates. You normally just go hang out with friends in downtime."

X shrugged. "I know but I always thought that the whole falling in love at first sight was just rash. I felt it was safer to be friends and wait. Maybe Zero thinks I'm taking too long."

"That would be safer," she said. After a few minutes of quiet, she laughed softly. "You know, Zero isn't going to let up on this little project of his. He actually asked me, Layer, and Palette if we'd go on a date with you."

X laughed. "Seriously?" He took a sip of his cocoa, careful to avoid getting whipped cream on his nose.

"Seriously," Alia said, smiling. "Layer got so mad at him. She's been trying to date him for a while and he used to say that he wouldn't date her because he worked with her."

"Apparently he doesn't think that applies to me," X commented.

"Right, so she's been upset. And Palette, well, she said you were nice but she wasn't really interested in dating you. I kind of agreed to so he'd stop bugging us."

"I see."

"Not that I don't like you, X," Alia said quickly. "It's just, I wasn't really interested in you that way either. I've worked with both of you so long that it's a bit weird."

"Yeah. And considering what we've been through…"

She leaned on the table. "There was one time when I might have considered dating you. But that was back when I had a crush on Dr. Gate too."

And that would have been before Gate got infected and went insane just because he found a piece of Zero's armor. Incidents like that were why they were taking such extreme measures to purify Zero. But then, X had been the one to ki… defeat Gate. And that kind of discussion with Alia never ended well.

Zero eyed X as he walked into the teleporter room. "I'm not sure how a date between you and Alia went wrong."

He sighed. "Probably the same reason you don't date Layer; did you consider that?"

Irritatingly, he just shrugged and handed over a piece of paper. "Here, that's the address for your next date. I've got the port station all set up, so head on over." He then started to leave.

"Wait, who is it this time?" X asked, trying to get an answer before he left.

"You know her," was the only one he got before Zero was behind the shutting door.

Grumbling to himself, X went into the transporter and had it port him to the location. He ended up in Giga City, the rebuilt Central Tower precisely. After giving a wave to the reploid working the desk, he checked the address again. It was within the shopping area he was in. However, the area was much larger than it had been when he'd last been here.

He walked down the slope and into a new hallway, eventually coming upon a new bookstore. That was the spot. The woman standing outside the store had short pink hair and a small frame (although she had rather large breasts for that body). She wore an orange jacket over a white shirt, with black pants to keep things simple. So he did know her. "Good afternoon, Nana," X called.

She smiled nervously. "Good afternoon, X. I wasn't sure if this was a joke or trick, but I didn't think Zero would do that."

"He wouldn't, although I'm not sure what he is up to. Anyhow, what do you want to do today?"

"I hope it's all right, but I wanted to do some shopping. We can go out to eat later."

"That's fine with me." They went into the bookstore.

It was an old-fashioned bookstore, with books instead of literature chips. It seemed to be decently stocked, for a wide range of interests. If the book a customer was looking for wasn't here, he or she could order a copy manufactured for pick up tomorrow. The book Nana wanted was one she'd heard about form a friend, and it was supposed to be in stock. X helped her look for it.

As he was looking through a Western, Nana said, "Oh, here it is." She pulled out a book from the next shelf over titled 'Internet Arachnid'. It had a spider formed of green numbers on the cover. "I've heard it's a nice mystery."

"Isn't that one of those internet stalker stories?" X asked. He recognized it and had read it before. It relied so much on bad information that it was completely unrealistic. He hadn't liked it for that reason, although it was decently written. Given her usual job, she'd probably pick up on those errors and be annoyed by them too.

"Yes, it is," Nana said to his question. "She asked me about something from it. It should be amusing for one read, at least. Then I can probably trade it, since it's a highly requested item on the trader's board."

Although X couldn't see why that was. Maybe ignorant readers liked the sappy romances and murder mysteries that went on in it (even if those were unrealistic too). "Right. Anything else you wanted from here?"

"No, I've got a couple other books I'm reading and not always the time to…" her cell phone rang. "Oh, sorry… excuse me." She blushed as she handed the book to him, then answered her phone.

But she had a communicator's headset, didn't she? And an internal communicator. Then again, X noticed she wasn't wearing the headset today. And it may have been a human on the other end. Since she was distracted, X took her book to the counter and paid for it himself.

Nana looked annoyed when she got off the phone. "Something wrong with the reconstruction?" he asked as he handed over the bag.

"Just the usual… oh, did you pay for it?"

"Sure. It's no problem."

She smiled. "Thanks, X. But I need to get to a public computer soon. It's a bit out of the way, sorry."

"It's okay," he reassured her as they left the bookstore. "What is the problem, if it's okay to tell me?"

"It should be okay, with you. The reconstruction effort has been complicated. For one thing, we've had trouble getting the city network to recognize new people who are given full authority and access to the system. We couldn't even get Professor Gaudile recognized again, since the Rebellion apparently blacklisted him on their network. That pretty much leaves just me with full security access to all parts of the city, which means I have to get called up whenever the system is being stubborn." Nana sighed. "And that's a lot. This is supposed to be my day off, but I can't guarantee that without putting all the work to a standstill."

