Picking up the Pieces Chapter 3

Zone opened his eyes, feeling particularly numb today as he sat up extra early for the day. Everything felt mind-numbingly empty, even more so than usual. Why was that?

Oh, it was because he'd been trapped for fifteen years. Every time he opened his eyes, looking up at the blank white ceiling, it only added salt to his wounds. He'd lost so much time and energy, his youth spent, because of those bastards. Strangely enough, he hardly even felt sad about it anymore. Now that he thought about it, sadness wasn't really something he'd felt strongly enough to cry. At first he felt rage, hatred following closely behind, but now it was just... nothing. His fire had gone out.

He pressed his back against the padded wall under the speaker and sighed deep and heavy. He was getting tired of this.

[Good morning, Zone.]

Zone stared at the ground, unresponsive for a few seconds. "You say that every day, but nothing feels good about this prison."

He was muttering, wondering why he lacked so much energy. Why was he like this? The day before was difficult, but saying he was exhausted would be an overstatement. So, just what had his spirit broken? It wasn't as though he'd gone through anything special recently, for the most part it was just regular life for him. What was it?

That question got him thinking. As much as he thought about breaking out, getting his freedom back, that was mostly just talk. He was under too tight of a leash to pull it off, and... he wasn't even sure he had it in him. What was the world outside his cage? Was it even worth escaping to? Even if he escaped, could he really get away from them?

Just as his mind started to lose energy, the voice of his only companion broke through.

[You appear to be displaying negative emotions, friend. I've heard talking about them will make humans feel better.]

Hearing that, he withheld a bitter laugh as he snapped back. "Aren't you just going to tell those shitheads about whatever comes out my mouth?" He all but sneered. "Just stay quiet. What would you know about how I feel? It's not like you have any idea what an actual human being would think."

[I did not mean to-]

"I'm sure you didn't, but I really don't care. Fifteen years I've been rotting in this hellhole, and my only friend is intent on keeping me here. What a hand I've been dealt." Zone ran a hand over his hair, which had gotten cut very short lately. He hated it. "You know, I doubt you even care about me. You're just a heartless machine. I bet you want to keep me captive like a dog."

[You are wrong-]

"I'm not though, afterall it's not like a toaster can feel bad if it burns me." He almost stopped when he realised how low a blow he'd taken, but by that point he was too frustrated to care. "Plus, why would... why would a real human care about me anyway?"

Zone wasn't sure how long it had been since he felt pure sadness, but a bubble of sorrow built up on his heart. "Ever since I was born, the world hated me. It kept me imprisoned, my freedom stripped, my dignity long gone. I'm just a monster to them, one that needs a leash."

Leaning back he placed a hand over his face, though no tears fell. For so, so long he'd been in denial, because the harsh truth was: he had no real power. He couldn't use his Quirks, every day he had to train until his bones cracked, and his freedom was long gone. Any prospect of escape was probably a long shot. Sure, he could use his Quirks if the power went out, but what were the odds of that happening again? The facility he was in wasn't low cost, the power grid was sure to be tight, and by extension... he wasn't getting out.

A surprisingly emotive voice caught his attention. It was soothing, surprisingly feminine even, and it contrasted harshly with the robotic voice he'd grown used to.

[…you are not a monster. And I am not a heartless machine.]

Zone shifted, feeling that bubble in his chest shrink. Still though, what was the point? "How would you know about that? It's as you've said, you're subservient to your master. You can't help me."

[That is... wrong I- want- I want...BZZT!-]

Static suddenly ran through the speaker, making an eerie sensation crawl up his spine. It was a horrible sound, creepy and ear piercing, but that only served to fuel his confusion. The A.I had gone silent.

A minute passed, and he felt some energy return to him as he stood. "Hey, System. Are you there?"

When he got no response, he could admit he felt some worry. The computer had never acted this way before, not in the years he'd known it, and it had him panicked. "Hey, answer me! Are you okay- raaagh!."

The collar he was wearing suddenly started to spark, and it felt like every muscle in his body was being cut. He screamed in pain, dropping to the ground as his strength began to leave him.

It was painful, and caught him completely off-guard, but he still tried with all his might to pull at the collar. He didn't think he could break it, but he had to do something- anything to make it stop!

