Chapter 1: The test run
Jakob Lumine, a reploid industrialist with only splashes of blue, green, orchid purple and a dull grey breaking the uniform lack of colour of a delicate porcelain doll, sat in the synthetic leather backseats of an automated limousine holding a black briefcase as the AI core navigates the roads of the artificial island simply known as 'Noah's Park', eight miles from the eastern coast of New Zealand.
The wheels gently jerking to the rugged contours of the road, guidance systems locked onto a specific location, the journey ahead pre-planned as soon as a venue had been selected by members of the Lumine Foundation; an interest group with links to scientific and manufacturing that had successfully pushed for the construction of Project: Gateway, the first major colony project since the destruction of Eurasia seven years ago. It had been a struggle to convince a sceptical UWF committee to give the project the go-ahead since Eurasia had been the largest colony ever built and since became a synonym for the crisis that brought about its destruction.
A pity as Eurasia was a technical achievement in its time but also understandable given it's transformation into a virus loaded carrion ship on a timed collision course with Earth, also overwhelmed by a global Sigma Virus outbreak that even now there is no exact death toll, only an estimate between three billion and five billion.
But whimsical daydreaming soon gave way to hard, cash driven technological business and the chain of events that began soon after the opening of Gateway to the general public and accumulating in a video call from Ahmed who is currently recuperating at a five star hotel in Monaco. Ahmed is the name given to Salud Mohammed, a whimsical man of Greek and Arabian descent with olive skin, narrow brown eyes and black hair with grey streaks on the temples who enjoys the company of women half his age who would find it hard to resist his charm even without the extra bonus of a yearly salary that exceeds twenty million US dollars (he thought back to all the Sci-Fi stories he had read that had generic 'credits' or some other made up universal currency that would never be accepted in real life – people's attachments to their denomination would see to that). Of course, credit is due as Ahmed does play on a client's wants and needs to secure some of the more lucrative deals. He swore that he saw a naked feminine shape shift under the blankets behind Ahmed, white against red, and anyway, there was no guessing what he and the woman had been up to. If only he would take precautions should the woman in question be from one of the anti-reploid terrorist groups had been sent to track him.
He looked to his right and saw an unbroken horizon of sky and sea beyond the rugged cliff's edge and saw a group of seabirds flying out toward breeding colonies protected by conservationists groups like the WWF in conjunction with Maverick Hunter forces because of the ever lingering fallout that had turned the Middle East into an uninhabitable wasteland where reality breaks down and the laws of physics hold no meaning; mounds of flesh intermingling with blood-rust metal within the corpses of dead cities, and where a virus can exist in any and all states of three dimensional space and said to erase a reploid's mind with a nucleus of nanobots that rewrite the victim's internal structure until the body is nothing more than a mobile incubator, with a drone being assembled from within, grinding wet against its metal womb. Any more information on that virus is scarce compared to the well-publicised Sigma Virus.
And the Sigma Virus has something to do with the meeting taking place on the upper levels of the Reptech Research Facility, initial impressions from the video call suggested nothing of the ordinary in spite of Ahmed's uncharacteristic dismissal of the young woman he had seduced earlier in the Monaco night. Yet Ahmed had also uploaded several high security files through a private channel in the electrosphere onto the corporation database before ending the call.
Jakob Lumine then shifted his fringe away from his eyes as the limousine shifted away from the cliff onto a thin line of tarmac that was well travelled as the complexes were built. He tuned out the androgynous voice for he knew the route by heart as much as he recalled his secretary; a German woman by the name of Helga Reus who was hardened and prematurely aged by her addiction to nicotine, raising an ungrateful child despite the absence of a dead family and pitiful allowance from a dilapidated state, had entered his office unannounced to hand over a grey folder tightly sealed with the words 'management only' stating her business with a voice like metal slowly scraping against metal before leaving just as quickly. Even in employment, she had no time to appreciate the gentler things in life but then Lumine knew that life had no time to be gentle with her and dismissed the memory just as swiftly as her unscheduled appearances.
The suitcase still on his lap as the limousine kept to the open road, its internal radar fixated on the Reptech Research Facility; a large geodesic dome of glass and titanium within the heart of a plain bordered with carefully managed forests and sculptured mountains.
Today, the facility is surrounded by a circle of interconnecting blocks of reinforced concrete and titanium with observatory outposts towering overhead and pulsar cannons turning on their stationary axis searching the sky for enemy targets. The majestic sight rising over the horizon like a steel dawn as the limousine continues its turgid drive as it disappeared into the temporary night of the dome's dark side, all manned and patrolled by Maverick Hunters with Piranha MK VII APCs parked outside with reserves hidden inside in a show of colossal strength.
Lumine knew as soon as he peered out the window that today was about as big as, if not bigger than, the meeting over Project: Gateway, he opened the briefcase with simultaneous pressing on the catches and skimmed through Ahmed's printouts and understood the overarching point but the technical details and lists of mechanical properties were beyond his understanding. He also removed his identification papers and software in preparation for the checkpoints as the limousine circled the barrier until it reached a checkpoint facing south. It was the first of three and manned by a humanoid reploid with cropped blonde hair, armour the same shade of verdant green as the grass with golden yellow highlights and the confident smile of a game show host. His colleague is a gun-grey bulk more like a bipedal tank with miniguns and missile bays covering so much that he thought he'd seen a Metal Gear in the wild trapped in an outbuilding too small to contain it overlooking a set of dials. Lumine handed his papers to the former as soon as the limousine came to a complete stop. "It's a good thing we Maverick Hunters are here to look after you." The green Hunter said with his smile, second in brightness to the Sun's reflected rays after completing all the necessary checks, Lumine briefly glanced at the Hunter's colleague in the booth and on closer inspection discovered a stout humanoid with a waxen face under the armour with all its ballistics bolted on. The limousine itself was then scanned for all kinds of hidden bombs before giving the all clear. "It would seem so." Lumine's thin lips formed a serpent's smile as he replaced the documents back into the briefcase. "Quite a bit of security you Hunters have on show for a mere meeting." The limousine's engine grunted back into life and through the open barrier before the Hunter had a chance to respond.
