And here we are, back on our regular update schedule.
In today's little snippet of life in 22XX, Ciel is put on a stricter schedule regarding her sleep cycle, the box of Neo Arcadian parts is put to use, and X finally talks to Blues about that program that his elder brother put together for him.
Oh, and we find out that even Blues enjoys the occasional Easter egg.
Disclaimer: Mega Man and all related characters and information are the property of Capcom Co., Ltd., Akira Kitamura and Keiji Inafune.

Ciel walked into Cerveau's lab, Milan trailing her, as she stretched, letting out a soft yawn. "Morning, Cerveau," she chirped merrily, fully aware that it was already pushing late afternoon.

Cerveau looked up from his work table, pushing back on his chair so he could get up. "Do you feel better now that you've slept?" She certainly looked better. She was actually alert this time around.

"A bit," she answered. "I actually kinda overslept."

Milan shrugged. "I didn't think there was any harm in letting her have a nine-hour sleep cycle."

"No, no harm at all." Though she'd missed quite a ruckus. Probably for the best, Cerveau thought. "Did you come for your check-up?"

Nodding, Ciel moved to the second table in the lab, as his first was covered with a variety of weapon parts, and jumped up to sit on it. "I wasn't even aware I was supposed to come in for one until after Milan woke me."

Cerveau shook his head, amused, "Master X asked me to give you a check-up after you woke." She'd really been exhausted. He went to a nearby sink to wash the machine oil from his hands, then grabbed his kit for human care. "He's worried about you, and so am I. You don't get nearly enough rest."

"Really?" Ciel tilted her head to the side. "Well, I'm here now, so…" She fell quiet for a moment, looking up as the medic approached her. "You know, I feel like I'm taking advantage of all of you, like I'm asking for special considerations, by sleeping longer than you."

Cerveau blinked: where did that come from? It was true that she did require more sleep than Reploids, but taking advantage of them? "Lady Ciel, why would you say that? You're not a freeloader here, you pull your weight. You need how much rest you need, there's no shame in that."

"That may be true, but my sleep cycle runs double yours, maybe more depending on what you've expended in terms of energy during the day. By the time I'm finally rolling out of bed, the base is up and running at full force. You're in the lab, have been for at least three hours. Rocinolle's probably exited her sleep cycle early to start working on her mechaniloids. The security monitors, Dande's group, only hit the rechargers once every seventy-two hours and in shifts to ensure that we've got a full crew on cams at all hours of the day and night."

Cerveau set his medical kit on the table beside Ciel with a slight frown and a sigh. They'd had this conversation before, more than once, and he didn't know how to communicate to the girl that her well-being was of far more concern to anyone in the base than her logging hours at the expense of her health. "And none of them are coming up with new ideas. You've contributed some invaluable things to our efforts. You need to look after yourself, too."

"And I try to," she argued, "I really do. I just…when something needs my attention, when I need to do something, finish something, it's everything to me." She perked up, as if something had just come to mind. "Now that I think about it, Alouette mentioned chatter on the comms last week. I don't know if anyone mentioned it to you, but," and at this, Ciel shrugged, "I did not have anyone smuggle in caffeine supplements. The idea seems tempting, but I'm not one for the way I've heard those things taste."

"Caffeine is addictive anyway," Cerveau warned. "Just…when you schedule your day, schedule the time you need to take care of your mind and body as well." Cerveau had taken out the armband to measure her blood pressure with and was putting it over one of her arms as he spoke.

Milan had been silent, resting against the wall near the door, as Cerveau attended to Ciel. At the medic's last comment, his head perked up. "That means an eight- to ten-hours sleep cycle each night, right?"

Ciel looked at Milan, the look in her eyes pleading, as if begging him to let the matter drop. It was bad enough she was catching flak from X and Cerveau; she didn't need another voice adding to the cacophony that tried to cut an entire third of each day away from her because she needed rest.

"Eight to nine. If humans get too much sleep, they become lethargic and it gets hard for them to concentrate. It just…has to be a full sleep cycle and it has to be continuous. If they wake up, it's not as restful. Though it varies from individual to individual, but given her age and how she works…eight to nine." So no, Cerveau was not approving any six or seven-hour sleep cycles for Ciel. It took him a minute to take her blood pressure, but when he completed the reading, he nodded in satisfaction. "One-sixteen over seventy-two…that's good."

