Well, I'm back, with the final leg of the 21XX series I have going: The Lone Eden.
This is the third and final part of the story. The prequels were, in order, The Link Between the Past and Present, and Viral Nightmare, respectively. As before, I recommend that you read them, or at least have some understanding of the premise, since if you don't you might not understand what is going on.
Now, on to the formalities.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Rockman, Megaman universe, and since I don't have several million dollars lying around, I won't anytime soon. This lack of ownership includes Classic, X, Zero, ZX, Legends/DASH, EXE, and Ryuusei.
Warnings: I think I'll be explicit with my warnings this time, as there is a lot more going on in this story than my others.
Violence: As far as the navis go, it's your typical EXE mayhem. But for the humans? Fistfights, minor gunplay, a large shootout, character is fatally stabbed, and a graphic, violent act.
Language: Mostly your typical potty mouth. Some worse stuff is implied or self censored.
Content: Implied drug use, some suggestiveness, slang references to sex in a general sense, and a serious theme involving sororicide.
Now that all of that stuff is out of the way, on with the story!
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Chapter 1: Slate's Associate
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They say that the mind is most active when a person is asleep. For the Dreamer, this rang true. Everything coherent and incoherent was passing through his head. Colors, sounds, thoughts, feelings, images, concepts; it was a maelstrom of activity.
But then a comprehensible view appeared. It was of a little girl, no older than four or five years old. Her hair was a light brown, while her unblinking eyes were emerald green. Who are you? the Dreamer asked. What was this foreign entity, that had intruded upon his mind?
The apparition did not respond. It didn't even move. It merely faded away into oblivion, leaving the Dreamer alone.
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'' What's this? A new PET?''
Terry held the unfamiliar object in one hand, his Progress PET in the other. The device was rectangular, but it was oriented vertically, instead of horizontally. The navi screen was at the bottom, and the now empty navi icon was at the top. The plug in port was at the top right corner, while the slot in gate was at the bottom right. The whole thing was roughly the length and width of his hand.
Akira Iwasaki, also known as Slate, was sitting at the other side of the conference room table. He too had one of the devices. His was purple and red, to reflect the color scheme of his navi, Zero.exe.
'' Yes.'' he said in response to Terry's question. '' After several decades, T-Corp has finally manufactured and released a new PET to the general public, the Link PET.''
'' So how is it different from the Progress?'' Karla, the only other person in the room, asked. She was standing near a window, examining her tan PET.
'' Well,'' Slate began. '' Aside from being more compact, it has greater memory and storage capacity, meaning that not only can it store far more data, but multiple navis can be present as well.''
'' So that means that we can visit each other?'' Tyria, Karla's navi, asked. '' Cool!''
'' If I may continue…'' Slate said. '' If you hit that little button at the top, the touch pen will pop out.''
Terry hit the tiny button, and a stylus slide out of the PET's bottom. '' You can use that to manage data, and even directly transfer data from a terminal to your PET. You can even do PET to PET transfers.'' Slate explained.
'' That's convenient.''
'' And finally, it retains all of the Progress PET's features, including the holographic touch screen and chip memory system.'' Slate finished.
Terry looked at his old PET. He had had it for forever, but it was finally time for a change. He pressed down on the navi symbol, and with a pop, it detached itself. Terry took it and placed it in the empty spot on the Link PET and pressed down on it. With a click, it fit in. Terry then thumbed it, and a familiar holographic screen popped up. '' Thanks Slate. Where did you get these anyway?''
'' I have my ways…'' Slate said mysteriously.
He had become far more friendly and open over the last year. He had been distant and sometimes cold, but after the Dimensional Chip Factory mission, he had lightened up. The death of Saito Hikari had brought all of them closer together. That was a long time ago. Months ago. A warm autumn had passed, followed by a cold winter. Now it was April and Terry was beginning to feel bored. The last truly exciting thing had been when Lloyd Alva, the co-head of T-Corp, had infiltrated their group to investigate the virus incident seven months ago. That experience had not been a very pleasant one. Dash had been infected, and slowly taken over by a virus, and Lloyd would have captured them if it hadn't been for Zero, who had held off Lloyd's navi, Solinar, from deleting their navis and trapping them underground.
'' Oh, there is one more feature that I had forgotten about.'' Slate suddenly said. '' The navi can manifest itself in 3-D holographic form.''
'' Really?'' Karla asked. '' That's pretty cool.''
Terry agreed. '' Yeah, I can't wait to use this new PET!''
Dash piped up. '' You'll have to transfer me to it first though.''
'' Of course.'' Terry selected the transfer option on his old PET, and the receive function on his new one. '' Everything's set up.''
'' I'll see you in a little while then.'' Dash said as he vanished from the screen.
Terry set his PETs on the table and stood up. '' Well, I'm going to head out for a while. Kill some time. Maybe I'll visit the New Grave.''
'' Very well.'' Slate said. '' Just don't stay out too long, for we'll have no way to contact you without your PET.''
The New Grave came about when Slate had decided that Saito deserved a better burial than the crude one that the rebels had dug on HQ's ground. So they had located it to a nearby forest, in a safe and secluded place. It was very peaceful.
