Hello readers! Sorry for a really long time update. You may know some of the reason and I am still alive thank you very much. So yeah, I was really busy IRL for my upcoming research as my final work before I got my bachelor title. Anyway, I may be doing long updates again, so I'm very sorry for that. Alright, that's all for now. Stay save everyone and try to keep inside your house unless something important happen.

(Disclaimer: I don't own Girls' Frontline or any characters in it. I just own the OC)

Life 5: A Prophetic Memory

Once he opens his eyes, he found himself at the burning field. Human and doll's corpse can be seen everywhere and the sound of gun shooting is still audible in the air. The smell of oil and blood mixed together isn't improving the situation at the place. The young man looks around in confusing and asked:

"Where am I?"

This young man is Zero. After the last collaboration mission with AR-Team he was coming home and goes straight to the bed. The others from 404 Team got concerned but considering he's just exhausted from the mission he got. The young man himself, once his head touch the pillow he immediately goes to dreamland. However, after a long duration of darkness he has saw, he saw his dream and didn't expected to be such scenery.

"Where the hell is this place!? A battlefield? Why am I in such place—"

His words, however is shut down when he seen the figure in front of him, not far from his standing. The figure is covered in long jet-black hood and make it harder to see his appearance due the figure is backing him. However, there are things that Zero can recognize from that figure. That figure is holding two weapons, one is a pistol and the other is assault rifle. It may be not wrong to see a figure holding a weapon or two in such place, but for Zero, he recognizes that weapon.

"You, how did you get that weapon!?"

He asked the figure with threatening tone. The figure reacted to his question and slowly turn around to see him. However, when Zero can see the appearance of that figure, his face is full of shock.

"You, you're—"

However, his words can't be complete as the figure shot him on his head.

"HA….!" Zero wake up from his dream in full sweat, "Is that… a dream?" he slowly calming his breath before thinking about what he seen in his dream, "It's too realistic to be a dream. Is this what they call prophetic dream?" he keeps thinking about it and no matter how he does, he can't admit that the person in his dream is looks very similar to him, or more like it was him. Is that what will he become? Even Zero can't tell or refuse that kind of fate, because he knows well about himself. More than anyone…

"Ah… no time for this. Maybe I should drink something before going back to sleep," he said in annoyance as he stands up and walks toward the kitchen. It's still in the middle of night and everyone are still sleeping. He walks slowly so he won't wake them up. However, when he has arrived on the kitchen, he meets with familiar face, "Huh? 45?"

"Oh, Zero. Such a rare thing to see you on this time," 45 answered while sipping a cup of coffee, "Didn't you got tired after your last mission?"

"Tired doesn't mean I can sleep that peacefully. I'm not 11, you know?"

"Well, yeah. You're not her," she said while pointing on other side of table, "But I know you well that you won't simply woke up in the middle of night unless something is in your mind. Care to share with this old doll?"

"You sound like you have been operating in more than 10 years," Zero said in sigh before end up sitting on the opposite side of 45, "And well, hate to admit but am I really have that kind of bad habit?"

"We may be not that long together in this group," 45 continued, "But don't underestimate me on understanding others. Moreover, that was most surprising thing about you."

"About what?"

"The fact that you're so hard to be read when on the mission yet so easy to be tell when out of it. Like a secret information before and when passed to the one who asked."

"Is that one of your programs or something?"

"No. It's just given from someone," 45 said with slightly sad face. When he saw that, Zero know what she means.

Team 404 consists of group of renegade T-dolls with their own problem. Some of it is what truly change their life before become such renegade doll. Of course, there's no way they can easily share their life experience, but Zero, after gaining some form of trust from them, is able to know a part or two about their past, especially 45's past.

UMP 45, once belongs to Griffin's along with a doll that quite close to her at that time, UMP 40. Unlike other dolls, 45 didn't receive some necessary module that a T-doll suppose to have, resulting to having a bad result in her training. Her supervisor always angry at her, she got anxiety issue because of that, but not all is bad memory. It was thanks to 40 that she can hold up until they first mission together, which ironically become their last mission together too, and the very reason why 45 made this group of renegade dolls.

"Then, what is it?" 45 asked, "What is in your mind right now?"

"Even if you asked me, I'm not really sure," Zero answered a bit cryptic, "Tell me, what happen if a past you not even know about is finally coming to get you?"

"You mean you do something bad to someone, forget about it and now you pay your karma for that, even if you really don't remember about it?" 45 said but unsure for what she concluded, "I don't really know, but should you deal with it?"

"Yes I should, if know what I should deal with," Zero said with honest tone. He said the truth. He didn't know what he was dealing with before. Who's that person he meet on that place? How did he know about his name? Why he seems know more about him than himself? And what's he mean by "not the right time"? There are so much thing on his mind that he didn't realize that his arm somewhat acting strange.

