A/N: Here's the second chapter. I've been reading some of the reviews so far and I'm glad you're all interested in this and wanting to see it continue! Big thanks guys.

Always remember to R&R so I can improve in my writing!

~MW


1: EUREKA

"I swear to God, man! Stay back or I'll do it!"

The Reploid commanded, his grip shaky as he kept a pistol close to a Reploid woman's head. He managed to keep her in a hold that would discourage X from firing for fear of missing his mark and harming an innocent. This made the crowd of other hostages murmur in panicked tones, their hopes silent that X would pull through and save them.

The blue Maverick Hunter glazed over the figure before him, noticing the trembling hands. Clearly, this Reploid hasn't killed before and hasn't gone Maverick either. If he truly was, his grip would be a lot less shaky. X decided to take advantage of this and attempt to talk him down.

"It's ok, alright? I'm not gonna hurt you, sir. I just wanna talk.", he held out his hands in a reassuring gesture as he slowly made a step forward. "Whatever is going on, I can help you. Just put the gun down, and let the woman go."

The Reploid and his hostage stepped back as his grasp hardened on the pistol to stabilize it. "Like hell you aren't! You're a Maverick Hunter!", he shouted, the woman gasping and nearly screaming as he tightened his hold on her. "You must think I'm a Maverick, huh?! Is that why you're here?!"

"No, I don't!", X denied, his voice still soft, displaying his calm and soft nature. "I just want save you and these people! Don't do anything you might regret. Please…", he attempted to reason with the slightly on-edge Reploid.

His opponent seemed to divert his head to the ground shamefully. Was that a tinge of regret? Yes! X was getting somewhere!

"I don't think you wanna hurt others. Someone put you up to this, didn't they?"

No response. Not even a single movement.

"I don't want you to be taken advantage of. I'll stop whoever's taken an innocent like you and forced you to do something you wouldn't dream of.", he took another step forward. The Reploid didn't notice, which propelled X to take another step.

Unfortunately, however…

"You're a liar! You're all liars!", he snapped up, clutching both the weapon and hostage tightly. X's heart sank at the sight and at his voice. He knew those eyes. He knew that tone.

He was too late.

The target went completely Maverick.

His fist and teeth clenched in defeat. How could this have happened?!, he almost cried on the inside. I thought we rid ourselves of Sigma's curse! Damn it all!

He could almost hear Zero's confidence-endowing voice in this moment. "You tried your best X, but this won't work anymore! Go for it!"

The rest was just a blur, a slow-motion segment in the movie of his life. As the Reploid continued his crazed babble, he then threw the woman down in a brash move and aimed the pistol right at her. Immediately, X reached for his waist and dashed swiftly towards his target, his hand closing around the Z-Saber, he activated it and pulled it from the holster. Taking advantage of the Reploid's vulnerability, he started making a slashing movement upwards as he eventually reset to standing position with a small hop after his dash finished. The gun, now sliced in half and functionally useless, made it easy for X to apprehend him.

Using the momentum he gained, he grabbed the Reploid by the shoulders, tripped him from behind with his right leg, and slammed him hard into the ground. Temporarily dazed, he then used the chance to get a grapple on the target, immediately pulling out magnetic cuffs and snatching them onto both of his hands with a click and a buzz sounding off.

Getting up to a crouch, with his hand firmly placed on his back, X panted slightly and shortly, his systems still reeling back from the rush he experienced. Putting a hand to the side of his helmet, he spoke into the comms.

"This is Captain X reporting. I've neutralized and detained the fugitive. No hostages harmed. Send a team up so we can secure him and everyone else up here.", he called with a hint of dejection.

It was always like this in similar situations over the past couple of years. X attempted to solve the problem nonviolently, as his pacifist ways dictated. But no matter what he did, it ended badly. Today was one of the few exceptions where no one, not even the suspect, was harmed. X was at least glad that happened, but it still bothered him. He had a chance to possibly convince him out of it, so he could live peacefully and view the outside world as it is.

Not now, however. Now, he was going to be coming from the perspective of either a sealed door, or electrified bars. Even worse, if he showed no signs of recovery, he would be decommissioned. X let out a shaky sigh at the thought, wiping his eyes away of any small tears that could have formed from the introspective.

In an attempt to clear his mind of the melancholic thoughts, he turned to the view outside of the skyscraper window, seeing the late morning sun shine brilliantly. His eyes squinted as the oculars adjusted properly to the light within a single blink. Another blink went off along with his blank yet surprised expression.