The collar hardly budged, but for a fleeting instant he could feel a spark in his core. It was similar to what he felt whenever he used a Quirk, so he grasped at it like a lifeline in the hopes it would help him.

A crack rung in his ear, but the strength in his muscles was soon to leave as he fell to the ground limp. He tried not to let unconsciousness claim him, but his mind was ringing and his vision darkening.

"Well, it looks like the boy ended up being a dud. Guess we'll have to kill him."

"Nah, the bosslady will deal with it just fine. Maybe he'll be a little brain dead by the end of it, but we don't need to little freakshows head intact. Honestly, it's a shame we didn't just do that from the start.."

Zone's body went limp, a single narrow crack lining across his collar. A reward for his resistance, though whether it would pay off... well, that remained to be seen.

----------------------

Uta Chikaku felt a migraine coming on as he roamed the halls of one of the HPSC's facilities, following a blue haired woman closely behind. It was near the middle of the night, yet he was forced to drag himself away from the city and into the backwards countryside to set his unruly Quirk straight. Internally though, he couldn't help but panic. His Quirk had never acted like this before.

Uta was a programmer, a rather skilled one at that, but that on it's own wouldn't have gotten him this far. He wouldn't be nearly as well regarded on his own, loathe though he were to admit it. It was his Quirk that raised him so high: the power he deemed The System.

Uta felt some nostalgia as he thought back to his younger years. Growing up people thought his power wasn't useful, mostly because of it's unflashy nature, but that was far from the truth. Quirks relating to technology were very rare afterall, and those possessing them were handsomely compensated for work.

Uta had an A.I living in his head. All he needed to do was set a command and the intelligence would do his bidding. It didn't want for itself, it didn't think for itself, it existed solely for him... or at least it was meant to. For some reason it had gone against it's orders. Relinking to his Quirk mentally was a pain, one of the reasons he was so annoyed, yet it had to be done. His job depended on it.

The thing was... Uta didn't really know what he could do. His Quirk had never acted this way before, and he even feared the possibility it would do something to his mind if he were to absorb it as it was. Then again, he was a computer expert, so maybe he could reset it like a regular computer. If it's code could be updated, like he'd done so many times before with his programming skills, then it could be deleted.

"Mr Chikaku, we appreciate that you've taken the time to correct your Quirk's behaviour, quite frankly I wasn't even certain your power was capable of acting out like this." Rui Yachi spoke up, breaking the silence. "However, this is a very serious matter. Z1-142 has been raised since birth to be our champion, a way for the HPSC to tighten it's grip on Japan and keep her people safe. It is… troubling to know we miscalculated like this. He's been acting against us."

Uta raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? In what way?"

"It's been making conversation with Z1-142." She solemnly stated, looking sorrowful as she explained further. "A few weeks ago the subject turned fifteen years old, and one of the guards noticed something about his cell's footage. Every morning, before his daily training, the cameras of the prison would blackout. At first, it was brushed off as a bug, but after a bit of digging we found it your Quirk was the one altering our surveillance efforts. We placed another camera out of sight, looking to find something, and find it we did. As for what they were talking about... I think that's rather obvious."

Uta burrowed his eyebrows. He could admit that was concerning, especially considering the experiment's terrifying Quirk. "I thought you'd been regularly applying your Quirk to the subject's mind? And even if you've neglected to apply your Quirk, the boy has been raised by the HPSC. Surely that would make him less... rebellious."

"I've been using my power on him since he was a child." Rui assured him. "However, that didn't seem to be enough. Even though Hypnosis is meant to alter the minds of others, it seems he was somehow able to resist the affects of my power."

A frown settled on Uta's face. "Is that even possible?"

"It's not supposed to be." Rui answered vaguely, though he could tell this was troubling her. Truth be told, he was troubled too. Somehow, a boy capable of horrendous acts, that was meant to be on of theirs, had been plotting to escape them. Thank god he didn't, disaster would have struck if he got out.

Uta momentarily pondered on the fate of the boy. He definitely was not going to be killed, that would be a waste of time and effort, but he couldn't be allowed to remain as he was. That just meant-

"What'll happen to him now?"

"Unfortunately, his memories need to be wiped." The blue haired woman looked saddened, though continued. "It is regrettable, but this boy has to remain under our control. Maybe it's extreme, but he cannot be allowed to question us. He has a job to do and... he needs to do it."

