Flipped 2

"How much longer before 'breakfast' is over?" Gabriel grumbled as he flew over the city, calling through the frequency reserved for the Archives.

"About three minutes. Ga- I mean, Red Gabriel holds off until the clock flips over to end breakfast at nine a.m. sharp. Then hell breaks loose." Not-Caleb returns almost flippantly, like he didn't care at all what the alternate reality version of the Angel of World's Ending did so long as it didn't make him have to come out and deal with the guy.

Gabriel would never get used to feeling like beating the crap out of what was essentially himself in his brother's shoes. He still hadn't gotten used to hearing his own voice talking to him through the Archives channel. But he needed to find the redhead, had to see the android who was supposed to be named Caleb and find out if the other angel could shed some insight as to why he was in this messed up world and possibly how he could go home.

He hated having to pin his hopes on something as illogical as a flipped role Caleb-turned-Red-Gabriel, but it was the only lead he had.

"Any favorite places to attack?" Gabriel asked, hoping for some extra information beyond what he'd already been told by the blonde Caleb.

"Fast food restaurants, mostly." Adam supplied, a tone in his voice that suggested he didn't mind that kind of destruction, "He goes completely berserk around chemical processing plants for some reason. My bet is the manufacture of chemical food preservatives is a pet peeve of his. I know it's mine."

"Two minutes. Say, if you're me from another reality but the one that MasaTech built, why are you helping the Archives against your creators?" Not Caleb asked idly, sounding almost bored with keeping track of time.

"If you bothered to get your ass out here, you'd see for yourself why." Gabriel growled, finding his anger at the blonde Caleb was also making him worry about himself. Was he really this uncaring? No, he couldn't be; if he was that cold and aloof, then he wouldn't have his little pets, right? He just couldn't accept that, after seeing Caleb fight so hard to save him and rebuild him and give him freedom and call him 'Little Brother', he himself wouldn't care enough to extend the same help if the roles had been reversed. "Don't you find this an opportunity to do something, like offer Red Gabriel an escape? A chance at becoming part of your family? As something of a younger brother?" Hint, hint?

"If I come back there and repeatedly stab you in the eyes with my blades, would it be murder or suicide?" Gabriel snarled out in sudden vengeful fury. Is that how Caleb thought of him? Or was that how he sounded like to Caleb? He didn't know, and not knowing made him both furious and sick to his core. He would have gone on with his threat but a sudden explosion in the distance snapped him out of his bubbling rage. Gabriel traced the source of the sound, seeing a trail of thick black smoke coiling up into the air, and flew towards it as fast as he could, desperate for and dreading the meeting with the redhead in equal parts.

When he reached the source of the smoke and fire, Gabriel couldn't help but to hover in place, eyes wide and in horrified awe at the sight before him.

A burger place was burning to the ground, crumbling in on itself as people fled in panic, parting in waves to give wide berth to a single figure standing in the street. It held both arms out in differing directions, firing off single shots one after another in perfect precision, hitting random humans and felling them. No crazed flood of bullets; just cool, calm sniping at a rapid pace from the tiny rifles built into the limbs. Even from here, Gabriel could see the familiar red hair tied back in a loose ponytail.

He felt sick to see it was bound in a pale blue ribbon that clashed with the sleeveless black coat and pants the android was wearing. It could only mean that Red Gabriel shared the same tortured existence he did before Holy World fell.

As the android turned to aim at more targets, Gabriel could see the redhead's face. It was definitely Caleb's -his Caleb, not the aggravating one from here-; green eyes dull and empty, resigned expression on his face that spoke volumes. The blonde flinched. When he was under MasaTech's control, he at least could enjoy himself in the mass murder sprees -he was never sure if that was programmed into him or it was a genuine love of it, since he still felt the same way even after Caleb recoded his personality from near scratch-; but in this world, with Caleb playing his role, there was no such comfort. Red Gabriel found no glee in killing, just accepted it as a necessary evil.

The expression only changed when Red Gabriel spotted a taco stand. Dead-eyed resignation instantly became glowering fury as he directed one arm towards it, switched weapons to a missile and fired at the stand, turning it into rubble and shrapnel. Then he was back to resigned, the flare of emotion gone as quickly as it had come.

Gabriel didn't know he could wish for his Big Brother as desperately as he did at that moment. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then winged his way out towards the redhead, dropping into his field of vision with both hands raised in a show of peace. "Hey! Don't shoot! I just wanna talk!" he yelled out as the other android moved a gun in his direction. After a tense moment the arm lowered, and Red Gabriel's dead expression slowly shifted to one of faint interest, an almost curious tilt to his head that was achingly familiar. Gabriel gave a little breath of relief before glancing around at the damage. There was quite a bit of it, and chances were high that emergency response would be there soon. "Why don't we find someplace else to talk? You don't want to get captured here." he called out to the redhead.

Red Gabriel looked around in disinterest, nodded curtly, then took to the air on the rigid wings that were once Gabriel's, flying lead as the blonde went after him.