How long have I been on a patrol shift?, he thought to himself. Maybe I should rest a bit...

He was then soon thrusted out of his trance at the loud barking of a local squad leader. "Copy that, X! Sending up multiple squads now!"

He drifted off back into space at the sound of mechanical footsteps.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

X relaxed in the capsule, keeping his eyes closed as if to take a "nap" while the medic ran analyses on him. The warm glow of the scanning equipment was something he always found oddly satisfying. If it was possible for him to sunbathe under it, he would.

"You got no signs of any damage, both internal and external. Systems are nominal and power core is at 100%", the doc smiled as she turned off her equipment, taking off the examination mask that covered her eyes completely. "You're getting better, X. At this rate, you'd surpass Z-."

The doctor immediately cut herself off and gained a saddened look on her face as she instantly remembered the crimson hunter's fate not too long ago. X however smiled, and opened his eyes, getting up as the cords of the capsule popped off his person with the exact sound, then rotating to meet the doctor.

"It's alright. I know he'd be laughing at that remark.", his face then molded into a happily reminiscent kind as he came out of the capsule, grabbing the saber off the side table and putting it back in his holster. "He'd probably challenge me at simulations in an attempt to prove you wrong.", he chuckled.

"Man, you sure got over it quick. I'm jealous. Some of us still struggle with his loss.", she admitted, rubbing her upper arm as she averted her gaze to the floor. She then shifted as she rested one arm on the terminal, her other propping up for her chin to be placed on her palm. "What's your secret?"

"Well, I've been close friends with Zero for a long time. Knowing him, he wouldn't want me moping around over him when there's work to be done. He'd want me to keep going for my dream.", X responded to the Reploid nurse. "I would ask the same of him, if he was the one to go.", he shifted and began to head out of the medical bay when the doctor called out.

"Oh, wait, wait!", she frantically flailed her hands to grab his attention.

He halted in his tracks and spun around to face her. "Yes?"

"I just remembered now! Signas wanted to see you in the mission control room after you were done here. He said it was important.", she propped up from her seat to a full stand.

"Really? I thought I already went through debriefing.", he raised a brow. "I even filed out my report before I got here."

"Oh, no, no, no! Of course not! This is something different!"

"Something...different?", he repeated, now quite intrigued to find out what Signas wanted him for. For a moment, he wondered if it was something related to Zero. It couldn't be, could it? He then hurried as much as he could down the hall without breaking into a run as he exited the medical bay.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

The door made a swish as it opened horizontally, the man of the hour entering into the mission control room.

"Ah, X. Glad you made it.", Signas nodded as X entered the control room, the latter spotting the blonde navigator typing away at a laptop device. "We have great matters to discuss."

"I heard.", he confirmed, taking a seat next to Alia, his eyes not leaving Signas for single second. "What's going on?"

"You know of Light capsules, correct?", Signas questioned as he stood tall and proud before the two.

X blinked and nodded a couple of times. Guess his earlier assumption was wrong. "Yea, Dr. Light's armor enhancement capsules. Of course I know them. What about it?"

"Well...not exactly that kind, but one of our outposts managed to find one.", he swung around, facing away from a perplexed X and towards a giant screen, which displayed information such as maps and images on it in a presentation. All of it thanks to Alia, who was furiously clicking the keys on her portable terminal like a madman to make it all happen. "They're a research division currently stationed at a highly advanced center in the coast of Okhotsk, Russia. What they do is use a variety of remote piloted mechaniloids to observe what's in the nearby waters. Plate tectonics, unnatural changes in the ecosystem, and even sometimes possible Mavericks for specialized reploids who work in those waters. They also conduct various experiments centered around marine specializations for Reploids."

"If you remember, there was another type of Light capsule.", Signas continued as his ocular sensors tracked and processed all the info appearing on-screen, X doing the same. He was then pointing to a specific image that remained, which X directed his attention to.

"Yea. The one I came out of when Dr. Cain found me.", the Maverick Hunter nodded, curiously closing in his concentration on the image out of bewilderment.

