DXP: Thanks all my wonderful reviewers. I heard there was a rule which I couldn't reply to your post, and I haven't found out where to actually read the rule, so if you do know, please tell me where I can find it.

I know this chapter is shorter then the other one, and I cannot give any excuse for that other then my own laziness. Not to mention I haven't played the game in a few weeks and so it's all somewhat fuzzy in my head. I blame school and parents.

Thank You: thequietgenius, Kali, Kos-mosMomo, Rachridgeback, I-luv-Dom, and Gray Wolf Demonfor reviewing. Thank You: Kos-mosMomo and Rachridgeback for placing this story on alert. And, Thank You: Kos-mosMomo, Rachridgeback, I-luv-Dom, and Gray Wolf Demon for placing this story on their Favorite List.

Written while listening to Coheed and Cambria

The air around Gene became light and she found that opening her eyes was probably going to be on of the hardest things she would have to do for at least today. She forced them open, however, and was a bit relieved, and yet also a bit disappointed, at what she saw.

She was in a room, laying on a bunk bed, something she hadn’t been in for a few years. It was strange, though, that all the lights were on. She sat up, a little uneasy, and looked around the room.

The room looked identical to the one in Xenosaga on the Elsa, and right away Gene remembered the events that had happened.

“Margulis…why did he want me?” she thought aloud. “What did he say…? My job wasn’t finished…?” she placed her head in her knees, which were up against her chest. “What…is going on?”

She decided to see what she could find out, and only then realized what she was wearing. Over her black bra, an undershirt that probably belonged to Tony was placed over her shoulders. (Think of how that girl looked in the remade Texas: Chainsaw Massacre.) Then it seemed as though chaos had extras, for she had white shorts on as well, and then her black, ankle-high socks.

“How did I…?” Gene asked, and then she grasped the concept. “They probably dressed me in some spare clothes…so then, where would my other ones be?” she looked around the room, as she had been planning before she had discovered her clothing.

She noticed the blue carpet, and when she cranked her head, she was able to see the robot that was posted by the beds was up and about, happy to be of service. “Good Evening, Ma’am. Did you rest well?” it asked.

Gene’s eyes were opened wide, and she was completely speechless. ‘A real-live robot! Right in front of me! In the year 4067!’ she thought before regaining herself. “Ah…yea…I’m fine…” she said.

“Come to me anytime you want to rest and I’ll get the beds ready.” the robot replied, and Gene nodded. She stood up nice and straight and asked the Robot. “Hey…do you know where my clothes are?”

“Please check the bar table.” the robot responded. Gene shrugged nonchalantly. She was surprised by her behavior, because anyone who was born in the 20th century would have been completely shocked with everything that was going on. She decided to walk and think, though, because even standing in front of a Robot in those clothes seemed a bit embarrassing.

She saw her clothes folded neatly on the bar table, and she jumped over the long couch carefully to reach them instead of going around. She made sure nobody was there before placing her original clothes back on. She folded the clothing she had been wearing when she had awoken and set them on the table in the place of her original clothes.

“Alright…” she said, pulling up her left boot, then tucking it under her pant leg. “Now to see if…Shion has any answers to what is going on.”

Gene walked up the stairs but found that the large room was completely empty. She placed a hand to her chin and gave a low hum sound, thinking, ‘Where could they be?’

She began walking towards the bridge when a sound erupted from her stomach. Her eyes narrowed. “Shut up, stomach.” she growled at it, but then she stopped and reconsidered, “Since I don’t know how long I was out, I should probably get something to eat. Because this is Xenosaga, who knows what might happen next? I should eat while I--” she cut herself off as her stomach erupted again. She growled lowly. “Fine!”

She looked around the ship, noting it to be much larger in person then in the game, just like Margulis’s prison ward he had.

“Alright…that means I have to walk opposite of the bridge…” she said aloud, following her instructions and turning around. It took about a minute to get to the other side, despite the fact it was a large area. Gene recognized the two doors and decided to take the clear sliding doors.

As she waited for them to open, she began to adjust the neck of her shirt, because it felt as if it was trying to choke her. She remembered suddenly the hands around her throat when Margulis had almost strangled her to death, and she froze abruptly before shaking her head and ignoring it. She could think later. She just had to be happy she was alive.

She heard the sound of people chatting away merrily and was able to recognize Allen as he yelled at Tony--most likely for hitting on Shion.

However, all the words seemed to die on their lips as Gene stepped into the dining area. She looked around the room, an embarrassed blush appearing on her face. She hated being the spotlight in front of strangers. Not like they were strangers…but they haven’t exactly been acquainted yet.