"I see. That must be pretty tough." He thought about maybe giving her a hug; they were on a date, after all. But it was their first date, and they were in the middle of a public walkway, so maybe not. What should he be doing? Silently cursing his inexperience with dating now, he opted to just take her hand.

But that didn't last long as he had to let go to let her use the computer station.

"And that was just the first call," X told Zero later on. "She got called on exactly the same thing five more times until she got annoyed enough at having her day off interrupted that she turned her phone to silent. But then, when we went to eat, somebody came down to get her because the defense machinery of the Tianna district had decided to flood a section that was being worked on. It was just reploid and mechaniloid workers, so nobody got killed, but we had to break the date off then."

The blond hunter listened, wearing a stony expression. "So did you hug her?"

X got flustered. "Uh-um, no, I didn't. It wasn't working out too well and I thought she might snap at me if I seemed to be invading her personal space."

"Did you get a second date with her?"

"No, and she might be too busy for that."

Zero sighed and shook his head. "You're supposed to be trying, at least."

"You could have asked before trying to do this," X grumbled back.

"Well I've about got another girl for you, but it will definitely take more convincing work on your part. And not just with her."

"Who is it this time?" X asked.

"You'll see."

X grumbled and walked out of the room.

X had figured out the next girl before he met her; there was only one that Zero would send him to the Gaudile Laboratory to pick up. He also figured out what he meant by 'and not just with her' statement. That just made him all the more apprehensive to be doing this.

Cinnamon was all smiles when she saw him again, bouncing on her feet in excitement. She was dressed in her usual armor (but then she was a highly specialized reploid). Her father Professor Gaudile was more restrained, and suspicious. "And another thing, stay in public areas," he added, jabbing one of his support arms to make the point. "Is that clear?"

"Yes, Daddy," Cinnamon said, showing admirable patience for the lecture.

"Of course," X said, nodding his head.

"Good. Then, have a good time, you two."

Other guys might have wondered how they were suppose to have a good time with all the rules Gaudile had put down, but X was fine with that. There wasn't much he would have trouble with, save for maybe the curfew. But he could make a mental note of it and get back in time.

"Hey, let's go to the Vanallia District!" Cinnamon suggested.

"Isn't that a desert?" X asked.

She giggled. "Not anymore. They fixed up the environment control there and now it can be anything you want it to be. They even have a path for those who don't want to battle and just want to visit other places virtually. It's awesome!"

"All right, let's go then."

They took the teleport station there, and were greeted warmly by the staff. Cinnamon was asked if she wanted to run practices exercises again, which surprised X some. But she refused, instead asking to enter the walking path. The two of them got the entrance fee waived, which X tried to reject, but that was ignored.

The virtual simulator then placed them into a bamboo thicket. X was surprised at the level of intricacy this virtual environment had. They were given the illusion of free movement, although X could see how they kept people on the proper walkways. The air was scented with moss, dirt, flowers, and the bamboo. And all the plants, from the giant stalks of bamboo that soared over their heads to the tiniest little flower, they all felt and reacted like an authentic plant would. Only knowing that this place was a simulation broke any image of reality.

While there were other walkers about, Cinnamon had taken his hand, so they were left to themselves. "Isn't this a beautiful place?" she asked. "They change it every day, so it's always a surprise. Hey, I hear something different, like water falling."

X nodded; he'd been hearing it and a few other different noises recently. "Yeah, it's from this side. Looks like there might be a path ahead."

There was, but it was hidden behind a turn, where most people would miss it. Following that led to a surprise, a little pond covered in water lilies. There was an elegant open wooden structure near a blossoming apple tree, which sheltered a bench. They both liked the area, so they sat in the bench for a while.

Cinnamon chatted a lot, about this and that. X didn't mind joining her, but kept having an uncertain feeling. This didn't really felt like a date, alt least what he would think of a date. That did make him relax more than the previous two dates.

After being in the simulation area for several hours, X took Cinnamon out to eat dinner. It still didn't really feel like a date. However, they were both happy, so it didn't really matter.

At the end of it, when they were walking down the halls of Gaudile Laboratory, Cinnamon clapped her hands. "Today was such fun! We ought to do this again, but next time, you bring Zero and Axl too."

That caught him by surprise. "Huh? Them too?"

She nodded. "Yup! I love hanging out with my friends, even though I don't get to much. Nana's always busy and Marino is always unexpected. But I do see Massimo a lot, so he could come."

So it wasn't a date because neither of them had thought it. "Yeah, we'll see about that."

"I think she was too innocent, even for me," X said to Zero, as he played a pinball machine.

His friend was watching as he leaned on the wall. "Too bad. I thought she was a good match for you. Hmm… might take some effort to find someone else."

"Just give up on it." He grinned as he hit a point booster right on target. "I'm going to beat your high score now."