"Well, you see the image, right? They found another one just like that on the ocean floor in the Sea of Okhotsk. My colleague Colonel Locke called in about it a few days back, and they contacted me again to let me know they just finished excavating it yesterday and are currently about to wrap up their analysis.", as he mentioned the name, a picture of him from the official records appeared, alongside a strange yet vanilla looking Reploid. "That's one of the researchers who works under him, a mechaniloid drone pilot named Snow. He was the one who spotted and reported it to Colonel Locke, and was the one who provided us with the information you saw here."

He turned around to see a completely enamored X and an exhausted Alia sprawled out on the conference table. Judging from the reflection in his opticals, the hunter was now focused on Snow, his facial expression displaying a mix of emotions telling something was off about him. Especially on his face.

"Right. Well...what did they discover in that capsule? Another one of Dr. Light's creations or just more weapons?", he asked, his head swiveling around to meet Signas.

"That's for me to guess, and you to find out."

X was taken aback. Signas was usually the type to gain information on everything first, refusing to let in on any secrets, as a commander should. "Huh?"

"X, I'm sending you over to Okhotsk. I think you'll want to see what's in there for yourself. Locke and his team are waiting for you before they crack open the capsule.", Signas put forward, making X more surprised by the seconds. "That will be your mission currently. Go there and find out what they found. You know Light more than any of us, even if your knowledge is very little, so you'll be the most useful for them."

"B-but...what about the others?! What if a Maverick attacks?", X sputtered, concerned for the safety of his fellow hunters.

He then felt a warm, reassuring hand on his shoulder, reacting with a slight jump and pink face to see Alia comforting him. "Don't worry X. We can hold down the fort without you for a day or two.", her hand then came off as she stared a bit, face turning a light hue of pink at the realization of what just happened and his own blush.

The last creation of Dr. Light let out an audible sigh. "Ok, if you say so. I'll do it. Teleport me out."

"Er...about that…", the blonde navigator sheepishly rubbed the back of her head to which X cracked his head in wonder.

"Winter in Russia, X. Lots of snow storms have been occuring in the area recently. It's too risky.", Signas noted.

"What? But I've been to all kinds of cold areas like that to take down Mavericks before. Chill Penguin, Frost Walrus, Blizzard Buffalo. The X-Hunters' base was in the North Pole!", he pointed out to the commander who simply nodded.

"Yes, but the storms have been oddly severe recently due to strange weather phenomenons. Plus, visibility is extremely low and so are the temperatures. We can't have you freezing and lost out there. So you'll be taking one of the modified Bee Bladers there. And don't worry, I reserved the best pilot and fastest copter for you.", Signas donned a light smile at a visibly relieved X that he wouldn't be gone long. He always hated abandoning his duty for long periods of time, something Signas knew ever since the aftermath of the Eurasia incident when he returned.

"Ok. Thank you, sir!", X stood and saluted, to which Signas and Alia returned the favor.

"Alia will keep communications with you over low frequency radio channels. They're the only signals that can pierce through the blizzards. When it's clearer, we'll be sure to contact you via video call if possible. That is all. Move out!"

"Yes, sir!", the two replied in unison as they headed off to their respective stations.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

X looked up as a tone sounded off within the tight confines of the Bee Blader. A lighted symbol shone, which X understood immediately as his hand held onto a handle next to his seat.

"Captain X, we're nearing the site! Better hold on tight, real bad blizzard's been blowing for a while. Things are about to get rocky!", the female pilot called over the intercom of the aircraft, her speech concise as a pilot should.

His clutch on the seat handle only tightened when he hard those words. "Entering troposphere in 3...2...1…"

The Bee Blader suddenly shook with the force of a earthquake as the harsh snowstorm almost nearly tossed it off course. The pilot scrambled to turn on stabilizer systems as the raging tempest blew with the force of a low level hurricane. Thankfully for X, who almost flew off his seat and crashed against the wall, it ended and soon it dulled to light wiggles. As if in unison, the two aboard the ship let out a heavy breath in pure relief.

"We're closing in on the heliport, Captain X! Be on the ready to move fast."

He nodded as his systems ran a subroutine to make himself heat up for the soon-to-endure blistering cold. Noting that the craft was slowing to an eventual full stop and lowering down, whirs sounding off as the landing gear came out, X stood prepared before the hatch door.

"Landing complete. Cracking the egg now!", she called out as she pressed a button, making the door hiss as its sealing mechanism released, letting in a small tinge of a harsh breeze of icy air. X nearly shivered, even as his systems were working double time to keep him warm. Just what kind of "weather phenomenon" was going on here?