“Gene! You’re up!” MOMO shouted, jumping off her bar stool and running to the stranger. Gene seemed a bit surprised. “Oi…hey, MO.” she said. She felt her hand being tugged on. “Everyone, this is Gene!” she said. “And Gene, this is--”

“Shion, Allen, Captain Matthews, chaos, Ziggy, Tony, and Hammer. KOS-MOS is probably down in the Maintenance Lab, right?” Gene said, and everyone gasped, including herself. “Oh…” she said to herself under her breath, placing a hand over her mouth, “Dammit…”

“How did you…?” Shion asked, standing from her seat.

“It’s just something…I can do.” Gene said hesitantly, remembering the lines chaos had said when he had zapped away the Gnosis before. She was still mentally shocked at how she was behaving. But…there was no reason to be afraid. “Anyways…” she cocked her head in a bit of embarrassment, “I’m…hungry. Do you have anything to eat or drink?”

Shion shook her head to get herself out of surprise. “Oh! How rude of me! I’ll get you a plate of curry right away!”

“No…uh…please…I don’t really like curry. I can’t guarantee I would eat it, and that would be pretty rude to just stare at it. I’ll take some fruit…or whatever else you might have.” Gene said, chuckling nervously. She always hated being the center of attention…

“Oh. Well, there are some apples. I’ll get you some.” Shion made her way past Gene into the kitchen, and MOMO pulled on Gene’s arm. “Come sit down with us!” she said, now taking her towards the cyborg and her empty chair.

MOMO moved her own plate to the empty chair beside where she had been sitting before, and Gene sat down in between Ziggy and MOMO. She looked at Ziggy. “Thank you…for saving me…” she said, rubbing her neck. Ziggy didn’t have any emotion on his face as he responded; “It wouldn’t have done any good to leave you there.”

Gene couldn’t help but give a low bitter chuckle. “I had thought for sure I would have been left there. This wasn’t how it went originally…then again, now that I’m here, who’s to say how things will go?” she said mostly to herself, which Ziggy understood, but he was a bit confused. “Originally?” MOMO asked in his place.

“Ah…well…gah, this is gonna sound so weird…” Gene placed her elbows on the counter and covered her face with her hands. “I’m…not suppose to be here.” she didn’t seem to want to elaborate, but chaos, who had also been sitting on the counter on the other side of Ziggy, had to ask, out of curiosity. “Why would that be? Were you suppose to stay behind in that place that Ziggy rescued you from?”

Gene shook her head. “No, no…that’s not it.” She didn’t want to go on explaining. There was a moment of silence before Shion interrupted. “Here you go, Gene,” she said, handing the girl a ripe red apple. “The reddest one I found.”

“Thank you.” Gene replied, taking it. She was about to bite into it when her stomach growled again. Her eyes rolled, “Shut up stomach…” she mumbled, and everyone laughed.

She ate her apple in silence, thinking hard, as everyone else began to laugh and chatter away again. It wasn’t long before Gene was finished, but she was a slow eater, so everyone else was finished before her.

“I’ll take the core.” Shion said, holding out her own empty plate. Gene placed the remains of the apple on the plate and the Vector employee walked into the kitchen to wash the dishes.

The out-worlder nodded, then she shrugged nonchalantly. “I wanna go wandering for a few. I’ll see ya around.”

With that, and without waiting for a reply, Gene exited the kitchen and looked around the place. She decided to check out the bridge first, and so she made her way opposite of the kitchen towards the bridge, passing the elevator that she would use to check out the basements later, if she had the time and allowance.

She saw Cherenkov at the vending machines getting coffee, but she simply ignored him, finding no reason to actually go to him. She passed by both of the cabins and made her way to the door in front of the bridge. She sighed, a little hesitantly, and then let the door slide open.

She walked into the deck, and immediately she found herself in awe.

“This place…is awesome!” she exclaimed, her gaze never falling from the window that she saw held the stars.

“Hey! It’s the sleeper!” a voice said, causing Gene to turn her heard towards Tony. He was walking up to her, having the ship on autopilot. “You finally awake now, huh?” he asked.

“Apparently.” Gene replied, feeling a smile twitch on her lips. She couldn’t believe she was talking to Tony, someone she had always laughed at and felt as her favorite Elsa crew member (besides chaos, of course).

“So, what’s say me and you get a room and some wine once we hit Second Militia?” Tony said, leaning in towards her.

Gene, having dealt with people like this before, knew exactly how to drop him. She knew it would be a great time, considering that Matthews and Hammer were also watching.

“Woah…” Gene said, sticking her hands up as if she was defending herself. “I’m not your type. Trust me.” She watched as Tony was about to reply before quickly adding, “I’m not inflatable.”

Hammer began to laugh and even Captain Matthews was looking away to silently laugh to himself. Tony just stood there, a bit shocked, but also a bit annoyed that she was able to come up with something.

