The holding cell reeked of waste and filth. Filthy stains of uncleaned waste lay everywhere. No one had bothered to wash nor release the poor red skinned beast chained up to its walls. Thus, she was forced to relieve herself where she was. The entire scene made for a pitiful sight that any human with even the slightest bit of compassion would feel sorry for.

However, there was no such human to be found. She was barely fed by her jailers, hooded and mysterious humans who she could never recognize. She never liked them at all. They always handled her too roughly when it came to feeding time.

On the 3rd day, or was it the 4th? She couldn't tell anymore due to the lack of sunlight in the cell she was locked up in. She had her first visitor, well they came as a pair, but they were her first visitors anyway. She heard the sound of rusty metal creaking as the entrance to her cell was opened.

Werner Franxx entered with a stoic expression, he wasn't shocked or disgusted at the scene that lay before him in the slightest. Not even the stench caused him pause, he had been hardened beyond such petty matters early in his life. He had seen, and done, much worse than this.

Behind him, a browned haired assistant followed Dr. Franxx into the room, she immediately made a retching sound and proceeded to cover her nose with her hands. She looked appalled at the sight before her.

"Old fools... When I gave my instructions to keep her alive. I expected better than this. Always count on APE to do the bare minimum."

Said Werner Franxx as he pushed his gaze downwards to the chained and shivering creature beneath him. To her credit, she managed to recognize him as the doctor that performed the failed memory wipe on her. The beast hissed and snarled at him, showing her sharp canines in an attempt to display her hostility towards Dr. Franxx. He slammed his cane onto the stone floor and spoke.

"Hybrid. I am here to negotiate with you."

She kept snarling and hissing at him, baring her canines as she did so.

"Ah, doctor? I think it doesn't understand our language, so I think-"

Werner shut her up immediately.

"Silence Nana. She is more intelligent then she lets on. She understands. Look at the glint in her eye."

Nana immediately offered no further comments, she dared not displease APE's top scientist who had powers second only to the APE council themselves.

"Nana."

"Yes, doctor?"

Nana snapped to attention as she mentally prepared herself for his incoming request.

"Cut all surveillance to this cell, then leave us."

She nodded. Being Werner Franxx's assistant longer than anyone else ever managed to taught her many things about the doctor that assisted her in avoiding the fate of her predecessors. Just listen, nod your head and never ask questions. She pressed the earpiece she had on and started relaying his instructions.

"Doctor Franxx requires all surveillance in holding cell #3 to be cut immediately."

After she heard the affirmative chirp of the operator. She immediately excused herself and left the holding cell as quickly as she could. Confirming he was alone and that the CCTV camera mounted on the wall had its power LED shut off, he proceeded to negotiate his terms with the beast.

"You want to see your darling, correct?"

At the sound of that sacred word, she ceased all of her snarling and looked at him with wide, fearful eyes. Just that one single word alone turned her from a frothing rage to a docile, submissive creature ready to listen.

Truly, she was a wonderful specimen. Combining human level intelligence and displaying such emotions like empathy and affection at such an undeveloped age. Ah... Amazing!

"I can arrange that for you, but only in exchange for your cooperation. Nod once if you understand me."

A nod.

"I am not APE's puppet. I have certain plans of my own that will require specific assets and resources. You are one such asset. Thus, I find myself in need of your capabilities. Nod once if you are still following me."

Another nod.

"If you wish to ever see your darling again in your lifetime, all I require is that you swear your loyalty to me, Werner Franxx, over APE. You will be my hellhound. You will be my attack dog. You will fight and kill if I demand you to. Until the time comes when I deem your service period completed and my plans fulfilled, I shall release you to your freedom into the embrace of your darling, Code 016. Now, nod three times if you agree."

She grimaced. What other choice did she have? Stay in this tormented cell forever and rot? She didn't even get sunlight here. If she couldn't even get sunlight, how could she even think about getting darling back? Thus, with the heaviest of hearts and a parched throat she croaked,

"I swear it."

