[video]

[derivativeofx]

[Oh, hey X. You're looking... kinda different? He's actually in his armor, for one, and he seems to have... invested in new contacts? Jeez, X, red's a pretty sinister eye color. Might wanna reconsider that one.

He doesn't appear to be in his room, either. People who know the school reallly well might recognize the truancy office. Or recognize Resetti's holes in the ceiling.]

I guess I'd better introduce myself sooner rather than later. My name is X. I'm what you might call a reploid, if any of you are familiar with the term. If you're not, I suppose it'd be simplest to just call me a robot. I'll be joining this school's truancy staff. I expect, of course, that I won't be all that busy. You're all dedicated students here, I hope?

[Is there an implied "or else" in there? No, of course not. Nice reploids like X would never do something like that.]

There's... something a little unusual that I'd like cleared up, actually. I was familiarizing myself with the school's records, and I was more than a little surprised to note that I'm apparently already here; there's an X listed in the enrollment records. Is this some sort of filing error?

Comments

[obfuskate]

[ He pauses, regarding X's bubbly behavior, his cheery, lax personality, the way he practically explodes with optimism and purest radiance.

This...

This is not the X he remembers and knows. ]

Very.

I... suppose you do not remember me, then.

[ An X from the future... From the X at Smash's future or the X before he came to Smash's future? ]

[derivativeofx]

[That stings a little. Not that it's a pang he can let show, of course. If he's not a perfect copy, then... well, that can be corrected. He'll just have to work a little harder than usual at it.

Copy X just shrugs, an apologetic smile fixed onto his face.]

I'd like to say I do, but... I'm afraid not. Could I ask your name?

[obfuskate]

... It's Shadow.

[ He doesn't show it at all, really - he has really perfected his poker face - but he feels a pang in his heart, as well. In Shadow's case, he just doesn't feel good about seeing this, seeing such a cheery, innocent robot boy darkened by war, by human greed and violence.

What if...

What if Maria turned out the same way if she'd lived?

No, he isn't about to imagine that, and Maria- Maria couldn't be corrupted, not like that. No, no, no. He shakes his head. ]

I am a truancy officer myself. We will be working together, however loosely.

[derivativeofx]

Well, Shadow, I guess it's a good thing we're already friends. Let's do our best to keep things peaceful.

[He just keeps on smiling. Truthfully, there's a frustrated little itch somewhere deep down. It's not fair, is it? He tries to be X back home, and gets told he's too naive. Once he learns how to fake it convincingly... suddenly, he's not naive enough. He's a little resentful of the idea of having to rewrite his carefully-scripted act, but it's not like there's much choice, is there?]

And... don't worry. I'll change. I can be more like him.

[...Oh. Did that sound out-of-place? Maybe that sounded out-of-place. Let's just... cover our asses a little.]

This is a school, not a battlefield. There's no reason to carry those sorts of things on my shoulders anymore, right?

[obfuskate]

[ That did sound odd, but everything was sounding odd about him right about now. It made sense, though. Maybe his wording was just poor. Such is the expected imperfections of a human-manufactured robot. ]

Hn. Compared to a certain mole, things between us will remain relatively peaceful, as long as you don't cause me any trouble.

[ That last line, though...

All he can do is shake his head, those ears of his wilting. Should he- Should he talk to the X of the past after all of this? Should he try to gather more understanding from him?

...

Hmph. No. Of course not. Why did he care? He shouldn't care, and that's that. ]