This is mild AU that I call Svarga - mainly in the sense that the Elf Wars never happened in this world, and that there was a real Spider who was not Redips (though Redips did mess with him), and the X-series continued. I also wanted to throw in a character from Xover in this timeline because AUs are sometimes more fun than canon.
If you want another fic in this timeline, please read Shiennut's Something More.
Disclaimer: I don't own Megaman.
Maybe one day, he would get to leave the Federation.
The idea was as crazy as Wily creating an android that was both the originator of the Maverick Virus and designed to destroy Light's final creation, the android X. An idea that was difficult to swallow, but not entirely out of the realm of impossibility given things, surely.
Octave, also known as OVER-1, had been with the Federation almost his entire life. However, that wasn't where he had started off. His earliest days had been spent with a pair of Reploid mercenaries that had tracked down and discovered Dr. Cossack's laboratory at the request of the Federation. They'd been there to take back anything of value that they were able to find; Dr. Cossack had been quite famous.
When they'd woken him up, his memories had been intact - he'd spoken with Dr. Light, Dr. Cossack, and even Kalinka about the future he might wake up in, as well as about his older brother Xephyr - but he was still young and lacking life experience. He'd readily and easily told the mercs his name without even considering that he should keep it hidden: Octave Cossack-Light. The two had looked at each other.
"Name's Spider, and this is my partner, Aile. Kid… don't ever repeat that last name to anyone ever again, if you value your freedom."
While that had puzzled Octave at first, he'd listened, and he'd gone with them as they explained what they'd been doing there: Dr. Cossack's laboratory had been discovered and they'd been sent inside to give the Federation any information that they could find on it. And while the Federation paid well, there was one lesson that Octave should know if he was going to live in this world.
Never, ever trust the Federation.
The mercenary duo had given Octave a home and trained him to be able to hold his own in a fight, and while he wasn't sure whether Spider and Aile were more than just friends, he'd felt like they were a small, ragtag family. He even entertained thoughts of joining the two of them on mercenary missions once he was skilled enough. It was a living, at least, and he had the weaponry to back it up.
Unfortunately, he was still young, and not experienced, when someone let slip to the Federation that Spider and Aile's "third wheel" was actually an android that they had discovered in Cossack's lab, and the three of them had been viciously attacked by a Federation special ops task force - not that he'd known at the time that was who they were, they'd played it off as if they were a gang that caused trouble. The last thing that Octave remembered was seeing Aile laying on the ground, likely dead, with both of his legs completely gone, and Spider, injured, pinned by several of the Reploids.
And, injured and not able to fight back at the time, the Federation had taken him.
Spider and Aile had been right to never trust the Federation, and he had kept that in mind as he decided to play the 'long game'. To stay patient, calm, pretend he was a model Federation employee after they had put him through (read: forced him to undergo) training.
Thankfully, they didn't know him well enough, and he was aware enough of the political climate to merely claim that his name was Octave Cossack (they already knew he was a Cossackbot to some degree, there was no point in denying it), and not actually Octave Cossack-Light. And he had learned early on that they wanted to keep him here, no matter what.
His brother, he had discovered one day with a pang in his core, was the world-famous Maverick Hunter X, and he had seen X several times, during holo meetings where he worked as security detail, and he could tell that X too knew that the Federation was crooked.
Maybe one day, he could reveal himself to his brother without putting the both of them in serious jeopardy.
It had been about two decades since the Federation had snatched him from his 'home' with Spider and Aile; he didn't know if the two were still alive or dead. Even if they were alive, they likely thought that he was dead, and he had no idea where to even begin a search for them. Outside of the Federation, Octave really did not have a place to go to.
He was valuable, being, as far as they knew, an intelligent android built by the late Dr. Cossack, who was just below fame to Dr. Light, grandfather of the Reploid race, himself. They didn't want to risk losing him, or to not have the opportunity to use him as leverage if they needed to. Also, if the public knew that he was the last creation of Dr. Cossack, there would be a bit more of an uproar over him working with the Federation.
