A House Divided
Authored by Yoster
Authored on 2 April, 2001 11.37 PM, PST
All characters herein copyright their respective owners.
Author's Note
I'll admit, I don't know/remember that much about the Megaman X series, so if there's any small errors in terminology, etc. feel free to (politely!) let me know, and I'll make the appropriate changes.
chapter one
"NO!"
Zero awoke and shot upright with a start.
The clock on the night stand read 3.57 AM, but the time was of little consequence. He had the nightmare again.
"*groan* That makes, what, 8 nights in a row?" Zero asked himself quietly while dropping his head back on the pillow.
He had the nightmare again. Zero stared at the dark ceiling and ran through it in his mind, as he had done for every night for over a week.
~dream~
"NO! I won't! You can't make me! I don't care what the consequences are!"
An agitated Zero sat on a plain wooden chair, under a dim ceiling lamp, flanked by two large, heavily armed reploids. A large wooden desk was opposite him. Behind it sat Dr. Cain, who was staring intensely at him.
"Zero, we've gone over this from every possible angle with the security commission." Cain tossed a folder marked 'Alternatives' on the desk. "All other plans of action have a probability of success of less than .5%. This is the only plausible way, and you're the only one who can possibly do it."
"I don't care what the odds are! If there's another way to do it, then that's the way I'm going to do it!" Zero rose up violently to storm out, but the two security reploids sat him down once again. "After all he's done for us, this is the best you can come up with? This is it?!"
"Once again, Zero, we have no choice." The doctor leaned back in his chair. "X has and has access to some of the most sensitive information to our cause. Now that he's been..." Cain stopped to search for a proper word. "...compromised, we must contain whatever intellectual damage we have sustained already! I'm angry and worried that the situation hasn't been remedied already, but you're the only one skilled enough to..." He stopped.
Zero met him with a cold, angry stare. He knew what the doctor was going to say, but every time he said it, it came as a surprise and a shock.
"...to eliminate him."
~dream~
Zero sighed and shut his eyes. It would be a long night.
-the next morning-
"Zee-ro! *knockknock*"
Zero rolled over to face the clock. 7.50 AM.
"Ugh, morning already?" He thought. "And damn! I'm gonna be late again!"
"Zero? *knock* C'mon, we're gonna be late!" The knocking continued.
"Yeah, yeah!" Zero finally shouted at the door, jumping out of bed and readying his armor. "I'm almost ready, just shut up for a sec, wouldja?"
Zero stopped and waited for a reply.
... ... ...
"*knockknock* Are-ya ready yet?"
Zero rolled his eyes and went about finishing his morning preparations. He opened the door to the hallway, and found X waiting.
"Finally, slowpoke!" X grinned at Zero and started to walk down the hall.
Zero threw him an unamused snarl, shut the door behind him, and left to follow X.
"You've really got to stop oversleeping, Zero." X scolded him. "Are you okay? I've had to wake you up for the past week or so..."
"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine, yeah." Zero quickly moved to change the subject. "Any idea on what this morning's meeting is gonna be about?"
"Not a clue." X opened the outside door. "I haven't tuned in to any of the emergency bands since we got off duty last night."
Zero frowned at his friend's oversight, but stopped when he realized that he hadn't either. "Oh, well. I love surprises anyway." He forced a smile.
The two hunters continued their idle chatter until they reached the situation room for the morning briefing.
Dr. Cain sat at the head of the table, as always, and finished preparing his notes of Maverick activity over the past 24 hours.
"People? People, please, let's get this meeting started." Cain attempted to quiet the noisy gathering of reploids and humans.
The meeting slowly came to order, and, en masse, turned to face the doctor and the large view screen behind him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to report minimal Maverick activity over the past day, aside from the usual skirmishes with local law enforcement." He brought up a map of the surrounding areas, which, aside from a few red dots, was colored a bright green. "You're all doing great work, and I'm very proud of our progress."
He began to clap, and the rest of the room followed politely.
"Finally," X whispered to Zero, "A day off! I barely remember the last time we didn't have to go on duty, this is so cool!"
Zero snorted back, trying to quiet the excited X, as Dr. Cain had began to speak again.
"So, therefore, I'm pleased to announce that all Hunter forces are given the day-" A loud alarm interrupted his speech, and the view screen sprung to life, zooming in on downtown, now flashing red. "Hmm?"
"alert. maverick activity reported in sector 329. hostages taken. law enforcement is en route, and is requesting hunter assistance." A monotonous message emanated from the overhead speakers and was scrolled on screen.
X shut his eyes and cursed silently. Zero smirked, as he knew the almost-day off was too good to be true. He rose to address the room.
"Me and X will assess the situation, doc." Zero nudged the sullen blue reploid with his elbow. "If we need reinforcements, we'll radio back with further information."
"Not bloody likely." He added in his head.
"Of course, Zero." Cain brought up video newsfeeds from crews already on scene. A tourbus was stopped in the middle of an intersection, and was surrounded by a few low-level Maverick toadies. "Doesn't look like they'll give you guys too much trouble. You'd better get going."
"*sigh* Yes, sir." X rose and followed Zero outside. "A Hunter's duty is never done."
"Cut the semantics, X," Zero readied to make the jump to the hotzone. "And teleport already."
Zero blinked out in a flash of red, and, with one more frustrated frown, X followed suit.