The same process repeated twice more before the limousine came to a stop yards from the entrance where a face familiar to Lumine was standing outside in the shadow of the titan barriers; a thin coffin-like pale face with dark blue eyes, a jet black suit over jet black metal. "Matthew Crowe, it's about time this meeting became reality my friend" Lumine greeted the reploid with a firm handshake as he left the limousine. "The pleasure is all mine" Crowe replied just as earnestly. "Because this project is my brainchild and I'm willing to bet that Ahmed had uploaded the information via company channels to you. That and you wouldn't stop pestering me since preliminary results from my branches research" Lumine nodded and with that both reploids headed through the double doors flanked on either side by guard drones into a spacious lobby with faux-roman pillars standing erect funnelling toward an oak desk where a receptionist in her mid-twenties, fresh faced, chestnut brown hair with obsidian highlights and wearing the Reptech approved crimson uniform with its little gold buttons of printed circuits, greeted them both with rapid fire gestures at the monitor and phrase she had parroted at those who had arrived before them who had shown her their papers. No time was wasted as both made for the nearest elevator as soon as she had processed their details, and once inside Crowe pressed a button that signified their ascent and eyed the briefcase. Lumine remembered the oft repeated phrases "Too soon to say" and "Everything will be ready in due course" so often that they were practically Crowe's catchphrases whenever he had broached the subject over the last two years. It was all beginning to bear fruit.
"Now I don't suppose you know the ins and outs of what the information is about?" Crowe asked.
"What I understood from Ahmed is that this involving protection against the Sigma Virus and its application for the next generation of reploids but I don't see how it warrants so much security." Lumine responded as though incredulous "Although I confess that the details are beyond my understanding of reploid mechanics." He felt his face glow slightly, cursing himself for not getting his mind around the more complex aspects of reploid design.
"Ah yes, I regret that the language used was more involved than what you're used to. It just so happens that I can help you with some of the details. And you can ask the first question."
And Jakob Lumine opened the briefcase and gave the folder to Reptech's head of research and development who installed some knowledge in the industrialist's mind before the elevator's ascent was halted with a ping and opened out into a corridor laid out in a lavish red carpet with the same roman columns spaced equally together with an unspoken agreement made between them they parted their separate ways.
The Hunter who had looked through Lumine's identification papers before letting him through took a small communicator from his hip and said "X, this is Edwin; Jakob Lumine has reached destination."
"Excellent" X's voice called out in response "Continue observing environment for Mavericks and Anti-reploid terrorists."
"Copy that" Edwin spoke into the communicator "No sign of any of the above but will keep our eyes open for those."
"Excellent, over and out" And with that Edwin returned the communicator to its former place and turned to the mass of weapons tightly squished in the tiny outpost, like a round peg jammed into a square hole.
"You OK in there bro?" Edwin shouted "You're sure you don't wanna go stretch your legs?"
"No, not at all" replied the bulk, who stuck an arm through the door to wave, barely raising it above shoulder height.
Edwin wasn't sure what to make of his brief encounter with Jakob Lumine, head of the Lumine Foundation, and the meeting about to take place. He placed the side of his left hand against his forehead and looked toward the nearest patch of rainforest and his pupils turned clockwise; his brain computing the clarity of the blown-up image before the strain on his eyes forced him to reset his vision to factory settings. "You OK Edwin?" asked the Metal Gearesque reploid as he pushed his supersized frame out from the tiny space into open air.
"Yeah Wildman, I'm just trying to zoom in on that forest over there." Edwin pointed to the mass foliage on the horizon. "You know, for bad guys."
Wildman nodded in agreement before the need to stretch forced him to do so; still hydraulics gradually extended to their fullest and finger joints tensed then relaxed.
"I knew you needed that dude." Edwin said.
"Yeah, yeah" Wildman grinned in response, "You wanna play Checkpoint Charlie?"
"You got it, just ask for their papers and scan them against the list. If a reploid isn't on the list, shoot to kill. Humans on the other hand just need to be handled with care."
Wildman never liked the phrase despite its necessity, purely because shooting a human even if the human was about to commit an act of violence against a reploid is an automatic death sentence, a political football that many would happily play if it was used as a smokescreen for faltering policies and a scapegoat was needed to deflect the blame. It made him think of Mount Hermon with its hidden legions of unworldly monsters of fractured obsidian and gold, and violet and azure innards and an entire geographical area left to die. It's one thing to read about them in fiction, it's another to witness them in the flesh and while he kept his sanity he felt that what had killed the Middle East would've taken the world with it, and he shivered at the thought as his visor protracted down from his oversized helmet and looked toward the forest, shaking his head at the all too possible prospect of a lockdown of the electrosphere covering the entire island. He knew why such a lockdown was in place but the fact he couldn't access the security systems dotted throughout the island was enough to turn away and spit on the grass. In spite of his thwarted initiative, he didn't retract his visor and kept a look out for any more arrivals. Five more, all in identical autonomous limousines, had been through their side of the identification process and checks on the vehicles before passing through the seven inch thick barriers in a stagnant trickle of rolling tyres. The information was correlated between all checkpoints and one hundred and six names had been confirmed as attending the meeting that would take place under the protective watch of the Maverick Hunters.
At the other side of the ring of titanium, X sighed as soon as he put the communicator down and turned to Zero and said in disgust "I can't believe we have to safeguard the bastards who pushed for the destruction of Cain Industries just so the UWF can allow private contractors to cherry pick whatever they fancied."
The Crimson Hunter could only look out to the ridge of hilly trees bordering the horizon, saying "It's just as well the last thing Dr Cain did was ensure that the Maverick Hunters were separated from Cain Industries, he knew the vultures would swoop in as soon as he was in his death bed. No better than Mavericks."
The bitter fact that Dr Cain had opposed initiatives and bids from within the UWF to mould the Maverick Hunters into just another private army to use as they see fit. While X understood the loss of the Middle East had left a hole in finances that needed to be filled, the Council of Five who were set up just months to ensure the Maverick Hunters very own independence before Dr Cain succumbed to illness. "Yeah, no better than Mavericks" X finally parroted, ruefully shaking his head as an image of the later Doctor – and father of all reploids came to him "I'm sorry Zero, I still miss the old buzzard sometimes."
"Same here" Zero admitted "I'll always remember him giving me some whiskey to drink. I had no idea what to expect but damn was it good."