They never called him 'Octave' - it would 'humanize' him, apparently - but instead by his designation, OVER-1. Like they never called his brother by his true name, 'Xephyr', whenever they spoke about him, but instead 'Maverick Hunter X' or simply 'X'.
Speaking of X, he was working security detail today at a press conference that X had requested that the Federation hold. Octave never asked questions about his job - it was a good way to get punished - but it was amazing what one could learn if one simply kept their head down, and worked. But X had also apparently come to the Federation HQ in person.
This was serious.
Octave fully intended to use that to his advantage as he stood just outside camera-view. Whatever this press conference was, X had found it important enough to abruptly call one with the Federation, citing it as one of great importance. He stifled a smile as he looked at his half-sibling, dressed smartly in a dark blue suit (of course), a pair of eyeglasses that made him look smart, and with his hair slicked back with gel.
X was not the leader of the Maverick Hunters, of course - that role belonged to Supreme Commander Signas - but as both the First Android and the hero of the Maverick Wars, his words still held a lot of sway amongst both humans and Reploids alike - much to the chagrin of the human Council in the Federation.
There were already several reporters and cameras for numerous different TV stations and networks lining up to air the presscon live, and he knew that they were just bursting with questions.
Octave would have been incredibly nervous had it been him up there on the podium, facing everyone; he hated being the center of attention. And yet X seemed completely fine with it, almost bored in the most polite manner, even. How he pulled it off, he didn't know.
He adjusted his capelet, ensuring that he was out of view of the cameras once more, and waited. He didn't have to wait long, as X finally cleared his throat and began to speak after the crowds quieted down.
"To everyone that is here, and to everyone that is watching this at home," and here X offered a smile to the cameras, "I thank you all for coming here today. It is good to see how many of you have come here on such short notice. I understand that all of you have numerous questions for me, mainly why I have called for this press conference, but rest assured, it will all become clear shortly."
Octave noted that his tone was calm, almost gentle, but with an undercurrent of something. Despite being in front of the Federation (and not just the Federation, but the President himself), X was completely in control of the situation.
X paused, taking a soft breath, before he continued. "As you know, the Maverick Wars have continued for nearly a century now, starting back in the year 2114 when Sigma betrayed the Maverick Hunters and started his war. As the wars continued, we have learned that there was a malicious, network-hopping supervirus that was the instigator, infecting Reploids and causing them to engage in behaviors that we call Maverick."
He smiled. "But everyone knows this - it is in every student's textbook around the world. So why am I bringing this up? To this day, we do not have any practical method of removing this Virus; the only way to destroy it is to destroy the host before they are able to infect others. However, like the majority of viruses, it is difficult to do so as we often do not find out that a Reploid is infected until it is too late.
"People have been working on cures for years; the best scientists, the best medics… everyone has been working hard to find one. The one that came closest was a Reploid named Dr. Doppler, but he too fell victim to the very Virus that he was working to destroy." X fell silent for a moment, almost as if he was mourning Doppler in Octave's opinion, before he continued. "And this is why I have come here today. Before I joined the Maverick Hunters, I worked as a scientist under the employ of Cain Laboratories."
Octave couldn't help but note that Xephyr completely left out the fact that he worked at Cain Laboratories as a human for nearly half a decade before being outed as an android. He'd heard from some of the older Reploids in their employ that the Federation had thrown a huge stink when they'd found out that a Light robot without the Laws had successfully posed as a human for so long.
"One of the things that I was always interested in as a researcher was virology and how it applied to a Reploid. During my spare time, when I am not working as a Hunter, I often researched and ran experiments to see if anything could be done with the Virus. However, I have been running into roadblocks in this endeavor, and could not help but feel that part of it is due to my busy schedule as a Maverick Hunter."
X adjusted his glasses, and Octave glanced over at the Federation officials that he was guarding. They were starting to narrow their eyes, and the President was sitting straight up, his entire posture stiff.
"And that is why," X continued, a charming smile on his face, "I have decided that I will be fully stepping down from the employ of the Maverick Hunters and instead devoting myself to researching, full-time, on a cure for the Virus. I feel if I am given the time to fully think on this matter, we will get closer than we ever have in doing so."