"Not with girls, you're not," Zero countered. X's phone buzzed, indicating a text message. Zero picked up the phone, looked at the message, then grinned in a suspicious manner. "Or maybe not."

"What?"

"Look who's asking you out now?" He showed X the message.

Stunned, he slipped with the controls and lost that round. "Her? How'd she get my number?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Zero chuckled. "I'm going to accept it for you."

"Zero!" He lunged over to grab the phone, but his friend kept just out of reach.

"It should be instructional," Zero stated.

"What do you mean by that?" X demanded.

"You'll see."

Unexpectedly, she was wearing a red kimono with a print of yellow flowers and reeds. She had her green hair pulled back in a braid and wore a fancy comb with a silk lily on it. "Well, well, I was certain that you'd chicken out, after chatting with Zero. I'm glad you did come. But you'd look cuter in something traditional."

"Um, no thanks, Marino," X replied. "You are keeping out of crime now, right?"

"Of course." She came over and took his arm. "But I hope you don't mean to interrogate me like that all evening."

He shook his head. "No. I'm just never sure around you."

She chuckled. "I'm a private investigator now, handling little domestic cases that you'd probably never see. It's a legal and good use of my skills, wouldn't you say? Anyhow, let's not talk about work, hmm? I heard you'd been out with Nana and Cinnamon."

"It's Zero's doing, but yes," X admitted.

"Hmm, I wonder why. I've got some interesting places to show you… and I would really rather you wear something more traditional."

He refused to do that, but gave in to a light blue jacket with a grassy pattern that 'blended in', so Marino insisted. Then she took him out to antiquated tea house, the sort of thing that hadn't been common practice in over three hundred years. The place was extremely traditional, which may have been why Marino had tried so hard to get him to change.

The date started out as normal, with the hostess giving hem some gentle romantic atmosphere, like saying the particular china symbolized love and kinship, hoping to increase their bonding. As the night wore on, though, it became less subtle. The last portion made X give a 'are you serious?' look to Marino, who just smiled back.

"Do you want it?" Marino asked.

"I can get the cherries myself, thanks," X replied.

"Oh really?" she asked playfully.

X sighed. "And don't take that in a dirty manner."

Although still smiling, she shook her head. "You're too tense and defensive, X. You need to open up more and be adventurous."

"It's just a first date. It should be more friendly."

Marino nodded slowly. "Friendly. All right. Want to see how fast I can get our clothes off?"

"What?" X asked.

Zero knocked on X's door. "You back already?"

"Yes," came a muffled voice.

"How'd it go?"

"Don't ask."

"Why?"

"Just don't." A moment later, he added, "Good thing my emergency teleporter can target my room."

"X, what happened?" Zero repeated.

"I said, don't ask!"

"Did you get laid?"

"No. We didn't even kiss. I am not dating her again."

"Why?"

X finally opened up the door, wearing different clothes than he had been when he left. "Stop bugging me about it; it's embarrassing."

Zero shook his head. "You should really relax when dating girls, X."

"Gah!" He went back into his room, making his door slam shut. Even though it was a sliding door.

Zero made a mental note to ask Marino what she did to him.

For the next date, Zero had admitted that he didn't know the girl. It worried X, but he went along with it anyhow. He doubted it could be any worse than his last date.

The girl was sitting on a bench, passing the time by reading a magazine. She had short dark blue hair with seashell hairclips, as well as a top printed with a school of tropical fish. Her pearl-tone handbag had an interesting keychain made of a lance, but otherwise she seemed quite casual.

"Hello, are you Pixie Dragon?" he asked. "I'm X Light."

She looked up from her magazine and smiled. "Yes that's me. And it is you! I wasn't sure if I could believe it." She got up and shook his hand enthusiastically. "I'm so honored to meet you! You can just call me Levi, by the way."

"Levi?" he asked, not sure how she got that out of Pixie Dragon.

"It's an inside joke," she explained. "I might tell you later. Well come on, we can't let the tides slip us by."

"The tides?" he asked. He already knew she had asked him to wear a swimsuit of some kind, seeing as this was a date to the beach.

"Yeah, I'm gonna teach you to surf! Unless you already know how. Do you?"

He shook his head. "Nope, I've never tried."

"Great! I'm one of the best instructors, so don't you worry. I'm even gonna let you borrow one of my boards. Come on!" Levi practically dragged him all the way down to the beach, where she had her things set up.

So X spent the afternoon learning how to surf. It was fun and he picked up on it quickly. Sometimes he thought the lessons were just an excuse for Levi to touch him, though. She was a very touchy-feely kind of girl. So long as she didn't stray anywhere suggestive…

Later on, they went to get some Hawaiian shaved ice (she insisted on it). They were still dressed in their swimming gear (for which she had a rather attractive dark blue bikini, decorated with seashells again. "So who was I talking to on the phone to set this up?" she asked. "It didn't sound like you, which I know now because I'm talking to you, and your voice is higher in pitch than the guy I was talking to."

"You talk at a million miles an hour," X commented.

"Oh, sorry!" She grinned though, apparently proud of it.