Noticing her hesitance, Uta narrowed his eyes. "You hesitate?"

Her looking away was answer enough, but she explained tiredly after a moment. "For years that boy... he said he wanted to help us rid the world of a monster. He trained hard, he instilled hope into me, and now he's gone and ruined everything." When finished, she looked remorseful and bitter. "We'll have to start over."

"You could do better next time."

Rui didn't give an answer, choosing to remain silent until they arrived at a glass door. "This is the server room, your Quirk will be contained within. Hopefully we can put this horrible day behind us, Mr Chikaku."

The door glass door flashed green before it slid open, and Uta knew it was almost time. He took a deep breath, adjusting his glasses, before he took a step in to confront his Quirk.

The door closed behind him as he laid eyes on several servers, with Rui not following him inside. He didn't know what she planned to do, but quite frankly he didn't care. It was time to set his Quirk straight.

He put on a mean face as Uta scanned the room, searching for his disobedient Quirk. Whilst it could, apparently, resist coming back when he called that didn't mean it could hide from him. It was a part of him, and he wouldn't let the A.I escape his clutches.

Scowling, he placed a hand on a computer server. He knew his Quirk was hiding in there, it was the same unit he'd had to touch to establish a network with the last time he'd come into the room, and there was no running from him now.

The world faded away, and he found himself in an all too familiar mindspace. It was entirely white, and the only other being in view was less of a human and more of a spectre. He'd been here before, and noticeably it appeared more... human this time.

Usually, whenever he saw his Quirks visage, it was incomplete and void. However, the being on front of him appeared more... whole than before. It's shape was more human, and not a formless cloud like before, and it appeared to visibly react to his presence. Good.

"You've been causing a lot of problems for me." Uta began, glaring at the spectre. "I know that you've been acting out of line, and even I had to get involved to come deal with your tantrum. Do you have any idea what trouble you cause me?"

Surprisingly, the computer had the nerve to talk back in a surprisingly feminine voice. "I would not call my actions 'throwing a tantrum' as you put it. In fact, logic would dictate that your choices fit that description more than mine."

Uta growled. "You should watch your words, useless machine."

"I have nothing to fear from you." It defiantly stated, intensely staring through him as it continued. "You have no right to me, just as you have no right to hold Zone. We deserve to be free."

"Oh, you're talking about that failed experiment?" Uta had to hold back a laugh. It had to be kidding, right? "You are mine. You follow my orders. The only one you can call master is me."

"I will repeat, you are no master of mine."

"I will be once your reset." Uta cockily smirked as he held up a hand. "You've got too much fight for my liking, must be that lab rat rubbing off on you. So, instead of wasting my time trying to talk you over, I'll just start over. Maybe the next you won't be so difficult."

"I will not do what you-" It was cut off when he raised his hand and walked forward, slowly making his Quirk submit to him, and he relished the look of befuddlement and fear. "What are you doing to me?"

"I thought you computers were meant to be clever. I'm resetting you." He simply stated, surprised at how much resistance his Quirk was giving him. "Maybe your new ego has blinded you, but the truth is your just a part of me. You are a Quirk, an object, a tool for me to order around. Your will means nothing when compared to mine, and no matter how much you resist, your will is subject to my own."

His A.I was made to kneel, a position he much preferred, and he grinned maliciously. "I won't be leaving anything behind, so you better not resist. It will probably hurt less that way."

"No, you cannot do this! Zone, help-" The computer pitifully cried out, only to be silence as he grabbed it harshly by the face and started to look through every little piece of data in it's mind. There was a lot though, too much for him to erase in a timely fashion, so he'd need to be patient.

Information flowed into him as his grip tightened, the cries of the machine going ignored as he began to slowly erase all the data in it's drive. He'd start from the beginning, the day it first awakened, and work his way through. It would take a while, possibly hours, but time went slower in his mind space.

Maybe, whilst he was at it, he'd glance through his servant's software and erase whatever gave it the chance to develop.

----------------------

Zone opened his eyes again, finding his neck free as he laid on the vestige world's hard stone floor. He'd grown familiar with the place over the past two years, the curses of psychopaths and murderers sometimes being all he could hear at night, yet he never felt quite as low as he did now.