Frantic nodding followed her heartfelt appeal.

And thus, Zero Two bartered her way back into the world of the living.

He always hated meetings, even back when the world was unbroken and it was just managers demanding their staff to meet quotas. Meetings were just an excuse to waste time and everyone knew it. Even though humanity was on the brink of annihilation in a war against an unrelenting alien species called Klaxosaurs. Meetings stayed the same.

Thus, Werner Franxx yawned.

"What's wrong Werner? Forgot your daily caffeine injection?"

A female voice from a slim APE council member ribbed at him. Low chuckles spread around the boardroom of APE HQ.

"I prefer that over the magma energy injections that you old fools indulge in way too much."

In the end, it was merely harmless banter that tried to lift the heavy atmosphere in the boardroom. A heavy atmosphere created by the current statistics shown on the floating screens. Numbers and maps occupied the boardroom wall to wall, but most of them posed little significance if you knew what you were looking for.

Unfortunately, what they were looking for displayed a very grim conclusion.

"This is the casualty projections for the planned counteroffensive in the Gran Crevasse region after we lost it to an enemy offensive 6 weeks ago."

"You expect 700 dead or wounded for the invasion, that's monthly right?"

"No Papa. Per week."

A heavy silence settled over the APE boardroom. Werner Franxx rolled his eyes.

What over-dramatic bastards

"Papa."

Papa, the leader of APE, leveled his gaze at the voice who spoke up, his vice-chairman and waited for him to continue.

"Papa, we need to admit that we are losing this war. We've ran the simulations. Our current attrition rate is unsustainable. If nothing changes, humanity will be wiped out in the next decade."

Papa let out a long sigh and started putting together a mental list of boxes to check in order to make sure they had every option covered. His second in command was right, humanity was losing. Something needed to change.

"What about Garden's production rate?"

"At capacity, they can produce no more with the current training regime. If we started cutting training hours or sending cadets out even younger, we would lose more than we would gain."

Upon hearing this, a bulky wide shouldered APE council member spoke up.

"Then we just need better tools of war, we need to improve our qualitative edge. We need better Franxx!"

Werner's mustache twitched at the implication that his creations were not good enough. He held his tongue and decided to let Papa handle this mess on his own. It was his job after all.

He just wanted to get back to his lab, squeeze his cute assistant's butt and perform experiments.

"Impossible, the magma cost to improve our current armory would be prohibitively costly in terms of resources. Magma energy is getting scarcer by the day. Our current Franxx are already designed with regards to cost efficiency, reliability and battle tested armaments. It's been proven sufficient to engage and destroy Klaxosaurs. The issue does not go away by blindly increasing the magma budget for Franxx production costs."

The vice-chairman dissected the bulky council member's argument with a precision that bordered on surgical.

Finally, Papa put out his question.

"What are our options?"

For the longest time, there was silence in the boardroom. Just as when Werner was about to roll his eyes and call it a day, the vice-chairman spoke up.

"We could look to the past for solutions."

Papa ears perked up. Looking to the past? Now he was interested.

"The current problems we face are simple. Our pilot training program at Garden is already operating at capacity. Our magma budget allows us no room to improve our current Franxx designs. Thus, the only option left is to increase the piloting aptitude of the average Franxx pilot and reduce their mortality rate."

"But if that requires increasing the hours of the training program at Garden. Pilot turnover would drop even further. That makes the already unsustainable replacement rate even worse."

Papa pointed out with some degree of frustration.

"In that case, we would just need to have Garden push out better pilots without increasing their training time then."

Papa balked at such an impossible declaration. But he was out of ideas, so he allowed the vice-chairman to continue.

"In the old world, the air forces of the strongest militaries included a dedicated trainer squadron to aid in researching tactical developments and doctrine. An Aggressor squadron. We could apply the same techniques to Garden's training program. Not just tactics and doctrine, the Aggressor squadron would assist in recording motion data for the Franxx and improving the Franxx operating systems for higher combat efficiency. "

The logic behind his reasoning was sound. But Papa needed to hear it from the expert himself that created the machines which bore his namesake. Doctor Werner Franxx.