"To answer your question, it was Zero who set us up."

To his surprise, she let out an excited squeal. "Whaaaaaat? Really? I was talking to Zero? Oh my gosh, I don't believe this. He does have a dreamy voice…" her expression turned to a daydream.

"Levi was one of your fangirls," X told Zero later on. "She wouldn't stop talking about you once I mentioned you were the one on the phone. I think she would have rather dated you."

"So no dice for you. Again."

"Hey, it's not always my fault."

Zero put his hand on X's shoulder. "Try a little harder next time, then? And don't mind the girls who want to feel you up. Here." He dropped a book in X's lap.

"Huh…? 'How to Win Girls'…"

"You seem to need it."

X sighed, rubbing his forehead. But he did read the book.

His next date seemed a good potential. She was rather short, a full head shorter than him, but she was modestly dressed in a red turtleneck and a long white skirt. Her blond hair was in pigtails, which made her seem young, but then she also had pearl earrings and a simple gold chain necklace with a single pearl. "Good afternoon, X, I am Rolla Luminos." She bowed.

He bowed back. "Nice to meet you. Rolla, huh?"

"It's a long story, probably not remarkable. I had hoped we could go roller skating, if that is all right with you."

"Sure, that sounds fun."

Rolla was quite the opposite of Marino, although not naïve like Cinnamon. She was extremely polite, but of good cheer as she laughed gently at many things. But there was something about her that made him uncomfortable with doing anything beyond holding her hand. It wasn't his usual prudence, he felt, but something about her seemed too close and somehow familiar that he was weirded out by the thought of actually dating her. Like she was someone he'd known a very long time ago.

Or at least, someone like someone he had known a long time ago. "Where are you from?" he asked.

"I'm a household assistant to a rich and powerful family, humans," she stated. "This is my day off and I had been looking for someone to spend it with. I was created for them specifically, so my loyalty remains with them."

And she was a little creepy in that way too, showing almost mechanical emotions and actions. She even laughed the exact same way every time. It was like she wasn't even a reploid and that was definitely off-putting.

Zero had his arms crossed over his chest, one finger tapping at the other arm. He kept glancing from X to the door. "Where is that girl? She said she'd be here."

"Who would meet us here?" X asked, looking about the Maverick Hunter break room.

"Younger chick Hunter; I talked with her a few days ago and she agreed to go out with you."

X wasn't too sure about dating a younger Hunter (then again, he wasn't too sure about this whole girlfriend thing either), but then the quiet in the lobby was broken. A girl with spiky pink hair rushed into the room, nearly stumbling down the drop in the floor. "Oops, heh heh. Sorry, I wasn't sure what to wear." She was wearing a tan shirt with an orchid print and blue pants. It managed to almost work, given they were close to the same shade.

"That's fine," Zero said, not really caring as he got up. "X, this is Lexia. Lexia, X. Have fun." He then walked off.

Lexia smiled nervously. "Um, want to go to the mall?"

Lexia was a weird girl, and that was putting it lightly. She didn't seem interested in clothes or shoes, but did eagerly drag him into a shop of unusual guns and daggers. She chattered on about a particular pistol she liked. "It's pretty reliable, although the lighter weight means it can't shoot high powered shots." She glanced at him, then blushed. "Uh, I hope I'm not boring you. I get kind of geeky about this."

"I can see that," X replied. "So how's your marksmanship grades?"

"Awesome; I've gotten to 197, 58, SS, 92…" she paused, then looked at him again. "Ahhh…"

X sighed. "Right. So what are you doing here, Axl?" He spoke the name in quiet tones, so anyone else in the gun shop couldn't hear.

'Lexia' paled, then scratched 'her' head. "Ah man, busted."

"You really need to take those espionage lessons more seriously. Did Zero put you up to his so he can spy on my progress? Or what?"

Axl glanced around, but stayed in the female body. Then he leaned over and whispered, "Hey, it was kind of embarrassing, but… I was trying to sneak into the woman's locker room to, you know, when Zero caught me. But I don't think he realized he caught me, or he just didn't say anything. I was using this Lexia disguise then and he started asking me things. I answered as best I could, trying to throw off suspicion, but then he asked me to go on a date with you and well, I could just tell that I was going to have a hard time saying no to that. Sorry, X, didn't mean for things to end up like this, you know."

Although maybe his lack of espionage tact was good. X whispered back, "Well aside from you not supposed to be sneaking into the women's locker room in the first place, now you're stuck with the consequences." Then he nodded and spoke up, "So did you want to go to the shoe store now? That pair could be replaced to match that outfit better."

"Um, sure, if it's okay with you," Axl said. But as they exited the gun store, he quietly added, "You're not serious are you?"

X smiled mischievously at him. "If the shoe fits, wear it."

Axl had a look of dread that was only matched by kids facing inoculations.

Zero noticed X enter the hallway, looking to be in good humor. He waved to his friend. "So how'd things go with Lexia?"

X grinned. "Oh, that was fun. I made Axl try on high heels."

