Scattering
Protoman sat beside a capsule. It was tall, taller than he was anyway. Not that that said much. Protoman himself was rather short. The capsule in total was probably only about 6 feet high. Maybe. It was an older model. Some of the newer capsules where smaller and more compact. But this held a part of the first Armor Dr. Light had made for his youngest son. The first of many.
The first that needed to be scattered.
Protoman stood up and looked at the capsule. Inside were two things. The first was a message from the now-late Dr. Light to his youngest son. The second thing was a pair of boots, foot armor that contained a new acceleration system, a system that the bot they had been made for did not yet possess. Dr. Light had been very adamant about this set getting to his younger brother first. He did not question the request. Hell, Dr. Light had been very insistent that the first three be received in the order they where made, as some would update the corresponding systems accordingly. Also, this would make it easier for any other androids based on his design to be updated accordingly as well.
The youngest, an android named X.
X, who was still 15 years away from hitting that 30 year goal for that moral test.
X, who Dr. Light placed so much hope in. Whom Dr. Light placed the future in.
Mainly because…
"Tch, what a WASTE of TIME," came a very grouchy and highly annoyed voice, followed by a growl of agreement.
That's one way to lose your train of thought.
Protoman frowned and turned to the blackish bot.
"Well, you didn't HAVE to help out you know, Bass," he said. "We all know you'd rather be trying to find a nice safe little hole to go hide in. With Wily gone, you've got nothing left anyway."
"Watch your mouth, prototype, or I'll personally speed up your expiration date!"
The fact that Protoman drew back even the slightest was a sign that Bass had hit a sensitive spot.
The hard truth of the fact was that Protoman's experimental core was finally reaching its breaking point. He never did let Dr. Light fix that. Now, his stubbornness was coming back to bite him in the rear. In truth, he could expire at any time. But he was determined to finish the task at hand before that happened.
Which is why he had enlisted help.
"Whatever, Bass. Look, Dr. Light's instructions were clear. X is to get this armor first. And this part first would be best. So we need to set it up so he finds it first. This means, a safe place that will stand the test of time that's also out in the open."
Bass scoffed.
"If a place like that existed, you wouldn't have any problems hiding any of this JUNK."
"You only say it's junk because you're not advanced enough to use it."
"Are you trying to pick a fight, Protoman?"
"Oh, so you DO know my name," was the smug reply.
"Alright, enough you two," came a young female voice that could only belong to one person. Roll. Rush was walking by her side. "We have work to do. Brother should be back soon."
"I still say you're all wasting your damn time trying to set this up. Even if you do find ideal hiding places for all those stupid armor pieces, you have no way of knowing what's going to happen, if they will survive, or even if he finds the armor parts in the proper order, let alone the set you want him to find first," Bass snapped.
Protoman and Roll exchanged looks. Bass had a very good point.
"Ah, but that's why you asked for my help, isn't it?" a familiar bot clad in green stepped in to the light so that he could be seen. "After all, predicting the future is a specialty of mine."
"Welcome back, Quint," said Protoman.
His words to Dr. Light long ago hadn't been in vain. Megaman did find his way home. Just a new version of him. Unfortunately, Dr. Light had been so sick, he had been unable to restore Megaman to his former self, leaving the blue bomber forever with his new identity and persona. At least he had gotten to see the old man before his passing. It had been a great comfort to them both. Quint had mildly considered traveling back to before Dr. Light had gotten so sick, but he feared time paradoxes above all else.
Yeah.
"Oh look, it's the green wonder."
"Yeah, it is. And I think I found the best place for these foot parts. It's a bit cold, but it will do nicely."
"You know, you're going beyond your own time frame knowledge at this point. How do you know you're going to be as accurate as you used to be, Mr. Know-it-all?"
Quint just smirked at Bass's statement.
"I'm just feeling lucky about this one. Trust me, I haven't been wrong yet."
"Your guesses have all been within a thirty year time span before now."
"Stop it!" Roll shouted. "Where do we hide this one, Quint?"
Bass finally relented and merely looked away with a grunt.
Quint smiled and walked up to the capsule.
"Set your transport beacons to the coordinates I'm about to tell you…"
***
It took the better part of two weeks for them to hide the Light armor effectively. Two weeks, for four parts, with an advanced teleportation system on their side.
One down, about twelve more to go, if you counted the Neutral armor, plus the three chip systems. Setting up THOSE capsules to give the whole armor to which ever was found first, plus one chip? Heh. Now programming THAT had been fun.
"I still don't think this is worth the effort we're going through," Bass said as the group was now in the lab where X slept and where his armors where stored. The blackish bot looked around, Treble by his side. The first time he had been down here, really.