As the door finally popped fully down, creating a ramp rather suddenly, the two Reploids then soon felt the oncoming full-bore blast of frigid winds. X rushed out to greet two Reploids in white who lightly put their hands on him in an effort to guide him.

"This way, sir, quickly! The storm's gotten real bad lately and we don't know when it will clear!"

As the trio ran in the same direction, X too yelled over the loudness of blowing gusts. "What about the pilot? I don't think she can lift off again at this rate!"

"Don't worry, we got 'er covered! She's moving into the indoor hangar as we speak!", one of them replied with a hint of an accent.

The three then entered an automatic door of squarish building, which suddenly slammed shut behind them when its sensor no longer detected the three in its vicinity. X nearly jumped at the suddenness of it.

"Don't worry. Round these parts, doors like that are a necessity. Now come on, let's go to the capsule."

The blue hunter nodded as he followed the two, relaxing under the warmth of the facility as his subroutines ended the heating protocol to the sound of an automated voice ringing about the appearance of a guest and of the weather status. It indicated that it would clear shortly, which X found to be comforting. Looks like he could video call back to HQ.

Taking a stroll through the laboratories as he followed the two, X took the opportunity to admire the building and see the sights around him. The clean white look of the interior (and even the exterior he noted) definitely screamed scientific and modern, what with the shiny floors of pearl and walls just as sterile and clean. Lining the floors were black matte plates of electronics, lighting up with occasional symbols like arrows or warning signs. Labs, desk cubicles, and large, state-of-the-art terminals lined the wide open space in a neat, organized fashion. Clearly, someone took pride with their architectural and interior design.

Amongst this neat aesthetic, he spotted something that stuck out like a sore thumb, instantly recognizing it from his briefing. Ahead of him was the very same capsule he was sent to investigate. As if the large gray metallic machinery wasn't enough to make it stand out, there was a rather large flurry of workers surrounding it and running about like bees in a hive to various work stations. Though to X, one figure definitely stood out among the rest, this person having that same stance he recognized as that of a leader.

"Locke.", he remembered aloud as they arrived at the scene, the subject in question turning in on his heel in a complete 180 as heard his name. Now directly making contact with the hunter, he smiled warmly.

"Ah, welcome X. I suppose the trip was good?", his welcoming smile turned to a cheeky grin.

"I'm just glad it was quick when it needed to be, sir.", he mused, not too fond of nearly being launched off his seat.

Locke let out a hearty laugh as he stepped up closer to the blue Maverick Hunter. "That's the weather 'round here for ya. Well anyways, I'm happy you made it. Trust me X, we're about to make the discovery of a lifetime.", he rotated around to allow X a better view of the capsule. "As I'm sure Signas told you, we conducted some analysis and managed to defog the glass as best we could, and you won't believe what we found!"

Locke walked forward while X followed suit, his pure inquiring mood shining through his face. With light hand gestures, murmuring workers separated as if they were the Red Sea, watching intently as the two stepped up to the staging area where the capsule was atop an elevated platform, connected to myriads of cables for different purposes, it also being lined at its sides with monitors indicating various statuses.

"What's with all this?", he inquired, his finger waving around at everything that surrounded the capsule.

"See for yourself.", he openly invited X to explore, extending his flattened hand out towards it.

This was an offer he took gladly, hopping up onto the platform excitedly and placing his hands on the cool metal, running them over its slightly rusted form, especially over the recognizable symbol of Thomas Light. X touched every surface, every edge, every corner as his face closed in, following wherever his hands lead him.

As he inspected it all around before even thinking to peek through the glass, Locke took the opportunity to inform him of other matters. "I'm sure you're aware of Snow's responsibility for this. I admit, had it not been for him, we probably would have never found it. Now, it might look clean now, but when it was first recovered, it was all rusted and discolored. Had these nasty barnacles all over it too. But thanks to my staff, we managed to clean it and restore power to it since its generator fizzled out."

X continued to silently gloss over it, taking in Locke's speech at the same time. "It wasn't as lucky as yours was to have a nearby power source if it ran out, since well...it was submerged miles down under freezing waters. But you know, it's surprisingly resistant. After all, it managed to survive all these years under a sea in northernmost hemisphere."

As he finished, X came back full circle to where he started: in front of the capsule, staring at the angled glass window connected to its door. He took the time to marvel at it before Locke interrupted his stupor.