Blinking, Zero tried to comprehend that. "Heels?"

Then Axl came into the hall, still wearing Lexia's clothes although in his normal form. "And now my feet hurt! And I bruised my nose up pretty good. How in the world do women go around all day in those things?" He kept grumbling as he went off to his quarters.

After watching him walk by, Zero looked back to X. "You got him to wear high heels?"

He nodded. "Didn't take much actually."

"Are you gay or something?"

"Wouldn't you know that by now?"

Zero nodded. "How true. I'm still getting you a girlfriend."

Rolling his eyes, X countered, "And I still wish you would tell me why."

"And you're supposed to be the smart one."

The next girl X dated met him outside an arcade. She had short brown hair that stuck out in a few places and she dressed quite casually, in a pink tank top and blue jeans. Grinning, she waved to him. "Yoohoo! Hey there, I'm Vale. Nice to meet you, X!"

He waved back. "Hello Vale. Nice to meet you too."

Giggling, she bounced over and hugged him. "I'm so happy! They say you only get losers from personal ads, but instead, I got you!"

"Um, you're welcome?" he said, not sure how to really respond. "You can let me go now."

"Oh, right!" She did so, but stayed close. "I was just gonna play arcade games, if that was okay with you. They've got an awesome racing game."

"All right, it's been a while since I've played this kind of thing."

Vale practically skipped into the arcade alongside him. "But aren't your battle simulators just super hard games themselves."

"That's battle simulators, it's different."

She brought him over to the racing game and they played that for quite some time. The button and control stick layout was common in modern vehicles, so it didn't take long for X to start being really good at the game. However, Vale apparently played this game religiously, so she knew every short-cut, secret power-up, and trick there was.

"Gotcha again," she cheered. "Hey, do you like a peanut butter and chocolate ice cram shake?"

That was oddly specific. "Yeah, it's one of my favorites. Why do you ask?"

She giggled. "Hah, it's just like the boards said."

"What boards?" he asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"Oh, the message board of your fan club's site. I'm one of the members and I know lots about you. At least, according to what the site says."

This was getting weird. He wondered what else was on that site. "I see. Want to go get some ice cream?"

"Sure!" Vale got out of the car shaped seat she was in. "I know a great place nearby."

As if it couldn't get weirder… X looked her over. "Um, you were a girl when I met you, right?"

"Yeah…" she (or he) patted her chest and looked down. "Oops, not again. My body structure is a little unstable, see? I shift randomly from girl to boy and back, not always noticing. But my girl and boy forms look pretty identical and those are the only two I've got."

"That's odd. I wonder why that is."

Not caring, the male Vale glomped him again. "But it doesn't matter, right? We came here to have fun today!"

This girl had an interesting hair style: the lower layer was brown and fairly tame, while a longer tuft of red hair grew out above her forehead. She said her name was Atla S, but wouldn't explain what the S was about.

"I'm a member of the remade NRA," she stated. "And I happen to specialize in really big guns. Although I've heard you're a pacifist, you apparent have a nice gun too."

This one would definitely not work out, X thought.

Ashley handed him a bag. "Here, put these on."

X eyed the bag suspiciously. It was a dark green mesh, but hard to tell what was inside. "What for?"

"Roller hockey. Come on, it's fun." She gave him the bag, then retrieved her own bag to put on the equipment.

Roller hockey wasn't too bad, X figured. He put on the helmet and chin guard, the elbow and knee guards, the vest, and the inline skates. "Who are we playing against?" he asked.

"Each other, who else? I've got the sticks over here, and we need to set up the nets, but that should be it." She grabbed a thing of metal bars and white mesh, then unfolded it to make a hockey goal. As they were playing on an unused basketball court, X set them up under the hoops.

Ashley set a ball in the center of the court and let him do the countdown. Since he was rule-abiding, X didn't start until he said go. Ashley sometimes teased like she was going to snatch the ball before he was done counting down.

And she was quite the aggressive player, not afraid to overswing her shots and hit him in the thigh. Or cut in close and nearly knock them both over so that he didn't get a shot in. If he had been human, he would have left that date rather bruised and banged up.

"You don't like to lose, do you?" he asked when they took a break to get drinks.

"Huh, something like that," she replied sheepishly. "I like winning. Oh, and I've been thinking of quitting my job and joining the Maverick Hunters. Do you guys have a recruitment center or do you have to be built into the group?"

"You can take the tests to join, in the major headquarters of New York, Toyko, Melbourne, or London. But I wouldn't quit your job until you've passed the tests and have been told that you are definitely getting in. The tests and requirements are rather steep."

"I see." Ashley took a sip of her drink, then added, "I thought it'd be fun, you know? Fighting for justice and all that."

"I wouldn't say it's all fun," X replied. "A lot of it can be very stressful and there's a good chance you'll see a comrade die."

"I know. But hey, you're making the world a better place and somebody's got to try."

"Right, somebody does."