"You managed to get completely wrecked on six bottles, six whole bottles of Dr Cain's favourite whiskey. I remember you trying to open up a seventh before you fell flat on your face." X's laughter burst out like a torrent of formless sound not unlike white noise and Zero couldn't stop himself from joining in. "Speaking of drink, your singing is terrible when you had plenty. How have you managed to not spend your wages on matching his habits?"
"Probably because I'm not a pisshead" X smiled as he felt static cackle on his wrist, in a flash X stepped out of memory lane and spoke into the communicator. The voice on the other end said "We've had written reports of Maverick activity in several forest sectors to the east, permission to investigate?"
"Permission given, assemble five small squads to comb over sightings and maintain radio contact but do not engage unless fired upon first. The rest is up to your discretion."
"I'll see what I can do, Hauster out" And the gentle crackle of static from the communicator had died down. "Looks like none of us out here will be enjoying the great outdoors too much. Hauster just had reports of Maverick activity. Since the alleged Mavericks have been seen in multiple areas, I had Hauster to look into the initial reports and movements." He said, looking eastward toward a patch of forest with tops like tiny mountain peaks. "Until he does get further information, I can't bring defensive systems to bear on what might well be a fishing expedition or a film crew making a documentary." The shadow shifted westward, exposing the two Field Commanders to the glare of the afternoon Sun. "I suppose so" Zero nodded "The financial accountants we have are already going nuts because the Council and the Lumine Foundation worked out a compromise with the large sum of money on offer after our initial refusal. Sure it would've paid off most of our debts but old buzzard Cain would jump out of his grave and kick the shit out of us for allowing corporate interests to influence future deployments."
"I'm still not happy". X admitted "But with the meeting either underway or about to, we need to be alert at all times. Speaking of not being a pisshead, you don't need to be completely wrecked to have a good time." The change in topic was as sudden as Hauster's call.
"Touché" Zero replied "Any chance of a drink after this mission?"
"Sure but only a couple"
"Sweet, same place as always" Zero confirmed with a thumbs up even though X had many requirements both public and private to take up his time he still makes time for anything.
In the minutes that crept lazily away on the artificial Eden, a group of flight capable reploids, all assembly line produced to order, slithering on both hands and feet with barely a murmur of rustling vegetation; their numbers are small, their thoughts dark as the shadows cast by the forest canopy as they crept along the ground, damp with water droplets from roving bands of spider-like gardening drones. Identical in body-shape and colour; red and white with triangular wings tucked between powerful hydrogen engines and streamlined torsos, black crystalline visors only add to their predestined career and functionality. Yet one of them continued to keep ahead of his contemporaries until they came across an opening and he then turned to face them. Their visors identify his call sign as 'Kowalski'. Still they looked up to him as he stood upon the crest of a small hill as soon as they saw the research facility flash through the hole in the canopy behind him. With a turn for the dramatic Kowalski pointed to the dome shining like a beacon just ahead of the horizon and said "Before we take-off, check the flight plan." A string of code activating a satellite feed, bringing up a map of the dome and the surrounding area marked by three monochrome octagons and inverted triangles situated at various points on the inside of their visors. "I must commend Harris and our man on the inside for obtaining this data before we start – it's only a matter of time before those lapdogs guarding that meeting will get a whiff of us. They have plenty of AA and SAM support but it's mainly paper tiger shit, no way would they risk damaging Reptech's precious glass dome without any adverse publicity and we'll be well out of reach of their handheld and busters. Now, tight formation and fly as fast as your engines allow and brace yourselves for impact just before we all punch our way through from the north side; that should get their attention."
The time for backing down had passed long before they had reached the shore. The link between them and the satellite was terminated before they underlined their commitment with a unison of raised fists and a warcry that the trees could not deny, bringing an unseen smile to Kowalski's lips and together they shoot off into the afternoon sky to the sound of out swung wings and ignited hydrogen cells, followed by the brief flash of water jets and flames and the faintest whiff of extinguished embers with only dissipating vapour tails reaching toward the canopy left to mark their nefarious journey.
For all Crowe's promises within the concrete, steel and heart of the Plexiglas dome, the prospect of a free question and his own expectations, the meeting was something of a great disappointment for Lumine for all it consisted of were scientific theory regarding the practical implications of yet another anti-virus programme as he tried to relate everything to Ahmed's papers without any success. Namely that it absorbs the virus data within an intricate pattern of latticed terabytes, breaking it down into its component zeros and ones before it could get a foothold in an infected reploid – refreshing itself when the danger has passed. And yet the anti-virus itself is not the main topic of discussion but merely an appetiser, a lengthy appetiser that has gone on for long enough with Crowe changing places with three other speakers, two of whom were human, upon the podium facing the vast sloping semi-circle of seated management, investors and selected supervisors from both Reptech and the Lumine Foundation that has taken up most of the room with a wall of plaster and oak furnishings behind them and yet the lighting fixtures cancel out any shadows that may have obscured the watcher's facial features, especially when more intense negotiations have taken place from time to time. Their names and faces had failed to register in the exabytes of memory, which isn't the fault of the speakers who had stated their names prior to speaking. Of course Lumine had masked his disappointment behind a masquerade of business veneer, and then first of the speakers, an obese man who looks like he has never been aware of the existence of an exercise machine in his life, let alone do anything remotely physical, with clothes that threaten to cut off his blood circulation spoke in a tone tailor made for a stage play. While he continued with the hard sell; it betrayed few hints about the main course which finally ignited a flicker of genuine interest in the industrialist. It also brought about a brightening of the eyes that was barely detectible to anybody sitting in the front row as if it was a reminder of some kind. It roused a flicker of intrigue in Lumine's thoughts for industrial espionage has often come hand-in-hand with all business, scientific and military endeavours. The second human speaker who was the opposite in all but gender; slim, fresh faced youth with curly brown hair and in a dark suit that clung onto his frame with a film of static and his enthusiasm had awaken those of lesser imaginations with a voice that simply captures anybody's attention without any effort but for all his energy, passion and allusions to the main focus of this discussion, he left the industrialist somewhat unsatisfied with all the hinting and steadfast refusal to just introduce this concept.
Then again, Crowe had drawn the development out over the last couple of years – and he wasn't going to just reveal everything without dropping a few hints here and there to keep interest.