"Now then, how about you see the real attraction here?", his hand lay flat as he held it out towards the large object once more, this time the gesture ending much quicker as his hand slapped back onto his side.

X stood hesitant for a second, wondering if he should at all. What if he wasn't prepared for this? The original Mega Man he kept reading about in his system's files could be in there! Or some other piece of technology from when Dr. Light was alive! He considered at least waiting until the workers were finished with whatever they were doing to see what lay behind that glass. He then shook his head to erase his doubts.

No, I have to see. This could be my chance to learn about the old world and my creator. I can't let this slip by me!, he internally decided, getting even closer to the capsule than he already was. His hand rested upon the glass as he leaned in to see what was behind it. And at the sight, his eyes nearly bulged.

"No way!", he suddenly rushed his other hand on it as he nearly flattened his face on the glass. "But I thought…"

In it, lay not a small blue boy who looked like X, but a woman of the same color who slept deeply. Her helmet was a deep blue, like his, but her crystal core was of a bright yellow and the shape bit different. Extending from left direction were whiteish extrusions that looked like the ends of ocean waves crashing on the shore. She had an upper torso that rounded off a rather noticeable bust with a baby blue color, and white shoulders that were circular, an hourglass-like shape at bottom. From the waist down, she was like a fish- no, specifically, a mermaid, completely with blue scales and a tail end with a giant yellow, crystallic connector piece. How peculiar. X wondered for a moment if this siren could sing as well.

"Wha...what is she? Who is she? Is she...like me?", X asked in blaze of word soup, anxious from the moment. The other creation of Light stood mesmerized by the woman inside the capsule, as if enthralled by either her beauty or sheer existence in this time. All sorts of questions internally formed that he wanted to ask, but none of which could be answered today.

"We did some research in the databanks when we identified her. She is an old Robot Master made by your creator, model number DLN-067. Codename: Splash Woman.", Locke happily answered the first two of his questions in order before moving on to his last one. "As for what she's like...well, we have no clue. This is the first time we managed to uncover a Robot Master this preserved. We imagine she may have feelings as we do, but…"

"But?", X repeated, watching the Colonel intently.

"We suspect she doesn't have much free will, given she's a Robot Master. According to data from that time, she has to follow the Three Laws of Robotics and needs a prime directive programming in order to function properly.", he averted his gaze from X back to the Robot Master. "In fact, if she doesn't have those two, she could go haywire and practically fragment herself over it. Worst case scenario: she goes haywire and tries to kill us all in a rampage."

"That's why you have all this equipment?", X surmised, stunned at the last bit. "To make sure she doesn't go...er...Maverick?"

"For lack of a better term, yes.", he confirmed. "Her lack of legs also presents another problem. If we do open the hatch, she won't exactly be able to move around much without assistance. We considered staging her in water, but we don't exactly have an ideal pool as of now. One of the experiments we had a week ago contaminated it and we're still trying to clean up that mess."

His head lowered a bit in disappointment. "And we sure as hell weren't going to throw her back into the ocean. Not with these blizzards. The water would be freezing cold and could affect her circuits.", Locke let out a loud sigh. "So, it seems for now she'll have to hop around like fish on dry land."

"How long till she's ready?", X blurted out as soon as Locke finished, his palm placed firmly on the glass.

Locke blinked and suddenly grabbed one of the workers walking by on the shoulder, causing him to flinch and nearly drop his tablet. "Y-yes, sir?!", he barked, saluting with his free arm.

"What's the ETA on her activation?"

"0100 hours or less, sir!"

"Good. Dismissed!", he released his hand and the researcher blasted off to his station. "You got yourself an hour, X. Would you like anything while you wait?"

He hummed in thought for a bit. "I want to meet Snow."

"Snow? Well...okay then. Follow me and I'll show you to him.", he then pivoted on his heel and began his prideful march towards the Reploid, with X not too far behind. He found the pause rather peculiar.

Maybe Snow's not a favorite of his., the hunter surmised from the rather despondent reply.

In the meantime, he began reviewing through his memory banks of all his information so far about Snow. The first and only thing that seemed to pop up was the picture of him from the briefing. There was something about that head of his which was clearly a replacement, and the sleek way he was designed too. There was something that just wasn't right about him. He felt like as if Snow was some kind of existential anomaly.

That guy...Snow...just who is he?


A/N: Stay tuned for the next chapter when we get a bit of deeper look into Snow and the anticipated arrival of Splash Woman!