"I'm Yuna," the girl said, twisting her fingers around her blond giant corkscrew pigtails. She looked around the restaurant for a table to sit at. Then her eyes widened. "Huh?"

"What is it?" X asked, trying to see what had her concerned.

"What's Geo and Sonia doing here?" she asked, mostly to herself. Then she grabbed X's arm and pulled him closer. "Let's go sit over there and see what's going on."

"Are you going out with me to make someone jealous?" X asked. "You know that rarely works."

"That's not what I'm doing," she replied hastily, but it was quite obvious that she was lying.

This particular restaurant had a different atmosphere, X noticed. It was lit only above tables, leaving much of the restaurant dark or dim. It was very hushed, although a great many people were eating. The waitress led them through a winding path to their table. Then she left them with their menus and went into the shadows silently.

"This place is kind of spooky," X said.

"Do you think so?" his date asked. She was an unusual build reploid, with tall angelic wings, although otherwise convincingly human. Her outfit clashed with the angelic theme, though, given it was close fitting and revealing.

"Different, anyhow." He looked to her. "Are you sure we haven't met, Ferham? Your name is… very familiar." But it didn't match quite to her form.

She shook her head. "Nope. But it's odd that you see me as familiar." She smiled playfully and leaned forward. "So do you like to take dinner while you're tied up to the bench so I can feed you?"

"Uh, n-no, I'd rather not." It seemed like she had the other Ferham's attitude too. Which was not good for him.

A little girl with blond hair was roaming around the front yard of the house where X was supposed to pick up his date. Packing around a large stuffed doll, she watched him without saying a word. He smiled gently to her. "Good afternoon. Is Cecilia in?"

She went into the house and was soon followed back out by a young woman. A human, to be precise. "Oh, um, are you my date?" she asked nervously.

"Looks like it," X said, sheepishly scratching his head. "Sorry, miss, I didn't realize."

"It's fine. I know it's a risk answering personal ads. Besides, I have to watch her today, so I can't really go, sorry."

"I see. Well I can still treat you two to a movie, if you like. She can choose."

Cecilia smiled. "Why thank you, that's sweet. Is there anything you'd like to see, Lou?"

The little girl hid her face behind the doll and mumbled something.

X waved from the bench where he was waiting. "Hey Zero, what are you doing here?"

His friend pointed off to a nearby landmark. "Visiting some places. This is where your date asked to meet you?"

Nodding, X glanced to a nearby clock post. "She wasn't here, so I've been waiting the past half hour. I wondered, because there's a lot of benches around here and Orchid just said she'd be at a bench in this little park."

"I see." Zero sat by him. "Hope she hasn't ditched on you."

X shrugged. "Well I don't really know her, so it won't be that bad. I've got work to catch up on with the Elf project anyhow."

"Now don't you ditch just because of that."

"Excuse me." A girl reploid came up to them. She wore a red and blue dress and had long brown hair. In fact, she looked an awful lot like a reploid they had known years ago, Iris. "I'm Orchid; is one of you X Light?"

"No," Zero said quickly. "No one like that."

She looked disappointed. "Oh, then sorry to bother you. I hope he hasn't left because I'm late." She hurried off to check out the rest of the park.

"Well, she was polite anyhow," X said.

Zero closed his eyes and grimaced. "Who the heck designed her like that? We don't want to tempt fate; if you find out that she has a brother, keep the hell away from her."

"It could just be a coincidence, but all right."

Then he grabbed X's arm and got up. "But you've been working too much lately. So you're coming with me tonight."

"I do need to get that work done before the deadline," X insisted.

"Less work, more relaxing. Come on."

"Fine."

This was probably his most successful date so far, X thought. Kiki was actually a reploid, was actually a girl, didn't seem to have violent tendencies, wasn't a crazed fangirl, and was quite intelligent. As she was an engineer, he found that there was plenty to talk to her about. There was one slight problem in that she was an animalist, designed to be like a bipedal cougar. But X wasn't too bothered by that. They were going on a walk in one of the few thickly forested areas left in the world.

"Oh, you want to see my secret base?" she asked. "It's just a bit ahead of here."

"You have a secret base?" he asked.

Kiki nodded. "Yeah, it's where I build my experimental machines. Come on, I've got some neat ones that I wouldn't mind showing you."

"Okay, that sounds interesting." He followed her to an unassuming shed, which turned out to be an elevator. It led down to what seemed to be a large complex, based on the map on the wall. Ignoring the rest, Kiki pulled him into a large work lab.

But on the way, X spotted some suspicious things. There were some hidden flaps in the wall, of the sort that usually hid defensive weaponry. There were mechaniloids patrolling around, the kinds that were usually battle oriented. And in the work lab, there were definitely signs of ballistics work going on.

"I thought you said that you worked on household appliances," X said, just before a doll-like mechaniloid walked up and grabbed his arm. "Hey!" He startd to snatch his hand back; he was in civilian mode, so wouldn't be able to access his weaponry.