And now all eyes were on the reploid with eyes that shine brighter than any light source in the building; his body shape obscured in a grey sharkskin suit bar the vaguest notions of having limbs as he and the young man exchanged places on the podium. Interest had reached a quiet fever pitch as the speaker adjusted his clip-on tie with a brief flash of moving fingers.
Just as the reploid with the shining eyes was about to speak, the double doors suddenly creaked open and a security guard had burst through and advised all in the hall to make their way into the heavily reinforced bunkers situated in sub-basement levels five, seven and nine. Just as each row vacated their seats and made their way toward the exit in a single file, some were picked out and pointed toward the podium as the emergency procedure continued unabated.
Jakob Lumine himself then stood up and followed those ahead of him until he was directed toward the raised platform, he wondered if this was part of the meeting or some kind of Maverick plot that had been bubbling unseen as he joined Crowe, the speakers and others; those with humanoid faces turned pale and those without stared without any certain traces of terror when they saw him join their company and they all share the same terrifying thought. This thought might have reached Lumine had the reploid with the shining eyes not spoken on Crowe's behalf and said thus "I see you gentleman are wondering why you're still here, the questions you should all asking is 'why is everybody else being ushered away'." Even Lumine was taken aback, and it was the first time he saw a jagged smile appear under the glare of those bright eyes at the same moment that anybody noticed much space he took up on the podium like the proverbial elephant. And his suit still refuses to give up any suggestion of shape.
"I know you gentleman are dying to see the main attraction, just understand that the circus is coming, and – what am I saying, I've almost spoiled the surprise!" said the reploid with the shining eyes, his brash accent and sense of humour doing nothing to relax those steadily raked nerves in the wake of the evacuation of their peers. "Shall we escort these fine people to the party?" He asked Crowe and together they led their charges, Lumine and the human speakers among them, down the entirety of the facility's flight of stairs with the occasional motivational poster breaking up the monotony of dull white concrete hidden away from the luxurious corridors and elevators. Not another word was said as Lumine's thoughts briefly turn to the opening of Gateway on this very island two years ago to the sounds of reserved clapping and cheering from an expectant crowd after cash flow difficulties, protests, industrial accidents and deaths, and the subsequent pay outs and loans needed to pay for them; as sweet as past successes taste, he knew they count for little if he, Reptech and the Lumine Foundation don't continue to build upon them.
While the mass immigration into underground bunkers continued unseen and the Maverick Hunters continuing to look out for all external threats. If Kowalski had any hope of leading his squad to their objective, he would have to lead them to attack the slightest gap in the defensive walls surrounding Reptech's geodesic dome rushing toward them below. The inside of black crystalline mapping out a vector frame map superimposed over the rush of whistling treetops, flashes of rust-brown outcrops of rock and a stationary blue sky. He already had the script in mind when they make their grand entrance through the wall of glass; he also knew that the closer they are to their target and the longer it would take to execute the plan, the greater the risk of interception. He didn't dare falter at this stage, not with so much riding on the success of their mission.
Then came the breakthrough; the window of opportunity has slid slightly open in the northern side of the defence network layout. With a burst of ignited hydrogen he rushes ahead followed by the same from those who had followed him to Noah Park, their target zooming past their line of sight before they all dropped their shoulders to the right, not bothering to move their heads until the all faced their target rising from the centre of those defence walls with their pulsar cannons turning on their bases and lines of colours scrambling to and fro, utterly unable to react in time.
All thoughts of delivering his ultimatum were shattered by a sudden flash of light, turbulence and the briefest licks of heat; finding himself struggling to comprehend the sudden influx of information in total darkness – the sound of violent combustion continued to overwhelm his senses as his body grew hot in the localised atmosphere followed by a sudden drop in both height and temperature and the sound of air rushing past him from below. And it was only when his sight returned just before he crash-landed did he realise he was falling, at a loss of what had happened just seconds before he was about to lead his small squad over those titan walls as the feeling of being constricted in a coffin inexplicably came over him, before an upward landslide caved in his visor and all sensation had died along with his glorious destiny.
A brief window of pixellation and noise pollution obscured reality before he fully regain consciousness when his Energen core restarted his functionality, he found himself feeling lighter, half a tonne lighter in fact when he felt himself being jerked about like an unwanted toy before being discarded by the pit from which was pulled from, touching his face with an unsteady hand to find it sliced open and deep by shards of black glass, synthetic gore staining his hand, chin guard and chest red; his fingertips dabbed in crimson before shouting "I like to know just what the hell just happened?" His angry, yet pathetic request fell on deaf ears as he heard a voice to his left, the words escape him but the voice in itself is rich in its second hand familiarity fed through a diet of constant media sound bites, second hand catchphrases and pirated action movies. All he knew it had to have come from a Maverick Hunter but for some reason the name kept escaping him. "It's like their engines suddenly failed all at once." The voice piped up again and this time, Kowalski understood what was said.
"Not exactly, could've sworn that one of them had a change of heart and decided midway through their suicide attack to pull the plug." Said another, deeper voice coming from his right, and a sudden chill like an electric current ran through his battered frame, and it felt like he had been ran through with an energy sabre as the second voice continued "I mean he landed after shooting this guy in the back…"
"Who?!" He found himself yelling "Who was it?" And then a humanoid figure in crimson armour stepped into view, his spiked helmet with a long, thick tail of blonde hair protruding from the back was all he needed to put a face to the deeper voice. And his courage fled.
"I don't think you're in any position to demand anything pal." The Maverick Hunter known as Zero said to him, and even his own vocal module refused to accept any command to answer back. "In fact, I believe you and your flyboys would be in very, very deep shit even if your surviving buddy didn't have the good sense to do our job for us." He turned away from Zero only to turn away and saw none other than the infamous Megaman X, the scourge of all free willed reploids and Humanity's champion lapdog.
"I had a word with your friend, and he told me you swallowed everything he told you hook, line and sinker."
"It couldn't be!" Kowalski thought, for the reploid they were talking about had being his lieutenant from the very start, why would he decide to double cross him at the last minute? His informant had given him everything he needed. The whys continue to pile up until they ignited the dying embers of conviction "Harris!" he suddenly shouted out loud "How could he and that bastard contact of his betrayed us?!" He shouted once more before sinking lower into the earth, sobbing like a small child when those embers died a final death.