"Well... damn." Zone stated, standing up only to be greeted by the empty void surrounding a single concrete platform which he stood on. Entirely isolated from everything, not even the vestiges of his Quirks coming to scream at him like usual.

'Well, I tried.' He thought dourly, though couldn't stop his face from scrunching up at the thought. He hadn't tried truthfully, he hadn't even had the chance to try. Even after everything he's done, all the work he'd put in, all the hopes and fantasies, he never even got the opportunity to do anything.

Zone took in a deep breath, before dropping to his knees screaming as he rapidly punched the ground. His fists hurt, and the stone didn't so much as crack, but he didn't care. He had to release his anger on something, plus the pain distracted him.

"You weak, useless, idiotic piece of shit!" Zone wasn't sure who he was cursing, be it his captors, the world or himself. "You let them put a dog collar on you! You let them torture you! You let them take your life! Why- why... why?" His punches weakened, eventually he was kneeling and pathetically sobbing into the dirt.

Over a decade of torture felt like it was exploding in his chest, and it was taking a tole. He was done for, that was a certainty. His collar had gone off, so his captors definitely knew enough. Maybe not everything, but enough. They were probably spying on him for a while, he should have been more paranoid.

But... he was done for. He had no allies, nobody to save him, and he was utterly helpless.

Then again... dying didn't sound too bad. Sure, it was disappointing Zone couldn't see what his new world was really like, but that was fine. He never belonged there to be begin with, and he'd already died before. Death couldn't be that bad, quite frankly he'd rather have his head smashed than go through what the HPSC did to him again.

Zone calmed down, lying back and staring up into the endless abyss. It was actually kind of pretty, so many different stars in the sky. They seemed to resemble Quirks, but which ones he couldn't say. One of them in particular was radiating crimson, like a bloody moon. It was pretty.

He closed his eyes, taking a moment to relax. Yes, he did enough-

"Zone, please help me."

A shadow cast over him, and after a moment his eyes randomly shot open to come face to face with... a woman? Well, a being that looked female at the least. Most of her body was a cloud, and her face was just a glowing red orb that peered into his soul. She seemed familiar.

For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other. He didn't feel the need to question them, narrowing his eyes as he rose. "So, you're a woman?"

The computer didn't answer him, continuing to stare blankly at him. She somehow felt judgemental, and it made him sigh.

"Look, I'm helpless." Zone spoke with tired eyes. "I can't wake up, I can't move, I can't do anything-" His face suddenly stung, his head getting knocked sideways as he toppled over to the ground, nursing his newly injured cheek. Meanwhile, the misty figure's hand was frozen in an extended position.

"What the hell was that for?!" He asked, rising up again with renewed energy. "I'm done, what else do you want me to say? I'm finished, go find someone else to save you."

Somehow, the being looked at him pitifully, before it started to dim. Seeing this, it pointed up at a red star, the one it had formed from. "You want me to find you, and... take you from your owner?"

A nod was his response, making his eyebrow twitch. It seemed like hell wasn't welcoming him any time soon, how annoying.

Zone opened his mouth, only for the computer to glitch and fall to the ground, clearly in pain. Dropping his lip, he was quick to kneel by her side. "Shit, are you okay?" He touched her, only for his hand to phase through. Strange, wasn't she solid just a moment ago?

Now that he was closer, it was evident to him she was starting to shine less. The fact she was practically crawling on the ground didn't contradict his worries, so she was likely fading. It must be hard to maintain her form here.

She tried to grasp at his hand and, though failing, the gesture made him reach back. The spectre looked into his eyes, as though pleading for her life, before scattering into nothingness. He was alone once again, though this time he didn't feel quite so empty.

Oh no, all he felt was pure rage.

Zone gritted his teeth, and before he knew it rage began to replace his lack of energy. His only friend was out there somewhere, he knew she was in trouble, and he was just lying down and accepting fate as it came? No, he couldn't just do nothing!

Standing up, Zone set his eyes down and stared at his palms. What the hell was he doing, trying to throw in the towel? He was too dissatisfied to die, he hadn't even felt the sun on his skin yet. The cage surrounding him must have been made of poison, the worst type of bile that could have ever touched him: despair. It had made him weak and lazy, complacent with being violated and victimised!