"That's what I said," Kiki echoed, then fired a paralysis gun into his side. "But really, I'm researching weapons to become a one-woman army. I despise how people assume that animalist reploids are always going to go Maverick, and that women reploids are pretty much worthless in a fight. So I'm going to show them all who's boss. And you, so called X, I highly doubt you are a Maverick Hunter. If you were X, I don't think you'd be stooping down to dating random people you've never met. But that's how I lure test subjects for my more questionable weapons. Sleep tight!"

"Zero!"

Zero paused in his practice, causing Axl to stop too. X sounded angry. "What is it?" he called.

X came into the room, scowling. "Stop answering random personal ads for me! I ended up with some Maverick girl this time and look what she did to me." He held up his right arm.

Actually, his right arm was no longer there. Instead, his right arm was behind held by his left hand. His right arm replacement was a large oversized armored crab claw. It had supports to add massive crushing force to anything he gripped. Not only that, but it had three gun barrels, one regular energy gun on each half of the claw, and a mini plasma cannon barrel in the center. It struck the top of the doorframe. When X dropped the 'arm', the end of the claw clattered against the floor.

Axl came right over. "Oh my gosh, that's awesome! What kind of caliber do those plasma guns have? And what's the power ratings? Does it have any hidden weapons?"

"I'm getting rid of this as soon as possible, but I wanted you to see what you were responsible for," X said, glaring at Zero.

He shrugged. "Sorry. I didn't think this kind of thing would happen."

"Can I have it?" Axl asked, touching the claw while looking at it with wide sparkling eyes.

"No," X said. "I don't think it'd be compatible with your systems. It barely is with mine. Well I'm going to the repair lab now to get my real arm back." He picked the large claw up off the floor and walked out of the practice area.

"Did you get any DNA off that claw?" Zero asked Axl.

The younger Hunter emitted a bright light, then appeared like a giant crustacean reploid with a single one of that giant weapons claw. "AWESOME!" he shouted. "Let's test it out!"

One day, Zero tricked X into meeting him in a computer lab, then got him onto a dating site. "Well since I don't seem to be cutting it, we'd better get some professional help," he said.

"Can you at least give me a reason why we're doing this?" X asked, putting his hand on the input pad so Zero couldn't do anything with the dating site.

After considering it, he replied, "I'm concerned about you."

"How does that explain your little quest?"

"Think about it."

X gave him a momentary glare. "What, is there some problem with me choosing not to seek out a romantic relationship? Maybe I'm just happy having friends. This isn't like my life is going to be ruined forever if I don't get a girlfriend any time soon."

"Maybe I'm noticing something that you're ignoring. Anyhow, fill that out. I was going to do it for you, but had second thoughts."

"How kind of you," he replied sarcastically.

But he went ahead and filled out the questionnaire honestly. It was massive, going into incredibly fine details about his personality. Thankfully, every page reminded him that his answers would be confidential and no one could access them after his profile was made.

After nearly an hour, he finally got through it.

The first girl the dating site paired him with was a short reploid woman in blond pigtails. "Hi, I'm Rolla!" she said cheerily when they met.

"Rolla Luminos?" X asked. Although, she didn't look the same. This Rolla wore a red jacket and black pants.

She giggled. "No, Rolla Casket."

"Ah, okay. I've just dated a Rolla once before."

"Really? It's such an unusual name; I've never met anyone who shared it with me. Anyhow, X, do you want to go see a movie? There's an awesome sounding fantasy one I want to see, Paradiso Dove."

"Oh right, that one. It sounds neat. Sure, let's go."

This Rolla was much more animated than the other. She was an engineer like Kiki, but reassured him that she wasn't a mad scientist. What she failed to mention was that she had eccentric friends.

After the movie, they went out to a diner for dinner. On the way there, they encountered a girl wearing a pink top, black pants, and a white hairband. But that white hairband merely kept her very full hair out of her face; it poked out at points like a dark brown triangle. "Hey Rolla," the girl said. "So what're you doing here?"

Rolla smiled, one of those patient ones where the smiler didn't really want to see the other quite then. "Oh, hi Tron. I'm on a date right now."

"Oh really?" Ton gave him a look over. "You got a cute guy. Anyhow, you two looking for somewhere to eat?"

"Um…" Rolla said.

"Actually, we are," X said, although Rolla gave him a look for that.

Tron grinned. "Great, so you should come by my restaurant! It's opening week and I'm looking to spread good word of it. Come on."

"Is this the Pirate Grill you've been talking about lately?" Rolla asked.

"Sure thing. It's just down the street."

"That could be interesting. Want to go, X?"

He nodded. "Sure."

The Pirate's Grill was a themed restaurant. The floors were made to look like sea-weathered wood, nets hung down to separate areas, and pirate themed memorabilia was hung on the walls, or anywhere there was space.

"I plan on invading the food industry," Tron declared, with all the enthusiasm he would expect of a pirate (or the owner of a pirate-themed restaurant). "I say, we get a fast burger joint to catch the majority, a slow burger joint, this place, to catch some more. Then a steak burger joint to catch the really picky ones. And finally, a why-is-this-hamburger-so-expensive joint to attract the really pretentious."