"Why do I get the impression this isn't a change of heart at all" X said as he turned to Zero after this sudden outburst . "That I get, what I don't get is what for?" was Zero's response as the Maverick Hunters continue to retrieve ruined, twisted and charred pieces of hydrogen engines, wing parts and other debris scattered at the base of the first barrier. X pushed a button in his wrist and contacted Hauster "How's the search for survivors going on?"
"That's a negative; all we've found are bits and pieces but nothing that could be hooked up to a black box. I guess our new best friend really did a number on his old buddies."
"Yeah – but I think our best friend might have been in contact with somebody, could be someone within Reptech, or the Lumine Foundation." Said X "Our surviving Maverick seemed very upset about this turn of events. Could be that the informant might've offered our friend something he couldn't resist." Just as his wrist communicator pulled at his attention until he answered; Hauster's voice was a mixture of alarm and annoyance and he gave X some news about a number of Reptech and Foundation representatives making their way downward despite the sudden emergency; only for X to realise that those representatives were not going into the underground shelters but going outside despite Edwin and Wildman, who had swapped places with Razorback Pangon and Switchblade Mantid, warning to remain inside.
"Oh for God's sake!" X spat out "What do they want?"
Hauster was at a loss to think of a reason before the line fell silent once more, causing X to cover his face with a hand before saying to Zero. "Just heard from Hauster that both Reptech and Lumine Foundation people are coming our way, not sure about the make-up but Wildman and Edwin are trying their best to dissuade without any success."
"Ain't that something?" Zero replied, shrugging his boxy shoulders without understanding the implications "We know they're trying to introduce something and then we get these idiots blasted out of the sky by one of their own, allegedly after having a word with a possible Maverick sympathiser, if he is telling the truth." Zero said thus, just as X's jade green eyes stare past him to the sight of a mixture of humans and reploids all dressed in monochrome suits; Zero couldn't get an accurate count for the large shapeless mass with eyes brighter than the Sun at the forefront proved to be distracting. Edwin and Wildman couldn't get the crowd of suits to turn back any more than they could keep the Sun from beginning its gradual descent. "Can't be April Fool's Day already" Zero whispered as X kept further maledictions to himself as he turned to the Maverick still face down on his knees and made no attempt to restrain him other than stand a fraction closer to him with his left arm engaged and humming with power in X Buster mode; he never saw the resignation in eyes drained of tears but he didn't need to, his lack of fight is evidence enough and in a way it suited him just as the platoon of suits came to a sudden halt just a few yards from him and Zero like a group of over excited children on seeing a horse running free on an open field for the first time, especially when generations of children have never seen a stuffed specimen. It was almost tempting to blame it on the Schism War or every little crisis manufactured by Sigma or his fluctuating band of Mavericks, if any still follow him at all. All X wanted to do was to frog march the lot back inside!
Then with sudden violence, the amorphous mass of metal dressed in polyester-cotton burst out from within the group to the sobbing figure with speed that belie his height and gait; standing just over seven feet tall with eyes brighter than the Sun. The suited mass raised a slab of chrome with digits terminating in slender claws and two humans, one almost as formless as the reploid himself and wheezing for air with the other, a slim and grim-faced youth with curly hair, came forward holding what appeared to be a large unkempt roll of sackcloth before casually rolling it out in front of the Maverick with an icy detachment of factory mechaniloids, spilling it's content until it laid sprawling out like a discarded shop dummy; red and white with two folded triangles underneath a hydrogen engine, two small holes punched through the black visor and forehead. The curly haired youth would've walked to the sobbing Maverick had X not raised his right hand to check his progress. The need for the X Buster in this situation had diminished greatly and thus reverted back to being his left hand.
The reploid with the shining eyes then spoke to X. "May I speak to Harris please?" The name didn't click until the winged Maverick whose actions had doomed his rogue squadron was dragged in by Rexus, a large Maverick Hunter with the crag-like scale armour of a Pangolin and the face of an unspecified reptile with a Bolt Thrower, a large rectangular block of a firearm with a bazooka's nozzle, aimed at the Maverick's head. The winged reploid looked down on the thing by his fallen commander and said "I've looked better." For a moment, silent surprise rang out over any Maverick Hunter within the facility of the scene.
Crowe was the next to step away from the crowd of stunned onlookers to join the reploid with the shining eyes and the two humans as X reluctantly ordered Rexus to lower his weapon, allowing Harris to walk toward the small contingent that had broken away from the assembled congregation. "My God man, you do look better!" laughed the reploid with the shining eyes as if he had processed the meaning of a joke before turning to face the corporate mob as a veil of silence descended upon Noah's Park. Nobody saw Lumine's thin serpentine smile within the crowd.
The reploid with the shining eyes conferred with Crowe and said "All of us here at Reptech and the Lumine Foundation are truly grateful for your assistance today." Zero looked at him as though he had stepped on something he shouldn't and replied "Sure thing I guess." X for his part stared at the pantomime been played out before him with a clenched fist and thoughts dark as storm clouds, no apparent awareness or concept of life outside of building up a monopoly between any of the idiots he and his forces were charged with protecting; even Eurasia seemed to have been ignored by such suicidal disregard. And forced himself to maintain a mask as he moved to step in between Crowe and the despondent Maverick "With all due respect, our suspect can still be dangerous and I would appreciate it if you can convince your entourage to go back inside."
"That would be unnecessary" said Harris as he and the reploid with the shining eyes stand behind Crowe, "Kowalski needs to see what the fuss is about, and before you ask it has nothing to do with you."
"I'm pretty sure it does" Zero found himself puzzled behind the reasons for the air capable reploid's turn "Because none of this makes any damn sense."
"X and Zero are quite correct my dear Harris" said the reploid with the flashing eyes, "That's why both you and Kowalski are here to share this moment with us all." X and Zero looked at one another before focussing their attention on Harris.