Authored by Yoster
Authored on 2 April, 2001 11.37 PM, PST
All characters herein copyright their respective owners.
Author's Note
I'll admit, I don't know/remember that much about the Megaman X series, so if there's any small errors in terminology, etc. feel free to (politely!) let me know, and I'll make the appropriate changes.
chapter one
"NO!"
Zero awoke and shot upright with a start.
The clock on the night stand read 3.57 AM, but the time was of little consequence. He had the nightmare again.
"*groan* That makes, what, 8 nights in a row?" Zero asked himself quietly while dropping his head back on the pillow.
He had the nightmare again. Zero stared at the dark ceiling and ran through it in his mind, as he had done for every night for over a week.
~dream~
"NO! I won't! You can't make me! I don't care what the consequences are!"
An agitated Zero sat on a plain wooden chair, under a dim ceiling lamp, flanked by two large, heavily armed reploids. A large wooden desk was opposite him. Behind it sat Dr. Cain, who was staring intensely at him.
"Zero, we've gone over this from every possible angle with the security commission." Cain tossed a folder marked 'Alternatives' on the desk. "All other plans of action have a probability of success of less than .5%. This is the only plausible way, and you're the only one who can possibly do it."
"I don't care what the odds are! If there's another way to do it, then that's the way I'm going to do it!" Zero rose up violently to storm out, but the two security reploids sat him down once again. "After all he's done for us, this is the best you can come up with? This is it?!"
"Once again, Zero, we have no choice." The doctor leaned back in his chair. "X has and has access to some of the most sensitive information to our cause. Now that he's been..." Cain stopped to search for a proper word. "...compromised, we must contain whatever intellectual damage we have sustained already! I'm angry and worried that the situation hasn't been remedied already, but you're the only one skilled enough to..." He stopped.
Zero met him with a cold, angry stare. He knew what the doctor was going to say, but every time he said it, it came as a surprise and a shock.
"...to eliminate him."
~dream~
Zero sighed and shut his eyes. It would be a long night.
-the next morning-
"Zee-ro! *knockknock*"
Zero rolled over to face the clock. 7.50 AM.
"Ugh, morning already?" He thought. "And damn! I'm gonna be late again!"
"Zero? *knock* C'mon, we're gonna be late!" The knocking continued.
"Yeah, yeah!" Zero finally shouted at the door, jumping out of bed and readying his armor. "I'm almost ready, just shut up for a sec, wouldja?"
Zero stopped and waited for a reply.
... ... ...
"*knockknock* Are-ya ready yet?"
Zero rolled his eyes and went about finishing his morning preparations. He opened the door to the hallway, and found X waiting.
"Finally, slowpoke!" X grinned at Zero and started to walk down the hall.
Zero threw him an unamused snarl, shut the door behind him, and left to follow X.
"You've really got to stop oversleeping, Zero." X scolded him. "Are you okay? I've had to wake you up for the past week or so..."
"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine, yeah." Zero quickly moved to change the subject. "Any idea on what this morning's meeting is gonna be about?"
"Not a clue." X opened the outside door. "I haven't tuned in to any of the emergency bands since we got off duty last night."
Zero frowned at his friend's oversight, but stopped when he realized that he hadn't either. "Oh, well. I love surprises anyway." He forced a smile.
The two hunters continued their idle chatter until they reached the situation room for the morning briefing.
Dr. Cain sat at the head of the table, as always, and finished preparing his notes of Maverick activity over the past 24 hours.
"People? People, please, let's get this meeting started." Cain attempted to quiet the noisy gathering of reploids and humans.
The meeting slowly came to order, and, en masse, turned to face the doctor and the large view screen behind him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to report minimal Maverick activity over the past day, aside from the usual skirmishes with local law enforcement." He brought up a map of the surrounding areas, which, aside from a few red dots, was colored a bright green. "You're all doing great work, and I'm very proud of our progress."
He began to clap, and the rest of the room followed politely.
"Finally," X whispered to Zero, "A day off! I barely remember the last time we didn't have to go on duty, this is so cool!"
Zero snorted back, trying to quiet the excited X, as Dr. Cain had began to speak again.
"So, therefore, I'm pleased to announce that all Hunter forces are given the day-" A loud alarm interrupted his speech, and the view screen sprung to life, zooming in on downtown, now flashing red. "Hmm?"
"alert. maverick activity reported in sector 329. hostages taken. law enforcement is en route, and is requesting hunter assistance." A monotonous message emanated from the overhead speakers and was scrolled on screen.
X shut his eyes and cursed silently. Zero smirked, as he knew the almost-day off was too good to be true. He rose to address the room.
"Me and X will assess the situation, doc." Zero nudged the sullen blue reploid with his elbow. "If we need reinforcements, we'll radio back with further information."
"Not bloody likely." He added in his head.
"Of course, Zero." Cain brought up video newsfeeds from crews already on scene. A tourbus was stopped in the middle of an intersection, and was surrounded by a few low-level Maverick toadies. "Doesn't look like they'll give you guys too much trouble. You'd better get going."
"*sigh* Yes, sir." X rose and followed Zero outside. "A Hunter's duty is never done."
"Cut the semantics, X," Zero readied to make the jump to the hotzone. "And teleport already."
Zero blinked out in a flash of red, and, with one more frustrated frown, X followed suit.