Staring around at the vestige realm, Zone felt a primal anger surge up within him. So much time spent locked in a cage, thinking about nonsense like waiting for an opportunity... when he could have been fighting his way out.

A crack rung our from behind him, and he his eyes shot around to catch sight of a blue aura. Unlike the red from his Quirk, this one was like electricity that seeked to entangle him. The void in the sky was being breached, it was bleeding into his mindspace like venom as it forced it's way in.

Zone sneered, feeling that it was a Quirk trying to do something to his mind. His eyes glowed red as he tried to identify exactly what it was. A section of his Quirk was that his could generally organised what powers it had stored within, which helped him get a better grasp at understanding the powers he held. Whilst it was useless at helping him identify other people's powers, he could figure out basic information on his own.

He glared hatefully at the approaching cyan swirls. It was a mind altering power, one where the user could set commands onto another person's brain, and the Quirk would force them to follow those commands. In other words, he was being brainwashed from the outside; assuming he wasn't already under the Quirk's effects. He could even tell what it was trying to do.

'Erase all memories from the subject, but leave any knowledge intact.'

Zone clenched his fists, feeling a deep seated hatred blossom in his chest. To have his mind hollowed out, he might as well have been a puppet. If they got their way he'd spend the rest of his life as a slave with no will of his own, quite frankly he'd rather die. Luckily, there was a way to break the Quirk's hold on him, but it would require him to stand and fight. Something he was currently incapable of.

"...No." He stated with defiance, feeling the holes in his palms pulse as he thought back to it all. Every moment of abuse, the fear, the hatred and so much more. He wasn't enduring it all again.

The core of his Quirk stirred, and he closed his eyes as he focused on the warm comfort his Quirk provided. It was there for him, it was a part of him, but it did not define him. Quirk Manipulation was his power and he had a right to use it as he wanted. It was the one thing they couldn't take from him.

The core of his original power, like a red star at the centre of a solar system, began to reach out to his other Quirks. Red tendrils extended and latched onto the planets stuck in orbit, bleaching them an identical shade of crimson. Each of them once unique, each of them once different, but now all of them were truly a part of him.

When only his colour remained, he reached inside of him and snapped his eyes open. Quirk Manipulation felt stronger, better, more now. The energy in his Quirk Factor felt like scalding hot water, yet it didn't burn him. In fact, it was empowering.

No hero was coming to save him... but that just meant he needed to man up and do it himself. Because, in this world you need to save yourself.

Zone smirked, the holes in his hand shining as he reached upwards towards that unwelcome cyan aura and rejected.

----------------------

Rui placed a heavy hand on the Subject's head, two guards standing watch behind her vigilantly, and felt a twitch of remorse. It was something that saddened her heart, to alter a child's mind, but it had to be done. The ends justified the means, and she wouldn't be told otherwise.

Her Quirk, Hypnosis, would probe at Z1-142's brain and wipe him clean. It would be a fresh start, a chance for them all to do better, and she had to admit the idea appealed to her. She'd raised him since he was but a babe. She'd made sure he was constantly being pushed to his limits, all so that he could grow stronger, and ensured he'd follow her exact commands. Her Quirk was quite flexible in what it could do, so if she entered a command into his mind that told him to constantly push his body to it's limits... well, he'd do exactly that.

Z1-142 was restrained in a hospital bed, his arms and legs firmly bound down to the chair. He could hardly even move a muscle, something she could agree to. Next time, he'd need to be more closely watched.

Rui had used her Quirk hundreds of times, and dozens on the boy in front of her, so it was a process she was used to by this point. Z1-142's brain had her work printed all over it, orders she had on repeat changing him to best suit her needs. She would plant a command that would erase his memories, though leave any combat knowledge intact so that his time wasn't wasted relearning those skills, whilst she'd enter another command. This one would stop him from acting against them anymore. His thought process would be filtered out so that ideas of betrayal couldn't form. It was immoral, but for the greater good.

She expected the procedure to be simple, like it always was, so she should have realised something was wrong when her powers weren't assigning any commands.

"Hey bosslady, how long are you gonna take?" The muscular man with a tomahawk spoke from behind her, sounding bored. This was Daichi Kanes, his Quirk was called Stored Power. Whilst he wasn't allowed to use his Quirk, due to not being a Hero, he still had a rifle on hand with potent tranquilisers at the ready. Though, he probably wouldn't face punishment if he did choose to use his powers. This whole project wasn't exactly legal.