“Haha, very funny.” Tony said before going out the door and heading towards the kitchen. “I thought so, too.” Gene agreed as she watched him leave, the door hissing close behind him.

“Not many people can counter Tony’s charm,” Hammer explained, lifting his head from his console. “Especially that quickly.”

“I know it may sound egotistical, but guys have been hitting on me since the sixth grade.” Gene replied. She looked around, wanting to get off the subject. “So…exactly where are we?”

“Between Pluto and the Kukai Foundation.” Hammer said, glancing back at his monitor, then back at the out-worlder. “But there is something called Dock Colony and we’re headin’ there first.”

“Oh.” Gene began to think of Cherenkov. He would leave the ship after they arrived and then would almost murder those thugs. Gene remembered how she had cheered him on before, but now that she was really experiencing it…

“I’m gonna go find Cherenkov.” she said to the crew.

“Alright. But then you should head to bed. It’s late.” Captain Matthews explained.

Gene rolled her eyes, about to ask how they could tell time in space, but decided against it as she silently walked out. She looked around after shutting the doors, and she decided to just wait by the Exit.

A couple of hours past and Gene had slouched to the floor, bored out of her mind. She felt the ship was beginning to fall into some gravity as the pressure in the hall increased somewhat. She stretched her body, getting use to the new pressure and then heard footsteps approaching.

Cherenkov was heading her way, and she stopped in front of the door. “It’s dangerous out there, especially with the uniform you’re wearing.” Gene warned. The soldier just narrowed his eyes. He obviously didn’t trust her.

“I need to find a charter flight.” Cherenkov explained. Gene gulped, and then closed her eyes, knowing exactly what she was doing. “Let me go with you. I…I want to find a charter flight, too.”

The soldier watched her as she watched him back, and they both remained just watching each other. Finally, after a minute, Gene rolled her eyes. “What an annoyance!” she almost shouted before opening the air lock, which was now unlocked, and walking quickly out into the colony.

She looked around the large place, trying not to find too much importance with things, since she could see them later. She wondered where to go first and decided on finding the alley where Cherenkov was to kill the thugs.

She waited patiently there and when she heard footsteps, she was only able to wait by the wall and breathe deeply to calm herself. She didn’t know why she had gotten so worked up.

“Why are you…?” Cherenkov asked, and Gene calmed downed considerably when she saw it was just him. However, soon came the punks, and Gene gasped. Cherenkov was surrounded, and they didn’t seem to care about Gene.

To them, she was just a normal citizen, losing her way and finding an alley. However, to them, Cherenkov was a beast that needed to be killed.

“So, now they’re trying to take over here with those Federation Scum, too!” one of the punks yelled, and he punched Cherenkov right in the jaw slamming him down to the ground.

Gene couldn’t help but watch and remember what had happened the last time she had witnessed a fight. Luckily she had gotten over it quickly and was able to stop the two from hurting each other too bad, but that had been years ago, with people her own age, and one had been her friend. But now, these were punks, people who were tough.

“H-Hey!” she called out, grabbing one guy’s arm when they tried to hit the grounded soldier again.

The punk frowned, narrowing his eyes and Gene looked somewhat startled. “So, you on his side?” the punk shouted, ripping his arm away from Gene’s hands. “I normally wouldn’t hurt a girl!”

Gene remembered her self-defense training, and she knew she could at least somewhat hurt them, even if she had quickly given up her training. She bit her bottom lip.

“But I might make an exception for you!” the punk took his right fist and was about to smack her before one of his friends held him back. Gene took this opportunity to try and jump on the guy who had threatened her.

She was thrown onto the floor and she didn’t wait for the pain to come in before quickly getting to her feet and tugging on the punks, as they ignored her weak pries and continued to kick the man.

She was thrown once more and she just lay there on the ground, trying to recover but knowing it to be useless, so she was basically arguing with herself on whether to get up or not.

She was able to somewhat get up before watching one final kick to Cherenkov, “You Federation Scum!” the punks repeated.

Suddenly, a Zohar symbol appeared on the commander’s head, and Gene gasped. She knew this was going to happen, and she had wanted to prevent it, and now it was going to happen anyways.

His eyes flashed and Gene saw one person being practically ripped apart by Berserk Cherenkov. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to watch, tears slipping from her eyes and flowing down her cheeks as she let out a sob. “Stop!” she cried. “Stop!”

And just like that, it all stopped. Gene didn’t hear anybody screaming in pain, or anybody being ripped apart anymore. She opened her eyes, the tears still flowing and the shaking sobs still in her throat, but Cherenkov was nowhere to be found.

Next chapter should hopefully be coming soon, but don't make a bet on it. I still have to find a way to play it while avoiding my parents and making sure my school work is done. Anyways, hope you're all happy with this chapter. I'm open to comments and suggestions!