"Which one is next?" he heard Quint ask.
"The Giga armor," was Protoman's answer, followed by a grunt as he attempted to move a capsule containing the Falcon armor's main body out of the way.
"Dang it, we really should have thought about getting to the other ones when we put finished projects aside. Roll, can you get Rush over here to give me a hand?"
"I'll help you load it on to the sled," Quint said walking over.
Bass on the other hand, ignored the three, er, four idiots (needed to count the dog) and continued to look around before he stopped at the capsule which contained the main cause of all this fuss.
A look in the diamond shaped window allowed him to see the sleeping bot's face.
Ceh, he really did look like the blue dweeb. A bit older, sure. But still. Dr. Light must not have liked originality. He didn't get it. Supposedly this thing was going to be the future's hero and hope? And because of what? A thirty-year nap?
He turned and looked at the computer hooked up to the stasis capsule.
Time left before recommended time of awakening, 14 years, 300 days, 7 hours 23 minutes and 42 seconds.
"… Oooookaaay," was all Bass could say.
He turned back to the capsule to find Treble on his hindquarters now looking inside. To his disgust, the canine's tail was wagging. Why the hell would Treble be happy to see that thing, of all people? He wasn't even awake yet! Wordlessly, Bass walked back and took another look inside the capsule himself.
"I don't get it. Who's to say that this guy is even supposed to work, as he should? Who's to say he's not going to turn out like Zer-"
CLANG!
Bass didn't even get to finish his sentence. The next thing he knew, or anybody knew for that matter, Protoman had him by the neck and pinned against the nearest wall. Bass found himself starring so close to the dark visor, that he could actually see the red bot's furious eyes behind the black barrier.
"Don't even THINK about comparing my little brother there to him! Don't even THINK it, Bass! He won't turn out like Zero did, because Dr. Light wasn't an idiot!"
Roll, Quint, Rush, and even Treble, stood by and watched the exchange in shock. The event in question took place years ago, but it was still fresh in every one's minds.
"Dr. Light knew the risks of such a complex computer brain, which is why he's having X sleep on a thirty year moral program. He's not dumb enough to wake him early. Hell, Wily didn't even wait until Zero was fully finished. I saw those schematics. He still had some parts missing! Plus, he rushed the awakening process! It's his own fault Zero went berserk! After all, that's what happens when you rush things!"
Bass furiously tried to break the prototype's hold, but somehow, he proved too much. Was this what the red bot was like when he got mad?
"I'll admit, old man Wily was whacked. But does that really make little old X here that different? Think about it. They both have such advanced AI. The only real difference is that Zero had a programmed purpose. To destroy that blue freak. ACK!" Bass was silenced as Protoman applied more pressure.
"X HAS no preprogrammed purpose Bass! He's free to choose his own path! That's what Dr. Light wants! That's the POINT!"
"Blues…" came Roll's soft voice, but she was ignored.
"Oh really? Then why all the weapons, huh?" Bass countered, only to be silenced again.
"For protection! For himself, and for the people of the world! We can't just assume-" This time it was Protoman's turn to be cut off. But not because of something Bass did or said. In fact, he dropped Bass like a ton of bricks. Protoman stepped back clutching his chest.
'No! Not now! Don't let out now not yet!' His mind screamed as he staggered to try and maintain his balance.
"BLUES!" Roll cried out as she rushed to him.
Quint moved to check on Bass who while he landed on his feet easily enough, was still coughing to get air back in to his cooling system. He was watching the red and grey bioroid carefully.
"Blues, Blues!" Roll was getting frantic. She wanted to be a doctor, sure. But this was out of her league. She wagered even Auto wouldn't be able to fix this…
Protoman felt his core start to return to normal functions.
'Perhaps I just pushed too much there,' he thought, and put his hand on Roll's shoulder.
"I'm fine," he said.
This seemed to be enough to satisfy her. After all, she was used to dealing with him.
"You can't deny it." Protoman's attention was brought back to Bass.
"Your precious little brother X could easily go berserk. Just like Zero did. It could be a number of causes. Not just rushing things. He's still a machine. An electrical surge to the brain, a bad choice. All it would take is one. Little. Accident," Bass continued, stressing the word accident, so to imply the worst possible case: killing a human.
"He won't." This time it was Quint who answered. "I have faith in him. He won't. Not ever. Sure, there may be some close calls. But he won't ever go mad. Not like that."
"Yes, that's why Dad has the moral program running. To test the reliability of his circuits and prove his maturity."
"Oh please. If he's anything like his brother, he'll be completely naive."
"I'll choose not to be insulted by that. Also naivety and maturity are generally two different things," said Quint.