"Werner, give me your take on his idea."

"A dedicated Aggressor squadron would genuinely assist me in recording improved motion data to update our current Franxx designs for a better range of motions and mobility." Werner continued.

"Also, there are optimizations that I could do to improve the Franxx OS but I require the input of expert pilots to implement them. It is a sound idea. In any case, we're better off hording our top piloting talents at the home front rather than putting them through the meat grinder of the front lines. It's an absolute waste of talent in my opinion."

"Pulling our top pilots off the front lines would weaken the combat abilities of our troops."

"Only for the short term. We might lose ground and territory in the short term, but we would come out with a stronger long term solution rather than grinding our population away to pieces for the sake of this damned war."

Werner Franxx's tone booked no argument.

With the technical expert giving his stamp of approval, Papa nodded and gave his go ahead for the creation of the first Aggressor squadron in human history that did not utilize aircraft, but mobile humanoid weapons called Franxx instead.

"After having said all that, we would absolutely need the best pilots available for the Aggressor squadron. I recommend recruiting from The Nines."

The Nines.

A squad of special forces troops falling under APE's direct command. They had the right to ignore all other orders on the battlefield if it did not come directly from the APE council. They were even above regular military justice, no one had the right to charge them with any offenses other than the APE council themselves.

They were considered far and away the most prestigious unit within the entire APE military. A hearken back to the praetorian guards of the ancient world. They answered to no one but to the APE council themselves.

"Absolutely not. The Aggressor squadron will fall under the regular chain of command with the Ground Forces. This would create a conflict of interest with their original role. Werner, you are not allowed to recruit from The Nines. This is a direct order from me as APE Chairman."

Werner Franxx allowed his frustration show on his face with a glare. Really? Humanity was going to be wiped out in a decade if nothing changed and Papa still wanted to play politics? What politics were there to be had if there existed no one to play your petty games with?

Papa noticed the outright frustration on Werner's face and knew he had to compromise. Papa was a politician back in the old world for a reason. He knew how to play the game. And that meant choosing your battles. He knew he now had to appeal to Werner's scientific side to succeed.

"Werner, the genetic base for The Nines differs from the regular forces. They simply should not be taken into consideration when comparing the capabilities of a regular pilot to the modified genes of The Nines. If their data was used to record the motion data for the Franxx, it would not be practical to apply it to the regular ground forces."

With a grumble, Werner Franxx agreed with Papa. He made to leave the boardroom, he had plenty of work to do, people to call, an Aggressor squadron to create, Garden databases to sieve through and Nana's butt to squeeze. He had been stuck in this stuffy boardroom with a bunch of old fools for too long.

Before he exited the boardroom, he looked behind towards Papa and asked,

"What should we name the new squad?"

After mulling over it for a moment. Papa let a smile creep across his face.

"APE Special Tactical Fighter Training Group"

The Aggressors.

Werner sunk into his lab's chair with a satisfied groan. Standing so long in that stuffy APE boardroom really did a number on his back. Where was that young thing, he needed to start working. Frustrated at the amount of work he had to accomplish in such a short amount of time, he yelled out.

"Nana!"

In a flash, Nana appeared beside Werner, truly she was a perfect woman he thought. Not in sight when unwanted, beside you in a flash when you called for her.

"At your side, Doctor."

Nana squealed as she felt a shameless hand grope her lavish behind.

"DOCTOR!"

That ass was a great quality too. Ok Franxx, let's get to work. Time to see if she really earned her keep.

"Did you do what I asked you to while I was in transit back to the lab?"

"Yes, Doctor. I have a list of high performing parasites of Garden's current batch. Putting them on screen now."