Without another word, the black visor retracted upward, revealing the face that belonged to the corpse before going between the experienced Hunters and pulled Kowalski onto his knees and forced him to look into familiar eyes, a torn up tear stained face streaked with diluted traces of blood. Nobody other than that despondent Maverick could see the ripples of water running in streaks across that triumphant death mask, and only X and Zero imagine something had snapped as the air was sundered by a crescendo unheard of in both technical and audible capability from a reploid's vocal module as Harris's body shimmered and collapsed on itself, turning to a watery metallic mist as it contracted, reformed, and finally stabilised into a solid state, X thought he saw an exoskeleton shrink inside the maelstrom of shifting particles as gasps were drowned out by the distorted roar coming from a short circuiting vocal module. Only Crowe and the reploid with the shining eyes didn't register one of shock, confusion and revulsion at the spectacle. Where Harris had stood is now a dark armoured humanoid reploid with two downward pointing rods jutting from between the shoulders and a turf of orange hair above where the spine connects to the back of the skull. He turned around and revealed his now youthful face, an amalgamation of the last two decades production line of teenage heartthrobs spoilt by a pair of criss-crossing scars across the bridge of his nose, either by design or bug in the internal software. Both Reptech and Foundation representatives finally clapped at the display after the initial shock had worn off, the Maverick Hunters didn't let go of their bewilderment as the reploid who had been Harris turned to Crowe and the reploid with the shining eyes; both of whom greeted him like a prodigal son.
Now beaming with pride they introduced him to the crowd, with Crowe speaking first, saying "This young man standing with us is Axl, part of the first batch of a new generation reploids with the ability to change into that will be introduced in the next month or so from midnight tonight prior to UWF approval; the anti-virus programme as discussed earlier is a built in safety net to protect the shape shifter's mental integrity from Sigma Virus infection. But what you just witnessed is the true selling point…"
The hard sell forced one of X's more painful failures into the forefront of his mind, a reminder of needless deaths that resulted from ignoring his own initial suspicions about an unexpected arrival. "You alright bud?" he heard Zero whisper but he kept himself in check as Crowe explained about the abilities of the young shape shifter to his large as anticipated audience as if to not start an ontological argument. Again he heard Zero whisper to him but the words may as well be murmurs in the wind. Zero then jabbed him in the side with a sharp elbow and asked "What's up with you man?"
Again, only silence came from the azure veteran so Zero responded with another jab at the same spot, and it caused some of X's building ire to spill in his direction with a sharp yet controlled "Knock it off".
The Crimson Hunter knew how to get on X's nerves even without meaning to, and he also knew when he had reached his limit or when he is not in the mood for any nonsense and refrained from attempting to get any answer despite his own private misgivings about this ludicrous charade reaching its pretentious climax because he'd love to give these suited idiots a piece of his mind if X doesn't get there first.
Having exhausted his scripted speech, Crowe asked his audience for any questions after a formal round of applause, looking toward Lumine as each member strained his or her arm higher than their contemporaries in a bid to unwittingly override his pre-meeting agreement with the industrialist, all irrelevant as soon as Lumine's arm shot up to join the forest of raised arms after he had germinated a question after absorbing his fill from the speech, breaking it down into episodic parts before arranging them to the relevant sub-section of Ahmed's report as explained beforehand.
"You say the new generation shape shifters can copy the entirety of any reploid's identity using a special type of ammunition, what type exactly?" was Lumine's question as he ignored several pairs of eyes drawn toward him.
Crowe said a few words to Axl and the young reploid digged an ivory coated Glock 49 magnapistol out of a leg compartment, removing a magazine from the modified handgun and handed it to Crowe who then gave it to the curly haired youth. The clip itself looked nothing out of the ordinary until the curly haired youth pried a bullet out with a retractable Philips screwdriver that he dislodged from a pocket moments earlier to present to the Reptech and Foundation representatives as the reason behind the meeting is beginning to dawn on them all, and Crowe explained "Each bullet contains a chip that when activated transmits data to the transformation cog a split second from hitting its target. In addition, each weapon and magazine is coded to its owner, meaning that if I were to pull the trigger, nothing would happen because sensors in the grip would indicate that my DNA datacore does not register with is formulated within the Glock parameters…"
Axl then handed the Glock to Crowe and the latter pointed it at the group before pulling the trigger; it simply didn't budge despite his focus pulling harder on the trigger each time but the firing mechanism remained silent until the Glock was handed back to its owner.
Another question came from the audience, this time a woman in her fifties, her blonde hair turning lighter at the edges and silver eyes behind a pair of wireframe spectacles and matching silver blouse and skirt and Crowe answered thus "The transformation cog has two datacores; one for the shape shifter, the other for disguise. This Glock had been registered to Axl prior to activation so nobody else can use it, meaning that nobody else can use it. It even has its own anti-cracking technology." Crowe continued "Only when the gun is in the hands of its registered owner does it disengage safety mode."
"Give hackers a challenge and they'll accept it, you moron" Zero muttered under his breath. But now a connection was made in X's mind; an unsteady hand becomes a clenched fist and an unwitting observer becomes an animated protester as the Azure Hunter walked toward the self-congratulatory procession. A voice was raised in protest but a single glance in the direction of said voice and all dissent was silenced. They carried an authority none of whom dared to challenge.
Several Maverick Hunters mouth obscenities between one another.
"What is the meaning of this charade? And what exact military application did you have in mind when he and other so called 'new generation' reploids enter society?" X finally spoke, and knees quaked and hands trembled, even those around the prototype were at a loss at his uninvited intrusion. "Maverick Hunter X I presume?" asked Crowe as he shifted the knot in his tie as if to allow himself to breathe.
"Correct"
"Then you are aware that I cannot disclose anything with you until both our operations have reached a satisfactory conclusion."
"Satisfactory conclusion?" X growled inwardly as his patience has been worn even thinner with each spoken word "I do not believe this."
Jakob Lumine sensed that whatever Crowe and the reploid with the shining eyes had planned was beginning to diverge from its predetermined path and called them forward with a gesture that was both hasty and calm, and said a few hushed words to both Crowe and the reploid with the shining eyes before extending a hand toward the veteran of numerous well publicised Maverick Hunter campaigns. X declined the gesture with a piercing stare. Undeterred, Lumine spoke without a hint of emotion, dialect or tone "It is unfortunate that you felt your time and resources have been wasted but dealing with those Mavericks wouldn't be a problem because our prototype, Axl, has been complying and collecting information over the last three months under the guise of a trusted officer."