Ciel sighed, running the fingers of one hand through her bangs before rubbing a hand against her forehead. She hated it when they got protective of her like this, when they constrained her to normal human standards of what was needed without consideration for what the base needed, what time she had to devote to her research, how important her work was. If there were a couple days where her sleep cycle was cut short, it couldn't prove that detrimental. After all, she'd been operating on a shifting sleep schedule for nearly three years now and only once in a great while managed to get sick. And even then, a cold was no big deal.

Cerveau chose to diplomatically ignore Ciel's angst: even if she didn't want to recognize it, her health was important. He knew that young people, human and Reploid alike, tended to feel…infallible, to an extent. Tended to have an attitude of 'that won't happen to me'. Time tempered a person, though, made them more realistic about the world. Cerveau knew that he wasn't exactly 'old' compared to some of the others on the base (Master X), but he tried to keep that in mind, tried to be cautious with everyone because that was his job. Their well-being was his responsibility. And so, Cerveau retrieved another tool, "I'm going to need to check your pupils, too."

It didn't take much for the researcher to realize what Cerveau was doing. "I already told you, I'm not using caffeine pills."

"Then you won't have a problem with this," Cerveau cheerfully returned, catching Ciel's chin on one hand to tilt her head so he could check her pupils' dilation. 'Milan,' Cerveau messaged the other Reploid over the network, privately, knowing the human had no access to this communication method whatsoever, "Will you please look through Lady Ciel's room and make sure she doesn't have any stimulants laying about?'

Milan's head ticked to the side, as if something had drawn his attention. "If you'll excuse me, Ciel, I'm needed elsewhere. I should be back shortly."

Ciel, however, didn't bother replying, letting Cerveau reassure himself that she wasn't doing anything worse than prolonging her work hours and pulling the occasional all-nighter.

It was really just a normal physical, even if Cerveau was not-so-secretly checking her for signs of caffeine supplements, and before long he'd checked her heart and lungs as well. She was fine, but still was probably not getting enough sleep. At least a clean bill of health would calm his worries, and Master X's. "Master Zero came by this morning. He's already begun recovering his memory files," Cerveau couldn't keep the smile from his voice: he knew Ciel was torn up over that.

"And here you and X are, telling me that I don't need to work faster, shouldn't stay up later," she said, resisting the urge to start pouting like a scolded child. "I thought the whole point of my research was to see if there was a way to counteract what I did to Master Zero. What's the point, then, if he's already recovering the files?" Really, had it all been a ruse, a ploy to make her not feel guilty for what she'd done? Did they think she simply forgot the reason she'd been given the assignment, even though every moment she spent on it only drove the knife further into her conscience? "It's no small feat getting fresh crystal supplies for the elves working with me, and you threw me at a project that—"

"Ciel." Cerveau's sharp tone cut her off, "Stop. This isn't about Master Zero. Did you know that the main cause of Reploid memory malfunction is because of electrical surges overloading their processors? Do you have any idea, any idea, how many people that research would benefit? It's something that very few people have honestly researched, forget getting actual headway. And now you have a subject that's begun recovering memories on his own. There is data there that you need to gather."

Ciel blanked out for a moment, staring at the medic as if he'd just told her that they had found life on another planet. Despite the truth of his statement and the fact that, like the rest of her work, the project's application reached far beyond the small network of friends and colleagues she had in the Resistance. For her to have let herself think so narrowly about what she was doing, what kind of research she was assigned to…

"I…I honestly don't know what to say, Cerveau," she admitted. "Maybe it's just that…I…" she huffed, dropping her head into her hands for a moment before shifting and letting her chin rest against her closed hands. "Even with you telling me this, letting me know that Master Zero is recovering already, I can't help but feel like I still messed up the one constant that X still believed in, the one remnant of his past that hadn't died in the wars. Had I stopped, had I thought, Master Zero wouldn't need to recover his memories. Everything would be there. He'd be intact, whole. He'd remember his own name, remember who he was, who he is."

"Are we done here?" she asked. "And do you have any idea where Master Zero is?"

Cerveau tilted his head, verifying Zero's location over the network, "He's still down on Level Five, at the shooting range with Faucon." Cerveau chose not to mention the…occurrence that'd happened earlier that day. Cerveau wasn't one to spread rumors and really, he thought it'd be best if that just died down.

Ciel pushed herself from the table, just getting to her feet, when Milan returned.

"Hey, Doc," he called out, "catch." A small metal cylinder flipped through the air, a soft clicking sound coming from the inside as it sailed towards the medic. "Found it in the back of the drawer she keeps the Energen Crystals in."