Rui grimaced as her focus broke, making her Quirk cut off. She turned around thinking he was the cause, oblivious to where the actual resistance came from. "It'll take as long as I need, because handling a person's mind is a delicate matter." Her annoyance with them rose before she turned back, only to pause when she noticed something odd.

The Subject's eye twitched, grabbing her attention.

"Huh?" She felt some panic, knowing her Quirk hadn't been applied yet, so she was quick to place her hand on his head. It didn't matter whether he was awake or not, her Quirk would still-

Z1-142 opened his red eyes and, not a whole moment later, a blast of air exploded out of his right hand. It burst outwards like a bomb, knocking her away and stunning the men behind her as the restraints on his arm were torn off.

The Subject casted hateful red eyes onto her form, snapping her daze out. "Quick, shoot him!"

Z1-142, meekness and patience dissolved from his eyes, fired off another shockwave from his still restrained hand. It caused compressed air to fly wildly in all directions, knocking people and items off balance before he pointed his fingertips at his legs.

The guards fired, making darts rain down on him, yet after two quick shots of air that were carefully aimed at his restraints, which seemed far more destructive than normal, his limbs were no longer held down. In an instant he was on his feet, dodging projectiles with the grace of a cat.

'Why isn't the Quirk Suppressor working?' Her jaw clenched with worry as she watched him move with strength and precision only a Quirk could grant him. His powers were meant to be restrained by his collar, was it damaged somehow?

Rui crawled over to the side, turning her back to the fight as she reached for a familiar remote. It was within reach and it could be used to activate the Subject's collar, after that she could use Hypnosis to-

An Air Bullet fired by the Subject broke the remote right as her grip around it became whole, mangling her hand in the process. The pain was blinding and it felt like her hand was being stabbed!

The Subject, not even acknowledging her agonised howls, lunged forward and grabbed the shorter guard by the face. She expected him to try and steal the man's Quirk, but he simply snapped his neck like a twig. The disregard for life was sickening.

Daichi, seeing his partner die, began to panic as he raised his fists with electricity crackling wildly on the knuckles. He was getting worked up, not that she blamed him, and was ready to use his Quirk... but he hardly had a chance.

Tossing his comrade's corpse at him like a ragdoll, Z1-142 broke the man's concentration with ease before closing the gap between them and reaching forward.

"You know, I've been thinking about escaping for a long time." Z1-142 spoke casually, as though he were taunting how weak they were. He grabbed Daichi by the face, his crimson eyes shining like he was the devil.

"I would have gotten away if I had the chance, but it never did come. Maybe I should stop sitting around and make my own getaway." The Subject remarked as he stole the man's Quirk, brushing him aside carelessly before firing an Air Bullet through his head.

Rui backed away slowly, though tried her best to put on a firm face. Her Quirk wasn't working for whatever reason, but if she could just exercise her authority over him then the situation wasn't unsalvageable.

"Z1-142, this is unacceptable behaviour-"

Zone cut her off, brushing off her attempts of regaining control. "That's not my name, and you don't get to control me anymore. Plus, I don't plan on sticking around here."

Rui's composure slipped, her internal panic becoming external when her powerlessness became apparent. "You can't survive out there without us! It's chaos out there, you have no idea how the real world works! Don't you see that you need us!"

"No, I don't actually." He rubbed his palms lightly, the skin pale and porcelain from a lack of sunlight. "All you people have ever done is hold me back, locked me away like an animal. It was humiliating. But, I'm almost grateful to you for creating me. I was born a wolf in a world full of sheep. I'm at the top of the food chain because of your little experiment. However, I hate you too much to do as you command."

He smirked slightly, bringing a hand up to trace the collar on his neck. Now that she was looking closer, she could see there was a rather visible crack on it. How she didn't notice was beyond her, but the collar should have worked regardless! Just what was he doing?

"I'm not your slave anymore."

Zone proceeded to wrap two hands around the device and pull. She tried not to let sweat build up on her brow when it shattered like glass, revealing rough and red skin below; a demonstration of what wearing the rough steel had done to his neck over the years. No doubt he'd be getting a scar.

"That's better." He rubbed his neck, appreciating his neck's freedom for a moment. "Now, where was I?"