After about ten minutes of marching through the woods, Terry found the spot. There was a small stream there, and sunlight filtered through the trees. In the middle of the tiny clearing was a headstone. On it was the Japanese characters for Hikari Saito, and below that, in English: Rest in Peace, Young One.
Terry sat down in front of it. That tragedy had occurred so long ago, but the pain and feeling of helplessness was always there.
He sat awhile, thinking, until he heard someone making their way through the forest, towards him. He sat up. Who could it be? he thought. Maybe it was Karla, for she had come out to visit him before. She seemed to be quite fond of him…
He was surprised to see, of all people, Slate emerge from the woods, brushing leaves off of his coat. '' What are you doing here?'' Terry asked.
'' To give you this.'' Slate said, taking out a green and white Link PET. '' The data transfer is complete.''
'' Thanks.'' Terry said, taking it. A three inch hologram of Dash appeared on his shoulder. '' How does it feel in there?''
'' Great!'' Dash replied enthusiastically. '' It's really comfortable in here!''
Slate looked over at the headstone. '' Paying your respects hm?''
'' I've been thinking…'' Terry replied, continuing to stare at the headstone. After a few moments, he spoke again. '' Slate, there's something that I've wanted to ask you.''
'' Hm? What is it?''
'' What made you leave T-Corp? I mean, it's been a long time, but you've never told us.''
Slate remained silent.
'' You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.'' Terry hastily added.
Slate shook his head. '' No, I will. The time for secrets is long gone on my part. Back when I was an Enforcer, I knew that the government was on the wrong path, for the administration believed that an iron rule was necessary to maintain stability, to prevent something like the Outbreak from occurring again. But what finally convinced me to defect, along with others around me, was an 'accident'.
There was a minor antigovernment riot in a town in Hokkaido. A small armed force was deployed, along with a small group of Enforcers, including myself. When we got there, we made arrests, and the situation was stable until one soldier thought that a boy, who was probably around five or so, had a grenade of some sort in his hands, and shot him dead. But when we examined the body up close, we found that he had been holding a ball, not a grenade at all! When he saw that, the soldier showed no sign of remorse. He simply shrugged and walked away.''
'' Oh.'' Terry looked away. '' I don't mean to pry, but who were those people you were talking about, the ones that were urging you to defect?''
'' Friends mostly.'' Slate answered. '' As well as…''
He never finished, for Zero interrupted. '' Akira-sama, I've just discovered something.''
'' What is it?''
'' Apparently, someone sent email to your old PET during the data transfer, so it was transferred over with the other data to your new one. Since it didn't arrive by conventional means, the alarm didn't ring, so I only just found it.'' Then he added, '' Gomeneesai, Akira-sama.''
'' You don't need to apologize, Zero. Who sent it?''
'' I'll check that now.'' Zero said, vanishing from Slate's shoulder. There was a pause, and then Zero's voice came from the PET. '' It's from… Wayne Everrit!'' He sounded surprised.
'' Who's that?'' Terry asked.
'' He was one of me friends when I was an Enforcer.'' Slate answered. '' You probably don't remember him. He defected along with others and myself. I haven't seen nor heard from him in sixteen years.''
'' So, what does the mail say?'' Terry asked.
Slate accessed the email. '' ' Something big is afoot, so I can't say much here, but I will be coming to visit you in a few days. I'll see you then. Say hello to Terry and Butch for me.'''
'' Huh? Why would this guy come out here?'' Terry asked, getting up as he did so.
'' I don't know.'' Slate said, pocketing his PET. '' As I said before, I haven't seen nor heard from him in sixteen years.''
'' I wonder what he wants…'' Terry said to himself.
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'' Is everything okay ma'am?''
Kassandra Alva standing in a sealed glass chamber in the laboratory, separated from the technicians.
'' Of course I am!'' she shot back. She was getting ready for the first test of the new technology that had been invented. Well, invented was misleading. Reinvented was more accurate. This would also be a test for the new Link PET.
The techs were making adjustments to the apparati and control panels that controlled the converters. Every once and a while, they looked up. Since she was basically wearing gray spandex that clung like a second skin, they probably enjoyed looking up.
Dr. Cranson, an older man of 60, was in charge of this experiment. '' We're ready to begin.'' he said, speaking through a microphone so that Kassandra could hear. '' Are you sure that you want to do this?'' he added. '' The original blueprints were destroyed just before the Outbreak, so we've had to rebuild the converters from scratch. Then we had to devote materiel for the Dimensional Chip Project, and then it took nearly a year to complete the chip…''
'' That's okay.'' Kassandra said, waving her spandex clad hand in front of her. '' I've made my choice. I'm going to go through with this.''
She looked down at her PET, with she was holding in her other hand. Lunare appeared in holograph form. '' Are you ready to do this?'' she asked her navi.
'' Of course Kassy.'' Lunare answered.
'' Very well. We're ready to begin.'' Kassandra said, addressing the techs behind the glass. '' Activate the converters.''
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Hokkaido is northern Japan.
Humor me one last time folks. I hope you'll like the finale as much as you liked the other stories. School starts tomorrow, so updates won't be coming as frequently.
Do you know what they were testing at the end?