"That's beside the point; you were all playing with fire!" X regained some of his composure "And I believe you have a name for the shapeshifting technology."
"It's the first time I had the pleasure to talk to a Maverick Hunter." interjected the reploid at the centre of the sudden controversy, repeating Lumine's gesture and this time X made the effort to reciprocate despite his own misgivings. The reploid with the shining eyes wrapped a large arm around the youth in an attempt to shield him from further scrutiny, still betraying no suggestion of shape was revealed as much as anybody witnessing the unravelling of what had been a well-executed demonstration, the sun kissed edge of the geodesic dome doing nothing to dispel the blanket of black shadow despite the Sun's gradual descent.
"Crowe would've revealed the name for the technology had you not interrupted this session in a fit of righteous indignation." Lumine's serene response was a stinger that took X by surprise while unaware of the veteran's memories. X looked at the industrialist square in the eye and said "I will let that slip but I will state that I do not take kindly to seeing my men reduced to being a sideshow nor do I appreciate the gung-ho way your company went about playing cops and robbers just to produce this little sales pitch. And for God's sake you actually threw somebody with no life experience to the wolves with nothing but a pre-planned script, an experimental firearm and a vague outline based on an assumption that suspicion would not be aroused just because Axl had changed his physical appearance to that of Harris. It's just as well that nobody within Kowalski's cell had caught on to any differences or Axl's AI just happened to be tailored toward mimicry and espionage purposes. It stinks of Functionism!"
"Aren't all machines, including reploids, products of Functionism?" The question only served to further inflame X's irritation, prompting Zero to push him aside and attempt to diffuse the situation before X had said another word. "Look, neither X nor I think this stunt was a good idea and I hope we don't see a repeat either." Zero said to the industrialist "There was a reason why you get those messages about leaving things to trained professionals. You don't see Edwin and Wildman there holding crucial meetings and any Reptech and/or Foundation people going one-on-one with Sigma. I saw why X isn't happy about this rather…" Zero took all for three seconds to think of something close to being a non-offensive phrase "… elaborate scheme. Yeah, if any shape shifter decides to join the Maverick Hunters, he or she would have to go through the same training regime as those not designed with transformation in mind."
"That is very true" Lumine replied, his porcelain doll visage bowing in confirmation "Nevertheless, I think Axl has a bright future ahead of him."
"You sound very confident"
"Isn't Project: Gateway proof enough?" Asked Lumine
Zero left it at that, knowing that it was too soon to pass judgement on the shape shifters, simply saying "Not a bad presentation if I say so myself. Just don't waste our time is what both X and I are trying to say".
Lumine nodded without saying a word and signalled to Crowe and the reploid with the shining eyes to bring the demonstration to an early close and finally have the good sense to retreat into the safety of the geodesic dome. "Not bad for someone who isn't supposed to good at diplomacy." Zero thought to himself.
Shadows stretch out into the distance in time with the setting Sun, creating fractured rainbows on the Plexiglas surface of the geodesic dome as the Maverick Hunters slowly dismantle the barrier after clearing all the reploid debris with Kowalski and the body of the real Harris long taken away. Zero saw X looking into the golden horizon as the Crimson Hunter oversaw the south-western sectors while Hauster and Aynat organised the withdrawal of Maverick Hunter forces. X was in charge of taking down the north-eastern sectors of the triple barriers, checkpoints and all, still is when he looked away from the shrinking bands of orange and red. An engineer flipped a switch to bathe the site in white light; having set up a network of upward and downward facing high voltage floodlights all linked to several generators, all self-powered by hydrogen powered dynamos.
The gradual disassembly of the barriers continued throughout the night as the last of the Reptech researchers and Foundation moneymen were ferried out of the dome in automated limousines, leaving only surveillance systems and a handful of watchmen to scan, monitor and guard every nook and cranny within the glass building's steel and concrete heart.
The work was finally completed when the Sun rose above the dome the next day, bathing it in a blinding, radiant shine; every piece of heavy equipment put away in the APCs before the handful of Maverick Hunters, including X and Zero, crammed themselves into what little space in those that weren't completely full of equipment. The two veterans found themselves in one such APC with a generator for company; neither was looking at one another.
Despite the rumble of thick tyres on dirt, the audible hum from the engine and the straining of thick straps securing the floodlight, the silence was deafening between the two veteran Hunters who had amassed over forty years' experience between them, give or take several months here and there. Zero looked up and said "You sounded really pissed off back there – and I have never seen you that pissed off, not even when Sigma basically screwed the world up with that stunt of his."
"I know what you were referring to" X replied; his glowering eyes shot up to meet Zero's and held a judgemental quality that the Crimson Hunter disliked since X had first attended meetings between the Generals and the UWF as a representative for the Maverick Hunters. X realised the extent of Zero's reaction and apologised immediately for it was also a trait that had come with the bitterness of age and experience before saying "Yeah, even I thought you were dead, hell I don't even know how I came to be outside the Eurasia Crater after..." X's voice dissolved into silence at that point, the truth of what happened between them was still a magnetic thorn in his brain.
"Look, both our reports into our descent didn't mention a thing and there were no witnesses either. There is no way anybody is going to find out." Zero flashed a smile at his friend. X wasn't so sure despite his second descent into that gaping maw but the fact that nobody would even go near the outer borders to the Middle East helped lighten his mood.
"And what happened to Isoc anyway?" Zero then asked "I remember reading that dreck about me before Signas fed it to the nearest shredder." There was no mirth in his chuckling at the memory.
"Even now, I haven't got a damn clue. All I know was that Axle the Red was about to return before I managed to beat the monstrosity back down."
"Shit, I thought the mutual kill would've been permanent" Zero said, understanding the irony of his own resurrection "Still, what's the story between you and Alia anyway? I can't help but think that you two might be skirting a little close to the no fraternizing rule."
"Shit" X's grumble was an inaudible whisper of sound before saying "You do remember that the pair of us are considered the undecipherable by the scientific community. Anyway, I've been helping her with several experiments."
"What kind of 'experiments' is she performing on you then?"
"What do you mea- no, get out of here!" X instinctively yelled when he realised the connotations. "I was there to help her settle in and she returned the favour when we all thought you were dead!" He said, laughing despite himself.