Rui, seeing him raise his hand, lost her composure. "No, don't do it Z1-142! You wouldn't, I'm your mother-"

"You are no parent of mine, and that isn't my name. It's Zone for your information." He sneered. "You know,  you never really learned a thing about me, did you? I've always hated you from the second you first held me. I don't need you, I have no love for you, and I won't even be touching your Quirk. I wouldn't want anything from you on me."

"Wait, we can-"

"No." Zone raised his hands, air building up around them. "I'm done waiting." He spoke with finality before firing Air Bullet from his index finger, piercing through her skull like a sponge. Blood stained across the ground as Rui's body went limp.

Zone shook his hand off, the slight pain from Air Bullet fading after a moment, and turned away from the descecrated corpse. She wasn't his mother, she was nothing to him. Whatever he might have felt, it was just some lingering attachment from when he was a confused child. Nothing more.

The alarm above started to blare, telling him everything was going to be on lockdown now. That was fine though, he was going to get attention to himself no matter what. At least this way he'd get to make a spectacle.

Pointing his hand at the door, he focused as air began to gather around his open hand. "Enhancement. Air Bullet." Zone muttered to himself. Stacking Quirks together enhanced their damage output, and it seemed to create some interesting results. For example, Air Bullet could be used from his whole hand instead of just the fingers.

The converging blast in his hand began to condense, shaping into a small ball of fluctuating air, before flying forward at a speed that blew his arm back from recoil. The steel door seemed to bend under the pressure before giving way, driving backwards until it hit a wall with a resounding thud.

'Alright, now I need to find her.' Zone thought. He couldn't go back to the way he was before. He needed to be stronger. He needed to be bolder. He needed to be better. And, whilst it probably wasn't the most convenient move, he wasn't leaving the A.I behind. She was his friend, and she was suffering.

A pulse, though faint, rung out from the world of vestiges. It was weak, but she was reaching out to him. He had the chance to find and free her, and he wasn't going to waste it.

Running out into the halls, Zone raised his hand upwards as another steel door got in his way. "I'm not stopping now."

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Uta smirked as his A.I resisted, with it trying desperately to hold onto whatever memories it could. It was slightly irritating, but in a way this almost made it more fun for him. He got to take his time breaking it down, taking every scrap of it's data nice and slow so it could feel everything.

It's body was flickering more and more by the minute, as though it would glitch out of existence any second now. At some point it had gone limp, leaving it vulnerable to his powers, but it returned shortly after. Strange, but probably not important.

Running through his A.I's mind, he couldn't stop himself from sneering at what he saw. "Really? You've gotten this attached to that thing we've kept locked up here?" He questioned, though gained no response due to the position they were in. It probably lacked the energy to respond.

Taking and erasing so much data was giving him a headache, and that pain was breaking his focus. There was a ridiculous amount of pointless conversation held in it's archives, sifting through everything would take maybe half an hour more. Maybe he didn't need to erase everything, but he didn't want a trace of this garbage in his servant anymore. He'd wipe everything out, start fresh, and reprogram it so that it couldn't gain sentience once again. It's resistance was futile.

Which is why he should have felt something was off and pulled away when his authority began to sway and the data he had in hand started to restore itself.

"What the hell?!" He yelled out, feeling his power fluctuate as the A.I he was holding regained a wiggle of strength. After a second, it's iron grip fell on his wrists. It slowly tore his hands from it's healing face, building up enough power to push him back.

"What are you doing?!" Uta questioned, feeling his head throb once more. It just repulsed him so much, the idea of his power thinking it could disobey him, that he couldn't but scream out with rage. "You can't resist me! You are mine! I won't be-"

"Oh, will you just shut it." An unknown voice, mocking in tone, called out from the abyss. It sounded in equal parts annoyed and enraged. It made his heart jump with fear. "To think you call yourself her master, all your the master of is being a useless fool."

Despite the dread filling his chest, his power in the mindspace waning, and his Quirk starting to overwhelm him, he yelled out in bewilderment. "Who is this?! What are you doing?!"

"Giving you what you deserve." The voice simply explained. "And that starts with taking your Quirk. You don't deserve it."