"Hey, since you're already out there and pretty much know the attack pattern and everything, why not do me the favor of destroying that thing so I can focus on keeping Earth in one piece?" Not Caleb suddenly remarked.

"I've changed my mind. You're not me." Gabriel muttered under his breath in irritation, "You're an arsehole. Now shut up so I can talk to my brother... or the guy with my brother's face." He cut the connection before Not Caleb could snap back at him and touched down on a rooftop where the redhead waited for him. Before he could even say anything, Red Gabriel beat him to the punch.

"Have you decided to surrender to MasaTech now?" he asked in a soft and timid-sounding voice, hands held together before himself shyly. Gabriel shook his head and the other android sighed, almost deflating with the exhalation. "Okay. Tomorrow then. I'll try again tomorrow." he murmured. He began to turn and leave when Gabriel held out a hand towards him.

"Wait! I'm not the Caleb you think I am!" he called out, and Red Gabriel stopped to look back at him in confusion.

"You look like him. I was built to resemble Caleb, but with a different color scheme to avoid confusion with my engineering team." he replied uncertainly, "If you're not Caleb, then who are you?" The blonde rubbed his head, disliking how meek and pathetic his not-quite-brother sounded in this flipped world.

"This might sound illogical to you, but I'm Gabriel, from another world that's pretty much a reverse of this one." he told the other android. Rather than look at him stupidly -like how Not Caleb did-, Red Gabriel's face lit up, a bright gleam in his eyes that made him look more like the real Caleb. He still didn't smile, which Gabriel found strange; the same neutral expression but the green of his eyes now so much brighter and more alive.

"A reverse of this one? The perfect world I want to have Caleb create exists where you are from?!" Red Gabriel exclaimed softly, sounding stunned. Gabriel stared at him blankly. Perfect world? Did this guy think he came from a world of only androids?

No, that was Gabriel's idea of a perfect world, before he changed his mind to believe a perfect world was one where anyone could enjoy a beautiful sunrise. What was Caleb's idea of a perfect world then? Rather than guess, he could just ask.

"What is your vision of a perfect world?" Gabriel questioned his role-reversed brother. Red Gabriel looked skyward, arms lifting as if to try and embrace the air and sky and clouds.

"I have a majority of Caleb's system and personal files for my use, and I have seen images of the world that he lived in so very long ago. A world of huge and expansive forests, of clean air and natural sounds and a sky so beautifully blue." he began, his voice full of yearning, "No buildings that tower so high they destroy the skyline, no machines that pollute Nature faster than it can heal itself; a world where everyone existed in harmony with Nature... and died if they dared to defy it. That's my perfect world; a world commanded by the power of Nature, where only natural things governed. Natural foods, organic only; manufactured goods from raw and natural materials; where all things come from the earth and can return to the earth with no harm." Red Gabriel finally allowed a smile to cross his face as he lowered his arms to cover his 'heart' with both hands, gazing happily at the blonde. "When I destroy this world, I'm going to tell Caleb to remake it so only Nature reigns supreme and we can both be servants of Nature's glory."

'Note to self; get Caleb a Chia pet when I get back. This explains his obsession with gardens in the Archives and constant trips to his sister's Tree.' Gabriel thought with a mental cringe, 'But if he really prefers Nature and he's already got the power to remake the world as he likes, why does he allow humans to wreck Nature and pollute it?'

"Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not what my world looks like." Gabriel told the redhead and gestured out to the city, "It's still the same as it is here. I meant it's flipped because you're in the role that I was. My name is Gabriel, a former android of MasaTech Industries." Red Gabriel lifted an eyebrow at him, looking faintly incredulous.

"Former? There's no escaping MasaTech Industries. They have all the control." he remarked, shuddering just a little as he said that, eyes glancing away briefly before returning to the blonde, "And if you are that world's version of me, then am I to believe that I am that world's Caleb?"

"Yeah, but...." Gabriel gestured at the redhead's entire body, "Not like this. My world's Caleb is so much stronger in personality than you. It's like you're missing something." He walked closer, noting how Red Gabriel seemed to curl into himself defensively as he drew near. "Something's not right with your personality, and I don't mean the attacking cities and people thing. That's a given, considering you're under MasaTech's control for now." he went on, studying the redhead watching him back with wary eyes, "But this world's Caleb has a similar mindset to mine; he can remake the world, but beyond that he doesn't care what happens to it, so long as he carries out his orders in protecting humanity's knowledge and history. I don't much care what happens to my world, so long as my pets are safe and I get to destroy the world when Caleb says it's time to remake it."

He reached out, watching Red Gabriel flinch as he cupped a hand against the other android's cheek. "But there's an imbalance between your mindset and my brother's. My Caleb protects not just the people and their knowledge, but the world itself and all the lives on it. Your dream focuses only on one aspect of the world." he muttered, peering into the green eyes that stared back at him in confusion, "It doesn't balance. You don't have that same feeling for serving and protecting he does. Why? What's wrong with you that you don't feel like him?

"What does my Caleb have that you don't that makes my brother so damn loyal to the planet and everything that lives on it, while you don't give a crap about the humans that live, breathe and eat here?"