"It's not just that. It will help him make the right decisions, and to know what the right ones are. Though, as one of Dr. Light's creations, that probably won't be a problem for him," Protoman said as he slowly got back to his feet. He looked at the capsule.
"He won't be like Zero."
There was a long period of silence.
"Hey, at least Wily had brains enough to put in a fail safe, right?" Bass said at last.
It was true, after Wily gave some lame speech when he awoke Zero, which was shortly after Quint's return to Dr. Light, the red android lashed out, and took down a few of the Robot Masters before he succumbed to the little "Fail Safe". Or at least, that's what they called it. Protoman himself had been there for the fiasco, for no other reason than being nosey, really. Wily had been badly hurt by Zero during the incident.
Bass remembered that defining moment. Zero had just been blindly trashing at anything and anyone he got close to. He was like a possessed demon. Now that he thought about it, old man Wily probably had a battle sim program running at the same time, too, which would only add to the berserk state if awakened incorrectly. If proper awakening procedures aren't properly followed, any number of problems could go wrong. At first, Wily had been watching in amazement at the destruction being caused. Then Bass got flung across the room, nearly hitting Wily in the process, and Treble got badly damaged.
Wily tried to regain control with reasoning first. A bit of a mistake in the end. Zero then turned on his creator, striking him hard in the face with his fist, breaking the old man's jaw and nose. Wily hit the computer console behind him so hard, there was a dent on impact, and a few of Wily's bones could be heard breaking upon the impact as well. Not finished yet, Zero walked up to the old man, and proceeded to punch him, once, twice, three times, and then, he stopped. He raised his hand and looked at it, covered in blood. The red bot took a step back, attempting to whip the blood off with his other hand, of course, this didn't work. Gazing at the blood on both his hands, he had a look on his face that even Bass could read.
What have I done?
Wily wasn't taking any more chances. Weakly, he had reached up to the console, which, while badly damaged, some of which still functioned, and pushed a button. Zero then grabbed his head in agony, and fell to the ground a few moments later. The bioroids called in an ambulance, and then put Zero back in his capsule.
Dr. Wily died a few weeks later.
"We were just lucky. That's all there is to it. But your old man is dead now because of him."
Bass scoffed.
"Dead. Good riddance. But some how… Well, he was all excited a day or so before he turned Zero on, saying he had figured out some way to 'carry on.' I asked what the hell he was talking about. And he said, 'After death you fool. Do I have to spell it out for you?' I don't know. I just assumed he was talking about Zero, whom he called his 'Son.'" Bass actually looked very sour at the mention. "But seriously, lately I've just been getting the creeps back home. Like he's still there or something."
"Creepy," Roll said, and Quint nodded in agreement.
Not that any one could see it, but Protoman blinked a few times.
No wonder Bass has been hanging around lately. He wouldn't want to go home either if he felt some dead man was watching him.
Well, the incident could have been worse. Zero could have killed the whole family. But he didn't, and was put back into stasis. That was something to be thankful for. Perhaps some more rest would get his systems into properly functioning order.
"Maybe when they both wake up, they will be best friends. Kinda like we all are now," Roll said suddenly.
The three other bioroids looked at her oddly. Bass finally laughed.
"First off, let's get one thing straight. I'm not your friend. I'm tolerant of you idiots and nothing more. And second, there is no way a Wily bot could ever be real 'friends' with a Light bot."
"They could!" Roll pressed.
"That's enough. We got work to finish," Protoman stated, walking over to the four capsules that he, Quint, and Rush had pulled out of the back.
"We need to get these scattered so they will be safe, and hidden so he can find them. We can't risk this place being found prematurely and all these weapons falling into the wrong hands."
"What, like who? Zero?"
Protoman actually smirked.
"No, in fact, some of these capsules have AI messages so that they can react to who activates them. Some will only activate for X himself, but it seems Dr. Light had a little faith in Zero, which is why I helped you put him back to bed rather than dismantle him. In fact, I think there is an Armor capsule with HIS name on it around here somewhere..."
"WHAT!?" Bass yelled out, making Roll and Quint cover their ears. "You got to be kidding me! Not 15 minutes ago, you where practically cursing him. Now you're saying that Dr. Light had FAITH in him?!"
"I was angry. And if his mind works similar to how X's does, then yes. Besides, it was a glitch. That's what happens when you rush an awakening command. Thinking about it, I don't think he was even fully aware of what he was doing 'till he nearly killed Wily on the spot. Anyways, Dr. Light thought that there was a chance Zero could make the right decisions. So there is a Black Armor set up for him in here somewhere. …I guess we should hide that one too. If we can find it."