"Just messing with you man." Zero laughed along with his comrade-in-arms, not knowing if X's visits to Alia's quarters were more than the mere act of exchange of data "Still looking forward to a couple of drinks at the bar?"
"Sure thing, that'll go down nicely after all the bullshit we've witnessed out there yesterday." X said, finding himself relishing the thought. In truth, he had other things on his mind once the paperwork from their mission had been sorted "Just as long as Reptech and the Lumine Foundation don't find any more innovative ideas for wasting our time." The APC's driver, not caring to discern the veterans' conversation, continued through managed plains, controlled forests and sculptured rock toward the dockyard on the South-Western coast for their scheduled pick-up and debriefing.
While the Maverick Hunters were bringing down their barriers surrounding the Reptech Research Facility during the night; the convoy of automated limousines splintered and frayed at various junctions and turns in the dirt track until two were left, one following the other to a shared destination, tyres churning and grinding the road, headbeams showing the way. And Jakob Lumine, Matthew Crowe and the reploid with the shining eyes were all in the first limousine, the bulk of the latter forcing Crowe to take one of the collapsible seats opposite Lumine. The range of topics was narrow, the focus only on one thing. The shining eyes illuminate the already squeezed confines of the limousine.
"I understand the need to verify Axl's transformation capabilities but you and our bright eyed friend must also have calculated all possible risks when you both laid out the basis for this scheme." Lumine said to Crowe, his point of view clearer than transparent plastic as the briefcase he had taken with him to the meeting rested on his lap "Axl had passed quality control with a perfect score." The nameless hulk beside Lumine extended a clawed block to the industrialist "Forgive me if you didn't catch my name earlier, the name's Isaac Botos" He introduced himself as goliathian claws curl around Lumine's hand with a mother's delicate touch and briefly shook it, Botos' southern drawl reminded the albino of stereotypical depictions of Texas; desert, sparse ruins and a history of violence.
"We needed to put the theory behind the Chameleon Circuit into practice. We knew the quality control test was nothing more than a formality, he's well suited to the career we tailored his personality to but we needed to see if the circuit has any practical function. There have been unproven rumours of reploids who had similar capabilities infiltrating and assassinating high profile officers, including a failed attempt during the Repliforce War if I recall one such rumour correctly." Botos' eyes moved with the flexing of neck joints within the formless coat he had worn.
"Of course, it would be suicide to just dump Axl into any group of miscreants without any prior research" Crowe took over the thread "We needed to pick our target but the opportunity presented itself when Harris, the real Harris that is, had been spotted loitering around Noah Park so we hired a private… freelance professional to look into him."
"Mercenary I presume?" Lumine interjected with a raised finger, which Botos confirmed with a nod, the albino's face didn't betray anything that might suggest shock or concern about either the Mavericks Hunters discovering this fact or any other leak or even the greater possibility of Axl being lost to them. Crowe took the silence in itself as a sign of concern.
"The information he dug up on Harris proved to be very interesting" Botos piped up suddenly just as Crowe was about to speak "He was the brains behind Kowalski's two-bob operation but he was also ambitious, he wanted something more tangible than mere revolution for its own sake. He knew and understood the way of things, he wanted power."
Lumine leaned forward slightly, stopping a smile from breaking his porcelain façade, saying "I can see where this is going. The Chameleon Chip was a clear success; your stunt was successful beyond even your wildest dreams."
"Of course Jakob" Crowe spoke up, "However, Botos had to calm the lad down after he put a bullet between Harris's eyes. First kill before he was officially unveiled. Of course we took precautions to ensure maximum secrecy while having personal protection just in case."
"Tell me both of you have tied up any loose ends". Again, there was no tone, dialect or accent in Lumine's voice to denote displeasure or anger but Crowe knew that the question was asked, with X's unscheduled appearance taken into account, was more than enough, and found himself unable to answer.
"Once Axl got used to his role as Harris, we assigned him to deal with the merc – and convince Kowalski that it was in his best interest to do so under the pretence that he was hired to assassinate him." Botos said almost as quickly as he could process the thought.
Lumine leaned back on his seat and rubbed a delicate hand across his brow, pushing his fringe upward like he was threading silk through a slot. "How long did Axl work alongside Kowalski?" Lumine's question maintained its flavourless tone despite the fear from the potential fallout should the Maverick Hunters discover the extent of this folly.
"Not long to develop any sympathy for his misguided actions." Crowe interjected so quickly that Botos' identical answer was a slurred echo. "We used the illicit meetings on this island to check on the chameleon chip while he reiterated the plan to Axl." Crowe said, his hands a flurry of activity as they took a lift of their own to describe technical concepts that even Botos would struggle to verbally explain before adding "It's not often we have a piece of technology that is free from massive factory errors from the offset but we do estimate that ten percent of reploids with the chameleon chip will fail quality control in the next five years."
Lumine did not respond at first, his knuckles straining on themselves as he tightens his grip on the briefcase. "We have projected eight percent of all reploids will have the chameleon chips built into them in the first six months and fourteen in twelve after quality control." Botos said, hoping to revive Lumine's participation in the deadened atmosphere.
The head of the Lumine Foundation finally answered "I shall check on Axl myself when we all get to my office, and he shall stay until the official date pending UWF approval, is this understood?"
Crowe and Botos nodded in agreement and didn't say another word as both limousines near their destination, with Axl sound asleep in the second car with a guard watching over him and an emulated console from the last century still waiting for the sleeper to resume from a checkpoint.
A human port, nearing her thirties despite her teenage schoolgirl appearance, with shoulder length brown hair, ocean blue eyes and wearing the Monaco hotel's standard uniform rapped her knuckles against a door with a tray of food. A faceless reploid walked past her without batting an optic as she repeated her action before calling for the occupant. She looked at a schedule before saying "Mr Mohammed, you had missed your appointment at the gymnasium and scheduled lunch."
She didn't get a response so she tentatively handled the doorknob knowing that she could risk losing her job if anybody find and reported her. And find the door to be unlocked. Steeling herself she opened the door. And immediately lost all colouration before racing to the nearest phone for Salud 'Ahmed' Mohammed's naked form was slumped over the back of his chair; his head leaned back with the neck slit from ear to ear. His hard drive gutted with a beam knife and its CPU guts ripped straight out and scattered on the carpet.