A list of high performing parasites? By the way the list extended and extended, it seemed Nana thought "high performing" merely meant putting every single double digit parasite on the list. Which still was way too many. There were over 70 candidates by the time Werner stopped counting.

Oh Nana. So naive...

He needed to sieve through them, and fast. He didn't have the time to play around looking through every applicant like he was recruiting salarymen back in the old world.

"Just give me the standout candidate recommended by observers."

He gruffly demanded.

Just pick the best one you can find and move on, Werner.

He rolled his eyes, Ground Forces weren't exactly known for their ace pilots after all. There was a reason why their mortality rate were so...appalling.

"One parasite came with multiple recommendations, you can check his details on the panel."

A black haired child with bright blue-green eyes stared back at him. Inwardly he guffawed, was this a joke played by fate? He literally just saw the child a few days ago, except he was strapped down in his lab while he burned away all memories he had relating to the hybrid.

Well why not, it would be amusing to play along anyway.

"So, what's so special about this one?"

Other than the fact he broke out of Garden, made contact with a hybrid and ingested her blood. He had to spend too many hours on that dialysis machine removing every trace of the hybrid's taint in his body. APE would have found out otherwise.

"Yes, well you see, he's extremely capable in close quarters combat. His aptitude there is extraordinary. His melee scores posted on his last simulation were by far and away the absolute highest in Garden's history. Even when compared to the very best pilot in APE's arsenal, Nine Alpha, he beats his melee score by an average of 35 points. Of course, as an overall pilot Nine Alpha is still his superior, but his other pilot stats are nothing to scoff at either."

"His shooting sucks." he grumbled.

"It's average. It's in line with what a trained Garden graduate would have as well." Nana countered.

"Yeah but you would expect with someone with his piloting capabilities to be better at shooting. Bet you the boy can't even hit the broad side of a barn, with that crappy ranged score I'm looking at. Have the observers made any theories on why is his pilot stats are so lopsided?"

Observers, staff at Garden who did exactly what their namesake suggested. They observed the piloting simulations the Parasites did and recorded their pilot scores on their stat sheets. From melee proficiency, ranged proficiency, accuracy, dodging, defense, movement and teamwork. Nothing was left unrecorded.

"During the simulations, the observers noticed that as the engagement ranged shortened, Code 016's reaction time scaled exceptionally better the closer the engagement ranges occurred. Code 016 displays a unique piloting style that combines aggressive movement, excellent close quarter reflexes along with creative decision-making skills to dominate in melee combat."

"So he's a dogfighter then. Classic Aggressor archetype."

He muttered to himself.

"Dogfighter? I beg your pardon?"

Nana cocked her head inquisitively.

"Never mind a fossil like me, it's just a term used back in the old world."

Nana nodded without really understanding. Sometimes she found herself wishing that she knew how the world was like before humanity discovered magma energy or before desertification made large swaths of the world uninhabitable.

"Does he have any other skills that does not involve being amazing at punching things with a Franxx?"

Werner deadpanned.

"According to this report by his handlers, Code 016 has displayed considerable leadership traits and he has managed to form a circle of fellow parasites who look up to him from his natural charisma as well."

"Well that ticks all the boxes, that's our Aggressor Flight Leader then. But he still needs a Pistil."

Upon hearing Doctor Franxx sullenly grunt his approval, Nana inwardly jumped for joy. Truth be told, she had pushed Hiro forward as the prime candidate as she wanted one of her charges she cared for so much to escape the front lines that were destined for them in the future as a regular Garden graduate.

Nothing good ever came from being assigned to the front lines. Beaming happily, she presented the next candidate without trying to seem too obvious she had a personal stake in this.

"Already prepared! After considering piloting aptitude, compatibility and potential synchronization bonds. This is the best partner as recommended by observers for Code 016."

Another Parasite was displayed on the lab's screen, this time of a female child.