Everyone was silent for a moment, before an uproar went through the crowd. The reporters were attempting to push their way forward, questions pouring from their mouths as they shoved microphones into X's face.
"Commander X, what do the Maverick Hunters think about this?"
"Commander X, do you really believe that you will be able to come up with a cure for the Virus?"
"Commander X! Did you consult with anyone before coming to this conclusion?"
Octave stole a glance at the President as the reporters bombarded X. The man's face had a very forced smile on it, his eyes furious, his knuckles white as he clearly attempted to control himself. The young android had to force himself not to grin, let alone laugh. The President looked like he was going to explode with fury (oh, that face was going to become a meme, on the network later), but there wasn't a damn thing that he could do about it. Not when X had made it completely public, and not when protesting would cause backlash from the general public.
He wondered if Spider and Aile were alive, and whether they were watching this. He hoped that they were.
Octave turned back to X. The other still appeared calm, relaxed, and had that charming smile on his face even as he answered the reporters; odd, didn't X hate reporters? At least, that was what he had been hearing throughout the years from the grapevine…
Or maybe he was just self-satisfied and smug at having given the Federation the most polite middle finger that he possible could, and was hamming it up. Octave didn't blame him as he listened to the reporters, who were still asking questions.
"Dr. Light!" one young reporter blurted out. "Will you be reporting your progress on the cure periodically to the public?"
This was the first time that X's composure visibly dropped, and he looked stunned for a moment as he was called 'Dr. Light', before he was able to answer the reporter. "Ah, please don't call me Dr. Light, that is my creator!" he laughed. "Dr. Xephyr is fine, or, if you must… 'Professor X'." A light chuckle went through the crowd at the latter term. "I do plan on reporting my progress on the cure regularly, including whether it works on anyone at all, and what Reploid specs it would currently work on, as well as how widespread both it and the Virus it would be at the moment."
The Federation President looked like he wanted to say something, but the reporters were still slamming X with questions; they'd seen that he appeared willing to listen and to answer them, and they were taking full advantage of it.
It was finally nearly an hour later when the reporters finally lost steam on their questions, and X had finally been able to turn to the Federation for comment. Octave barely restrained himself from reacting when X's gaze passed over him and the rest of the security detail and Federation, before settling on the President.
"President," X greeted the man in a tone of pure courteousness. "I do hope my stepping down won't cause any trouble amongst the Federation. Please know that I do hold the Federation with the utmost respect."
For a moment, Octave was nervous that the President finally would explode at X's polite, but snarky, comment. The Federation would, after all, be losing one of the greatest Maverick Hunters of all time. X had been under their thumb for nearly a century, ever since his cover as a human had been blown, and they would not be happy about it.
The President's face was somewhat flushed from anger, and despite the fury that Octave could see (no matter how calm the President's face looked, his left eye had a way of twitching when he was furious), he managed to respond to X's statement. "...No trouble at all, Commander X. We wish you good fortune in managing to concoct this cure for the Maverick Virus, as we all have been wanting for a century now."
Anyone with half a brain would know that the President had forced himself to say those words.
X's charming, polite smile was full on his face now as he considered the President, appearing to not care at all that the man likely wanted to throttle him. "Thank you very much, President. I will be sure to keep you updated on the progress of this cure." He bowed to the President, as well as to the cameras. "That concludes this press conference. If you wish to ask any further questions, please leave a message at Maverick Hunter HQ while I settle my affairs there, and I will get to you shortly afterwards."
He stepped down from the podium, and Octave hesitated for a moment, wanting to run up to his brother and greet him. This was the first time that he had ever seen the other in-person, and given that X's eyes had passed over his form earlier without a hint of recognition, he clearly didn't know who Octave was.
But Octave restrained himself.
X had just managed to escape the Federation's thumb; if he revealed himself now as a half-Light android, then it would give the Federation leverage against X, during a time when they were angry with him, and he didn't want that to happen.
Instead, he let the faintest smile cross his face as he looked to where X had been standing.
Go do it, Xephyr. Change the world.