***
[REPORT FILE: A-01]
DATE: [REDACTED]
SUBJECT: A-01 & X-02 Synergy Analysis
OBJECTIVES:
1. Conduct high-fidelity simulations of A-01 and X-02 to assess combined combat efficacy.
2. Evaluate risk factors associated with synchronized Evol abilities.
3. Identify planetary-scale threats resulting from uncontrolled resonance between subjects.
4. Develop countermeasures to neutralize potential hazards.
5. Ensure neural suppression mechanisms remain functional under high-stress conditions.
--Othan Research Bureau Report No. 7613
***
[REPORT FILE: X-02]
DATE: [REDACTED]
SUBJECT: X-02 Combat Efficiency & Neural Compliance Assessment
OBJECTIVES:
1. Deploy X-02 to [Designated Zone: Ruined Metropolis - Sector 17] for tactical assessment.
2. Analyze adaptive combat strategies in urban environments.
3. Measure interaction with non-enhanced human combatants.
4. Detect and suppress unprogrammed cognitive or emotional deviations.
5. Confirm memory reset protocols remain uncompromised.
--Othan Research Bureau Report No. 7814
***
The air in the ruined city was thick with the scent of dust and charred steel. Crumbling skyscrapers loomed overhead, their skeletal remains stretching toward an ashen sky. The roads were fractured, littered with debris from a civilization long collapsed. The silence was unnatural, broken only by the distant echoes of gunfire and the low hum of his visor's data feed.
X-02 moved without hesitation. His orders were clear—eliminate hostiles, assess combat adaptability, report anomalies. His squad, all unmodified humans, fought alongside him. Temporary comrades. Temporary variables in an equation with only one outcome.
Still, they talked.
Between battles, while reloading weapons and patching wounds, they shared fragmented pieces of their pasts. One soldier spoke of a date he had planned before deployment. Another reminisced about a home left behind. And then, there was a mention of something different—an amusement park.
"They say amusement parks make people happy," one of them had said, adjusting his rifle. "Fun rides, flashing lights, music. A place where dreams come to life."
The words lodged themselves somewhere within X-02's mind, refusing to be erased as easily as his orders dictated.
When the mission was over, and the city lay silent once more, he searched. Within the limited freedom he possessed, he scoured archived data, encrypted files, mapped out locations. And he found one.
Philos Amusement Park.
It had been the most renowned. The dreamiest. A beacon of light in a world that had long since dimmed. It had closed due to riots, abandoned by the people who once filled its streets with laughter. But it was still intact. Still standing. A monument to something that once existed.
Would it open again someday?
He didn't know.
But he knew this: if there was a place meant to bring joy, then perhaps, just perhaps, he could take her there one day.
If such a day ever came.