After studying her pilot stats and notes written by her caretakers. Werner grunted his approval, he couldn't find anything to nitpick there. Girl was above average in all areas, a bit boring really. Like one of those students in college who put extra effort to excel in all areas, he always found that they had the exact same personality too. Generic, comfortable, unoffensive and utterly boring.

He really should stop musing about the old world, it felt like an eternity ago where he saw humanity living its life in peace.

"Well let's go, we need to inform their caretakers at Garden of their squad transfer."

As the both of them left his laboratory for Garden, a blue-haired girl was left displayed on the lab's screen along with a raven-haired boy.

Mitsuru was crying. Correction, he was bawling his eyes out while crouched on Garden's floor.

He thought that he'd made it. He did everything he could, he put everything on the line to be with Hiro, who he made a promise with to pilot together.

He went through the highly dangerous Elixir Injection to become a proper Parasite who could pilot with Hiro. A 15% survival rate. He remembered shivering in fear as he signed up for the injection. He recalled nearly pissing his pants in terror as the needle went into his veins, cursing himself for the stupidity of his decision.

15% survival rate. Did you think you were that special? You just killed yourself and you will never see Hiro ever again! You're dead.

You're dead. You're dead. You're dead. You're dead. You're dead.

Day turned to night, he shivered from the after effects and stuffed his mouth with his sleeves to avoid screaming out from the burning pain that consumed his body day and night. But he repeated to himself in a mantra approaching madness,

"I WILL SURVIVE!"

Night turned to day again and then to night again.

Before Mitsuru knew it, he beat the odds. He survived the Elixir injection. Now he could pilot! Now he could be with Hiro as promised!

But then an old man with weird mechanical pieces on his body came and told them Hiro and Ichigo were being transferred to an elite squad. A squad so elite that even a double digit like Goro was instantly rejected without a second glance when he tried to apply in an attempt to stick together with his childhood friends.

Goro the double digit. Double digit codes were considered to be an elite status of Parasite amongst the regular Parasites. Mitsuru himself had a triple digit code. Code 326.

In terms of ranking, he was complete garbage compared to Goro. Goro, who got instantly turned down for not being good enough to apply to the new elite squad Hiro and Ichigo were being transferred to. If Goro got blown off without a second glance, what chance did a triple digit piece of garbage have?

So why the hell did I suffer so much for? Why didn't Hiro reject the transfer?

Bitterness and resentment started to built up within him. He started to hate Hiro. Hiro, who he looked up to all his life. Hiro, the person everyone adored in Garden and seemed to uplift an entire room just by entering. Hiro, the only one directly mentioned by both caretakers and observers as a special Parasite to take note of.

Hiro the cheerful ball of energy that he admired. Hiro the passionate and charismatic leader that he idolized. His best friend, Hiro.

Hiro the liar.

Right now, Mitsuru hated Hiro more than anything else in this world.

I will never forgive him.

Goro felt concerned about the bawling Mitsuru in the corner, He wanted nothing more than to go to him, put a hand on his shoulder and comfort him. However, he had troubles of his own that prevented him from doing so. Notably, the fact that he was about to lose two of his closest childhood friends.

He tried to be rational, it was not like they were going to a front line unit to fight and die. They were just going to a super elite squad to assist in improving the training regime that all Parasites received. Hiro was doing this because he wanted to help as many Parasites as possible.

Even he would be reaping the benefits as he would be trained under the improved training program borne out of Hiro and Ichigo's hard work, sweat and effort. But deep down, he just wanted them to stay together. He wanted to be with his friends forever. He didn't want them to ever part.

They were family.

And family isn't supposed to part. Those were the thoughts running through Goro's mind as his eyes started to water. He looked at Hiro and Ichigo talking to the old man with the weird metal bits sticking out of him. He wanted desperately to cry out to them, hold them back and scream his lungs out begging them not to leave. But he knew if he did that, he would be selfish.

So Goro clutched his aching heart and sobbed away his sorrows.

