Chapter 3
The very next day, Dr. Cain opened the capsule in his newly retrofitted lab.  Retrofitted because an archaeologist's lab was hardly fit to deal with such advanced robotics. At first, the capsule displayed no visible seams at all, but when Cain entered the unlocking sequence a bright white dot appeared at the top of the capsule "door" and began to draw a line right down the middle. Interesting, Cain marveled, the door was completely solid and the only way to open it was to burn an opening into the door. As the dot moved downward the metal turned from white, to red and finally resumed it's normal platinum color as it cooled. The seam finally completed, the two remaining pieces split and slid horizontally into the capsule and disappeared. The only light inside the capsule was the light spilling in from Cain's lab. He could faintly make out the shape of the object inside which he instantly recognized from the DVD as X.
Suddenly, the diagnostic began running again and the red light lit up. Machinery inside of the capsule hummed to life and Cain stepped back startled. Then just as quickly as it started, the humming ceased, the red light dimmed and the green light illuminated once more. Inside the capsule two faint points of light appeared: a pair of eyes. The eyes blinked a few times, the light getting brighter with every wink and then in one smooth motion, "X" stepped out of the capsule. The first of a new breed of robot had finally been activated. As he stepped out, he began to look around, taking in his surroundings. When he turned to look back at the capsule he seemed to study it for a moment. Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he turned around and stepped closer to Dr. Cain.
Cain looked him up and down and marveled once again at the design. X's helmet was very apparently reminiscent of Light's earlier creations, both Mega Man and Proto Man. Instead of a solar sensor array along the top however was a single red jewel embedded in the forehead out of which extended two ridges that wrapped up around the helmet. From the shoulders on down, he appeared very much as a human might in a modern-day coat of armor, until you reached the legs. From the knees on down there was a single piece of molded armor that started at the knee joint and extended to the ankle joint where it opened up like a cone. Out of this opening came his feet which were shaped like somewhat like a boot. The cuff on his left wrist also appeared familiar however it was much smaller than Cain had initially realized. It was obviously a plasma cannon, but no where near as large as the original "buster" weapon carried by Light's original creation Mega Man. Size was deceiving however, for he knew that it out performed the original buster weapon by a great deal. Lastly, Dr. Cain studied the X's face. Were it not for the helmet and the body armor, he would swear he was looking at a human. Amazing, truly amazing, he mused. Light was a genius.
"Do I know you?" he asked, devoid of emotion.
Cain was startled out of his reverie by his voice and his question. Of all the possible questions, this was not what he had expected. When he regained himself he answered, "No, we have not met. I am Dr. Arlen Cain, I'm a paleobotanist.  I discovered your capsule there," Cain motioned toward it, "recently on an archaeological dig. You are the final creation of Dr. Thomas Light, the Father of Modern Robotics."
X thought for a moment and in a very quick flash of memory, he saw a kindly, older, heavy-set man with a full, white beard. It almost seemed to be a portrait rather than an actual memory. "Yes," he responded, "I think I remember now. I do not think I actually met him, but I am programmed to recognize that name."
"That is understandable X, his notes indicate he built you but apparently never activated you. You are something completely new and untested so he sealed you away to assure that you would exit the capsule fully functional and pose no risk."
"X? Is that my name?"
"Oh, um, well as I understood it, I assumed so. That is how you were referred to in Light's notes. Is that acceptable to you or is there something else you would prefer to be called?"
"No, X is acceptable." He looked around again and asked, "What is this place doctor?"
Over the course of the next few months, Dr. Cain spent every last moment of his time with X. Together they studied Light's blueprints and notes and X began to learn. Cain had deduced that he was the mental equivalent of a young teenager, thirteen or fourteen years old. However, being a robot had its inherent advantages and he absorbed and retained every bit of knowledge presented to him. His intellect grew, however his mentality remained at a young level, making him very curious but also very naive. Soon he began to go out on his own, trying his best to become what he knew Light had intended him to be. All this time, Dr. Cain was not content to just sit back and watch X develop. He was sitting on a gold mine and he knew it. He began to draw up plans for a brand new series of robots based on X's design. He called them reploids. He had begun applying for grants and soliciting corporations for funding, and in no time he had a contract for a factory where millions of this new breed of robots would be mass-produced. Within mere months of X's activation, 100,000 reploids had been built and distributed all over the world. A strange, new era was dawning for the people of earth.