"But how would he even know any of that? Let alone build an armor for him? He'd need the schematics… YOU! You thief!" Bass yelled out, pointing an accusing finger at Protoman, who only smirked.
"Look who's talking."
"Anyway!" Quint spoke up before the argument could escalate any further. "I'm sure we will after we clean up a bit down here. Come on, it took us two weeks to hide just one set. And we have twelve more to scatter around. We have our work cut out for us."
In the far back of the dark lab, two armors caught just enough light to gleam within their respected capsules for a brief moment. One armor cast in a rich blue and purple, the other, decorated in black, with a horned helm.
The Ultimate and Zero armors.
***
It took almost three years for the little group of seven to hide them all, and only because they worked at it almost non-stop. After all, what else were a group of robots with no owners supposed to do? Protoman had a few more close calls over those years, and many more after. But sadly, his core did eventually give out. But it was peaceful. Roll found him one morning sitting in his favorite tree. He had been watching the sun rise.
Roll left to say with the Cossacks. She did eventually see her dream come true, with a little help from Dr. Cossack.
Bass and Quint, along with Treble and Sakugarne, never did stay in one place. In fact, to this day, no one knows, what happened to them. . .
X had five more years to go on his thirty year sleep. But no one was going to be there to awaken him. He continued to sleep for another sixty years before he was awakened by Dr. Cain.
To this day, no one knew what happened to those bioroids.
***
"I told you it was a bad place for it, Quint! This is the thirty-seventh time we've had to move this STUPID THING! And that's just THIS one alone! I have a knack for predicting these kind of things! Why the hell did I ever listen to you?!"
"That's enough Bass. I don't want to hear it."
"And why do we have to drag this thing up a spike lined tunnel in a disposal plant?! I hate spikes!"
The two 100+ year old bioroids put the yellow capsule down. This wasn't a very safe place to be. Not with a Maverick attack going on. But if they didn't move it, it would have been melted down for sure. There was no way they could get it out without being seen at the moment. But here it would be protected and safe until they could. Or at least until X found it…
"Hey X! Over here!" called out a young and energetic voice.
"That's why," Quint answered.
"Slow down, Axl! You're going to get yourself killed running ahead like that."
"X is right. You shouldn't jump in feet first."
"Looks who's talking."
"Hey!"
"Oh, shit," Bass said as he paled. Yeah, they did not want to get caught with this thing. He glared at Quint.
"You did this on purpose!" he whispered harshly through clenched teeth.
Quint couldn't help but smirk. Bass had always hated his little brother. From the sounds of it, X was here with him and their still fairly-new friend. Bass had gone almost 100 years without ever seeing Zero, and from the looks of it, he didn't want to start now.
"Maybe so. Although I didn't think they would come by this soon. Though you have to admit, I was right on most accounts with these armor capsules."
"Yeah, yeah, as you've been saying for who-knows-how-long now! What do we do?!"
"Relax. It's a bit of a maze ahead. We will have time to climb down and out before they reach this point if we move now. Then, I know a secret alternate route that will get us out without them seeing. And we will get to watch the show if X finds this baby."
"Right, whatever. Can we go now?"
How did Quint know these things? Really? Now the two sat on another batch of pipes several yards away, just out of sight. Well, normal sight, anyways. Hopefully the Hunters would be too focused on the task at hand to notice a couple of out-of-date bioroids.
"Oh, looks like a doozy going up. Pallette, are you sure your reading is coming from up there?" Zero asked as he looked up the pipe way. One false step, and X would be shish-kabob.
"I confirmed it. I'm getting an energy reading up there. It's really old, but it should be useful. It matches the others that X found…" Pallette confirmed.
Zero sighed. If it was anything like the others they had been finding recently, it would only respond to X's presence, not like some of the others that responded to his. Hell, Axl tried it once, but of course, the capsule remained silent until X approached it.
"Watch it going up, X."
"Yeah. We don't want you to end up skewered," Axl added. It was narrow, so all of them going up would only complicate the jump. If one slipped and fell, they might fall on the next, and all would end up as Swiss cheese on the spike pit below.
"You two worry too much. I'm not THAT old. I'll be fine."
"Yes, you are that old," Zero reminded.
"Gee, thanks…" X said before making the first jump.
Quint smiled. X had on the Neutral armor.
The chest wasn't yet charged, but the arm parts where red, while the head was blue. He was about to get some leg parts. But from the looks of it, he already had the other leg part, as the boots where glowing blue. The blue bomber approached the small yellow capsule, which activated when he approached. It was familiar to him. After all, he had done this many times before.
"I thought something like this might happen some day. So I prepared some parts for you…"