In contrast, Ichigo didn't even notice the multitude of emotions running through the two of her Garden's classmates. She was happier than she had ever been in her entire life! She felt like someone filled her with a liter of concentrated happiness and left the valve closed. She was beaming and giggling as she stood beside Hiro receiving their briefing by Dr Franxx.

Hiro, the one person she chased, and be the only one she would chase, in her entire life. The one boy she loved more than anything else. She was being told she would be transferring to a super elite squad with Hiro AND be his pistil!

She had to slap herself a couple of times to convince herself it wasn't a silly fantasy she was dreaming up. That meant she would be with Hiro forever. She would grow up with him. She would pilot with him. They were going to be adults together. They were going to be together forever. Her racing heart never felt like it could pump any faster and she was pretty sure she was blushing as well.

As she glanced once more at the boy standing next to her listening to the speech the old man was giving (that she was TOTALLY ignoring after she heard the important bits of "go be with Hiro"), her mind only had a singular thought running through it,

It's a dream come true.

All she had to do now was not to embarrass herself by fainting from the happiness currently running through her heart. But if she fainted, would Hiro catch her like a knight in shining armor? She felt tempted to try testing it out. Ichigo shook her and and mentally slapped herself for being silly.

"So, you'll be the Flight Leader, Code 015 here will be your second in command as well as your pistil. This isn't a combat assignment so you can rest easy on being sent to the front lines. You might have to tackle a captured Klaxosaur in a controlled environment once in a while to determine the best tactical way to engage them, but you'll be accompanied by the garrison Franxx for security. As soon as you said your goodbyes, we'll be leaving for your new lodgings. Any questions?"

Hiro nodded as he took in all of the information the old metal man told him but it seemed like a good choice to agree even before he was told this. Besides, he wouldn't be completely alone in his new squadron, Ichigo was coming along as well. Hiro eyes shone with a bright determination as he was informed the purpose of the new squadron.

To Hiro, participating in research and development of new tactics to assist their fellow parasites into getting a better chance of survival was the noblest goal he ever heard of. He would miss Goro and everyone else back at Garden, but he had a mission now. And he was going to achieve it no matter the cost.

If even one parasite's life was saved by the improved training he would provide Garden. It would make all the pains of separation worth it.

"No questions. We'll both be going to say our goodbyes now. We won't be long, Doctor."

Stepping forward with Ichigo by his side, Hiro saw the bawling Mitsuru, Goro clutching his chest and sobbing and for a brief moment, his determination wavered. A flickering thought went past his head telling him to run back to the doctor and tell him he was staying.

However, he remembered the one line that swayed him when he first pulled them aside from their ball game in their usual social circle.

"You will save Parasite lives if you accept this offer."

Inhaling deeply, he stepped forward and approached Goro first. Goro was family after all, he needed to be prioritized, he would apologize to Mitsuru later. Ichigo followed him, it was time for their final hug for a long, long time.

As he neared Goro, their gazes met each other and Goro already knew what Hiro was here for. The fact the Ichigo was here as well confirmed it. So, he pulled himself together, wiped the tears off his eyes and stepped forward to embrace the closest thing in this world he considered to be his brother.

Ichigo joined in the hug as well, the three of them held on for what seemed like an eternity, with hushed whispers between the three childhood friends, soon to be split apart.

"It's ok. It'll be ok. Stop crying Hiro, you're gonna make me cry too dammit."

"We will meet again, I swear it."

"I believe you, and make sure Ichigo is there as well or I'm never going to forgive you!"

"I wanna be there too you know! You make it sound like Hiro has to drag me along or something, jeeze."

After a final yell of "FRIENDS FOREVER!" (Ichigo said the first part in a softer voice while crossing her fingers). The trio released from their shared hug and went their separate ways.

It would be three years before the trio came together once more.

With his green-blue eyes blazing with determination, Hiro looked forward to the future.

Forgetting that he ever made a promise with a red skinned beast under a tree in the snow.

Nor did he notice Ichigo's hands inching closer towards his.