"H-hey, Zero!? Your arm!"

"Huh?" he then looks at his left. He saw it acting out of his will, "Ah, not again," Zero then grab it with his other arm until it calmed down, "Finally. To think it will be acting up now."

"Should I help you?" 45 asked.

"Yes, can you take my tools on my room?" Zero asked, which 45 answered by coming to his room and taking what he requested. Few seconds later, she come back with box of tools on her hand.

"This one, right? 45 asked.

"Yes. Now put that box on table and help me hold my left arm. It may be acting up again," with his instruction, 45 began to help him with his left that he… open up? Yes. He opens his left arm by removing his skin-like shell before uncover a mechanical structure inside of it. One may say that he may receive prosthetics arm as a result of injury, but his is not the case—

—because more than fifty percent of his body was replaced by it.

This was found out when Ange took him to some hospital after she recover him from her mission. The doctor, which Ange trust for his care, is also don't believe to what he saw. It almost like interior of a doll but covered by 'real' human-like skin, meat, muscle and many more. Zero has two life sources, his heart and a core that still unknown how and when it was made, which mean he can't die until both sources destroyed, but still weakened as a result if one is out of commission. Such revolutionary yet terrifying discovery is what made Ange to hide him inside the DEFY Task Force and later on at Team 404. She can image how much and how far someone will try to acquired so called "knowledge" in form of Zero's body. None of them are good.

Neither a human or a machine. That what he is.

"This thing is really like to acting up, isn't?" 45 said while looking at Zero fixing his left arm, "It's such unfortunate that no one have replacement part, or should I say there is none to be exist so far."

"Yeah, that's why I should be more careful about—YIKES! I was just touching my nerve system, was I?" he said while literary can't feel his left arm due his own careless.

"Yes, and you should be more careful from now on," 45 warns, as she also try to understand the structure of his mechanical left arm, "No matter how much I see it, it's still surreal that you can combine human part and electronic part like this."

"And whoever made me is certainly genius, or crazy," Zero said before finishing his repairing, "Alright, this should be enough. However, to be more safe I should go to the doctor later for check-up."

"Yes, you should," 45 said before standing up, "Alright. Let's go to sleep. 416 may scold us if we didn't wake up due sleepless."

"Alright. You go first, I still need to put the box back," Zero answered.

"Okay. Good night Zero."

"Good night," Zero said before 45 leave him alone. After he put his stuff back he immediately goes back to his room to continue his sleeping. Once he is on his room, he looks at the mirror because he felt like someone was watching him, "…Maybe just my imagination," he shocks his head before return to bed and goes sleep. What he didn't know that his mirror reflection didn't follow him, as his reflection eyes turn red and wearing a smirk on his face.

Meanwhile, somewhere else…

"Did you call me?"

"Yes, I did. What did you do before?"

"Me? Just a bit reunion. Well, not really a reunion as we practically didn't really meet face-to-face."

"I see… I don't care."

"Yet you asked me. How curious."

"Shut up. Moreover, I have job for you."

"As part of our agreement, right?"

"Yes. I want you to recover a doll."

"Let me guess, you want me to take "her", right?"

"Correct. It seems you have meet "her" before."

"Just happen to passing each other. So, what's your plan?"

"We will use my father's data as a bait. Then Agent will surround her and her teammates so they won't be able to escape."

"I see, but I don't see why I needed in this."

"For precaution."

"In case they are able to escape, eh? Sound like I just cleaning her mess."

"You want to do it or not? Answer me."

"Alright-alright, geez… Elisa, you should learn to take things easy once a while."

"Same as you, Alter. You take things easy way too much. It may cost something in the future."

"May I? Or may I not? No one know, including myself. However, it doesn't mean I don't have insurance for that."

"And what is that insurance?"

"That's a secret, my little lady."

"Don't call me "your". I'm no one but my father's."

"…Fine. At least learn a humor or two for your own sake. Anyway, I'll be going to prepare my stuff."

"Don't take too much time. I can be a bit tolerance but Agent may not be the same."

"Sure-sure. Let's expecting a good result later."

…

"Is he gone?"

"Yes, you can go out Agent. Anyway, how's your investigation?"

"I'm sincerely apologize master but he is way too much unknown. No matter where I go, I can't find a single thing about this man. As if… he just come out from thin air."

"Keep searching. This man's knowledge is beyond our understanding. He may be our allies now, but who knows when he will be our greatest enemy later."

"Affirmative. I'll keep searching. And the other mission?"

"Make sure you don't fail."

"Acknowledge."

…

"This man, who is he, I wonder? And what he means by "Project Ark"?"