Zero.

Chapter Twenty-Six

AGENT ONE
I LASTED only a few minutes of knowing the full truth, before I threw up. I tried to contain it, but the acid taste burning the back of my throat overpowered me. I’d barely made it to the kitchen sink before my small breakfast was now completely emptied from my stomach. Zero stood behind me, pulling my bloodied hair from my face.
Anyone else would have been cooing comforting words but not her.
“That’s nasty. This isn’t even really my kitchen, but I still use that sink.” She groaned.
I elbowed her aside, rinsing my face and mouth off.
“How is all of this even possible?” I asked. I had seen the proof with my own eyes, but I couldn’t grasp it.
“Which part?” she whispered.
“All of it! How-how am I half of you?”
She winced at my tone, but I was way past caring. What Chief had done was despicable. I am Cynthia Jones, or at least I used to be. I died in 1997 , but instead of being buried, Chief took me because my body measurements and facial stricture was very similar to Zero, or I suppose Mila Stone. The science of it was beyond me, but he was able to mesh our characteristics and some facial features with the intent of turning me into Mila Stone, but it failed.
 I was now a useful failure.
Useful because now Chief had two skilled agents, but a failure because his desire of cloning Mila had instead gotten himself stuck with a carbon almost copy with an attitude.
No wonder he hated me so much.
“I get it, it was a lot for me to handle in the beginning too.” she admitted, but that only fueled my anger.
“No, you don’t get it. You didn’t lose anything! I lost who I was because of Chief’s sick obsession with you!”
“I lost Anthony.” She said flatly.
Those three words held so much pain, that my anger cooled. She was staring at me with empty eyes, but the hurt simmering below the surface was obvious.
“And.” she continued “I lost some of myself too. Benjamin said he knew me before the Gene Cross happened, he said I didn’t look how I do now, that I’m a little different too. All Chief managed to do was screw the experiment up. There’s no way of telling how different we both look from our original selves. In the files on the Gene Cross, it noted that you were chosen because we already favored each other as far as facial structure and body measurements, so I’m sure even before the experiments we would have looked alike.”
“But what changed from out previous faces?” I asked. There was only so much I could tell from looking at the dead body of Cynthia. The thought of a facial mesh between us had the nausea from previously coming back up.
“Honestly, I don’t know. All I know is what’s in the files. The only people who would know what we looked like before are dead or Chief, and I highly doubt he’d be up to chit chat about it.”
“So what you’re saying is that we’ll never know exactly which part of our faces are swapped?”
“…Basically. But what helped me was that we did look alike before Chief did the swap so I don’t think there is a huge difference.” She tried. From the hopeful look on her face, I could tell she wasn’t okay with what Chief did, but I understood her point. There was nothing we could do about it.
 “So, before Gene Cross we could have been cousins, after Gene Cross, we look more like sisters?” I clarified.
“That’s one way of putting it.” she chuckled dryly.
“Wow, so I’m your zombie clone.”
“Hey, you know I don’t see it like”- she started, but I cut her off.
“No, I’m done wallowing. It’s the past and although Chief’s a psychopath, I was already dead when he did the experiments on me so in a way he gave me a second chance at life. So, I’ll repay him by killing him quickly.”
“You’ve never been fond of him, so I suppose it’s not surprising that you’d be so casual about killing him.” she said.
I thought over her words for a moment. After she showed me the files, she explained that she could remember some of her past, courtesy of Chief screwing up again. Of all the things I had learned today, that was one part that I felt more pity than anger. At least, I wasn’t haunted by my past like she was. It was still strange to know that this whole time, she remembered things about me that I had forgotten, but her recollection seemed more a burden than a blessing.
“So, Chief and I have always been at odds then? I know that we don’t get along, but specific moments are a bit blurred.” I admitted.
“Yeah, for as long as I can remember, you two have never been friendly. I understand why now…”
I nodded. She didn’t have to finish that sentence for me to know what she left unsaid.
“Do you remember Anthony?” I asked hesitantly. From the way her face twisted, I could tell that she did.
“Not as much as I wish I did. It’s like there’s a block in my mind about him. The only time I’ve ever been able to really remember him is through random flashbacks and dreams. And even then, I can't tell sometimes what's real or just what I wished were real.” she said quietly.
“Zee… I, I don’t even know what to say.” I admitted
“What you said earlier was enough.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you said you’d kill Chief, did you mean it?”
“Yes.” I answered truthfully. Lee was right, Chief couldn’t lead Headquarters. Regardless  of how Chief had tainted the name, HQ was still supposed to be the good guys. And he was exactlythe type of person we took down to make the world a safer place, and we would.
“Do you  believe everything on the files?” I asked. Going against Headquarters was something that I dind’t take lightly, honestly it was almost a suicide mission, but If Chief was truly this horrible person, then I’d gladly take him down.
“I know he didn’t lie about Anthony. I may not be able to remember him all the way, but I know I loved him. I can’t explain it. I also did my own research about some of the crimes the files accuse Chief of, the proof is subtle, but it’s there. And you even admitted that the situation surrounding the death of Lee’s family was shady. But, the only way to really confirm this is to confront Chief.”
“Okay, then how do I help?” I asked. Surprise flickered across her face, before it was replaced with a steely determination.
“Help me take him down then. For all he’s done, all the lives he’s ruined.”
I smiled, as a plan was starting to form in my mind.
“I know exactly where to start.”