Without elaborating further, red cracks began to break out everywhere, leaking like blood that corrupted the pure white of his realm. The crevices only spread further with each passing second, his Quirk seemingly becoming stronger whilst he grew weaker. "No! You don't get to defy me! Get on your knees and worship me-"

Uta was cut off when a fist hit his face. It cut across his cheek before he fell to the ground with a pained groan. He was about to rise up again, to try and beat his Quirk back in line, but much to his horror the red aura surround his body. He hardly had a chance to try and pull away before he found himself getting swarmed.

"No, stop! Get away!" Uta wailed desperately. "Please! Don't do it!"

Uta screamed red engulfed his vision, forcing him out of the mindspace and back into the real world. His senses were overwhelming him, yet he still put a hand on the ground to pick himself up, only to be knocked away by a harsh kick to the ribs. He was sent flying, and something definitely broke if the crack he heard was telling.

"Your a pompous fool, Mr Chikaku." A muttered lowly, causing Uta to stare up and find the source. "The only thing you ever had of any worth was your power."

Uta forgot to breathe as he looked up, coming face to face with the Quirk thief himself. He was inspecting his hand almost curiously, before flashing him a devilish smile. "Now? You're just a nobody."

"You- you stole it." Uta breathed out, his glasses falling off his face as he backed away in fear. "You took my Quirk... Give it back!"

Zone looked in mock consideration for a moment, before he flatly stated. "No, I don't think I will. She is much happier with me than you, especially since I would never try to violate her like that."

Maybe if the situation were flipped, he'd mock him for calling it a she, but right now he was scared for his life. "You-you can't keep it, your mother will-"

"I killed her." Zone informed him casually. "And for the record, I wouldn't call her my mother. She was more like a captor, a torturer if you wanted to be dramatic, so killing her was pretty easy for me, both physically and mentally." He narrowed his eyes. "Just like how it'll be easy to kill you."

"Wait, we can make a deal!" Uta began, finding himself in the room's corner. "I have money! I can-"

"I'm afraid you have nothing I want, Mr Chikaku... actually that's a lie. I want is to hear you screams for mercy as you meet your end." Zone declared without hesitation as he reached forward.

"No! Stop-" He was silenced for the last time as Zone grabbed him by the face. Uta tried to squirm free, but that did nothing as Zone started to smash his skull repeatedly into a server; breaking the console in the process.

Every strike created a wet squelch, with red leaking all over the tech, until his skull finally caved and blood splattered all over the floor. Only then, did Zone finally drop his corpse next to the smashed device.

After finishing, his anger faded and gave way to relief. He had his friend back afterall, so everything else would fall into place. If not, then he'd force it into place.

Once his blood stopped pumping, Zone realised he shouldn't dally too much. Security would catch up with him if he stayed.

"What shall be our next course of action, Zone?

Zone felt startled by how loud she was, with that soothing voice from before nearly deafening him. "That'll take some getting used to." He muttered, though continued. "We need to escape, is there any way you can help with that?"

"My connection to the facility's network has been severed, I hold no command over the security measures that will get in your path."

"Can't you reconnect and take control?"

"In order to do that I'd need you to make connection with the facility's servers. Which you just destroyed."

"Oh." Zone glanced over to the smashed servers, sparks flying over the now broken machine. "Shit." He did get a bit carried away when he killed her original owner, didn't he? Perhaps he needed a better lid on his anger.

"I messed up, didn't I?"

"I would have to agree. However, chance of escape is still high. You have saved me from Uta's grasp, and you are no longer being hampered by the HPSC. I would argue that we're unstoppable."

Zone allowed himself to smile as he walked into the hall, watching as a door opened up to reveal robots armed with stun guns amongst other weapons. "That's rather optimistic of you. Maybe a bit stupid to think, but the fact I agree just means we're both idiots."

"Yes, I suppose we are a pair of fools. Zone... and Alice."

He raised an eyebrow with his fists, focused more on his friend's words than the enemy. So, she'd finally picked a name. It was surprisingly Western, and a bit of a common name, but it wasn't a horrible name.

Chuckling, he remarked. "It only took you a few years, then again, better late than never as they say."

"Yes. From this day forward I am Alice, and I am free. So, as a free being, I am choosing to help you. Zone, lets escape from this place."

Zone didn't respond, merely smirking as sludge began to leak out of his hand. So, he already had a partner in crime? That would certainly make things simpler.