"Sounds like you've got a business plan going," X commented.

Tron nodded. "Right. I'll tell the boys to treat you two nice, as my friend and her date. Just don't let word leak out about it. Later!" She walked off back outside, maybe to draw in more customers.

"Sorry about her," Rolla said. "She's a good friend to have when you're in trouble, but then it seems that she causes a lot of trouble herself."

"I've known people like that," X said.

X was in his room at his computer, looking over the dating site's suggestions. "I think I've dated a few of these girls already," he commented.

In the green armchair by the desk, Zero nodded slowly. "So who are you going to ask out on a second date?"

"I don't know. Some of them I definitely won't. There's a few I connected to, like they could be good friends. But I haven't had any big dramatic moment where I think, 'ah-ha, that is exactly the girl for me'."

"Then pick one you have even minor interest in seeing again," his friend said. "You said yourself that you don't believe in love at first sight."

"Right." He looked over the list some more. "You know, I've somehow ended up with quite a few blond haired girls who like to wear red."

Zero idly looked over the end of his blond ponytail. "What about that?"

He was wearing red today too, X thought. "Just a coincidence, I think," he replied. "So you're going into hibernation in a few days. You ready?"

"You still don't have a girlfriend," he pointed out, flipping his hair back. "I don't want to think that I've failed to do something I set my mind to. Will you promise to keep looking until you do fall in love?"

X sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Only if you tell me why."

He shrugged. "Fine, if you really can't figure it out. Remember how I said I was concerned about you?"

"Right. It still strikes me as an incomplete reason."

Zero shook his head. "It's not. Why did you become a Maverick Hunter?"

"You should remember that. I was exploring all sorts of things I could have been doing."

"And why did you stay?" He looked straight at X now.

X sighed. "Because when Sigma revolted, you and I were pretty much the only ones left who could fight him and were willing to do so."

"Right. And you kept fighting because of that. You got to be the best and you were taking jobs nobody else was stepping up to do. This is despite the fact that you'd much rather be a pacifist and not fight."

"Well somebody's got to be a pacifist around here, even just technically. Too many of the young ones we attract are aggressive and ambitious. The Maverick Hunters could become a totalitarian regime if no one checked that."

Zero nodded. "Right. But this puts you under a lot of stress, especially because you tend not to show it so as not to make others worry about you. I can deal with that kind of tension by directing it into my fighting because that's who I am. But that's not who you are. You end up shoving away all that stress until it overwhelms you, and then you start acting irrationally. Or you quit and run off to hide from everyone until somebody drags you back here, because you're still the best Hunter and no one has managed to be anything close to your replacement."

"Look, I know I can be that way," X said. "But what's this got to do with me dating?"

"I'm not quite to that point yet," Zero replied.

X felt momentarily impressed that Zero had managed to think something through to such depth. He usually just acted. "You're not?"

Zero leaned over and tapped his arm. "You do have an outlet for your stress, and that's in talking to me. It's not an ideal solution, since we think so differently and you can get frustrated with my ways as I can with yours. But I've learned that, even if I don't fully get you, it's better for me to listen through whatever issue you're going on about. It helps defuse your stress and keep your thoughts clear.

"But I've been thinking for a while now that it might be better if you had a girlfriend to help you out with this. She'd not only listen to you blow off some steam, but she'd lessen your stress in other ways and encourage you in the times you seem to be wavering. And she could give you a more personal reason to fight, and something to look forward to in tough conflicts. That is why I think you need a girlfriend."

He hadn't considered this in that way. X dropped his arms back, looking less defensive. "That's your reasoning, then…"

He nodded. "And now that I'm going into the century long hibernation, it's a more pressing issue. Losing me is cutting off one of your major supports, X, even if I'm sometimes a poor one. There isn't another person I could think of that would put up with your moments of philosophical crisis and would know why they should."

"I have other friends," X said. "But I guess you're right, none as close as you. And Axl, well, I don't think he could manage that support well either. He's managed to snap me out of a funk or two, but he gets impatient when I question things."

"Right. I know you and I don't want to come out of this hibernation to hear that you finally snapped under stress and went insane while I was gone. I suppose if you're really against romantic relations, you can just find another best friend to act as your support and sympathetic ear. I trust you to handle things with the Maverick Hunters while I'm in hibernation; I know you can do it. I'm just concerned about leaving you alone in a stressful position."

X rubbed his forehead. "I get it now. And I should have thought of that. It was just frustrating to me that you were pushing this issue on me without explaining it."

Zero smiled. "I knew that if I didn't push you, you wouldn't do anything about it. So will you promise?"

X nodded. "Sure. I promise I'll keep looking for someone special. I'm not sure how well I'll manage, but you are right, I need to make sure I have a good social support network."

"Good." Then Zero sat back in the chair and relaxed. "Then I have no regrets in going through with this."

*snickers* Which girl do you think X should wind up with? Review with your answer, or just be nice and review. Thanks for reading!