Ciel stopped cold when she realized what the container was.

Cerveau caught it in one hand, turning it in his hand slowly to read the label. He tilted his head up to look at Ciel. The only good thing about it was the bottle of caffeine pills was yet unopened. "Ciel…"

The young scientist simply stood there, mute, as she turned her eyes to the floor. Why, Milan? she whined to herself.

Cerveau didn't need to say anything more to Ciel: she knew she was wrong. She knew it wasn't good for her, and yet she still acquired them. Instead, Cerveau turned to the network, looking for a particular ID. Thankfully, he was actually online. 'Master X?'

'Yes, Cerveau?' X had been on the net for a while, listening to the traffic, ensuring that, at least on the public section of the network, there weren't any more rumors flying around. Faucon had, a short while ago, sent an alert that anyone that wanted to start wagering crystals against Zero in a marksmanship contest was free to head down to the firing range. At least Zero's ego hadn't been damaged, he had thought jokingly, especially once bets did start flying over the comm network.

It hadn't surprised X in the least that the majority of the wagers were actually in Zero's favor.

Cerveau was honestly sorry that he had to burden X with this when he had so many other things going on, but he couldn't order things like this unilaterally. 'I'm sorry to bother you, but Lady Ciel made an offhanded comment about taking caffeine pills and well…' Well, this was Ciel they were talking about, 'I asked Milan to take a look in her room; he found an unopened bottle. I'd like permission to post Milan to look after her and make sure she actually sleeps and doesn't…push herself unreasonably.'

If there were a wall, an actual wall, on the network, X would have given it one solid smack with the front end of his helmet. 'Cerveau, is the comm relay in your lab online right now?' He'd rather get a direct answer than have to check all the network access terminals.

Cerveau had to glance over to it to be sure, but, 'Yes, it is.'

Moving for the fourth floor terminal bank (and for the millionth time, it seemed, wondering why the terminals lined up in a neat little row when they were physically so far apart), he quickly figured out which one was in Cerveau's main lab. He had to bite back the urge to let Ciel really know what was on his mind at that moment, opting for silence as he let the human commander realize just how much trouble she'd just gotten herself into.

Cerveau couldn't even feel bad for Ciel. She needed to understand. A bottle of caffeine pills may have seemed like something small, something they were overreacting to, but if she honestly did become dependent on them? Caffeine pills could be dangerous if not taken properly, and there were no safety instructions or even an identifying label on the bottle.

"I'm really starting to wonder what it is that's so debilitatingly bad about sleep from a human perspective that you seem to be hell-bent on avoiding it." Sure, he knew that some people suffered from night terrors, that some forms of human emotional and psychological trauma led to a fear or aversion of dreaming, but as far as he was aware, Ciel had never suffered anything that would have set that off. Yes, she'd lost both of her parents over the course of her life, but it was rare to see that create something ingrained deep enough into the psyche to actually scare her away from sleeping. "Part of me wants to believe that this is just some crazy misunderstanding, that you weren't really considering getting through your days by developing a chemical dependency. You're too smart for that kind of nonsense, and Cerveau and I have both explained to you that the most important thing you do for us is take care of yourself. Yes, I realize that some days, you don't get a full sleep cycle before your body demands that you be up and active. That's fine. Everyone has those days. But to use caffeine, to use anything to alter your body's chemical operations…"

He looked at the girl. "I realize that, yes, you're eighteen. You're practically a grown woman. I know that, and I acknowledge it. But you're also one of the Resistance commanders, responsible for the research that needs to be done to help us reclaim and fix Neo Arcadia. You can't just keep playing it off like you're okay when you're not getting enough sleep, when you're working yourself sick, when you have that responsibility to bear." He looked at the bottle Cerveau was holding. "Do you even know how many pills you'd be allowed to take each day?"

"Two to four is the usual range for any medication," Ciel answered. "And I'm not supposed to take them before I go to bed because that…that actually would keep me awake."

In response, Cerveau cracked the bottle open and shook some into his palm, them immediately frowned, a bit of a cold feeling coming over his systems. "You're right about not taking them before going to bed, though it'd be more correct to say to take them ten hours before you intend to get anything resembling sleep. And never, never assume the dosage based on number of pills. You're very young and you have a very small frame, even for a human female. These are large enough that two would be dangerous to you," forget what four would have done to her systems, "and caffeine is a diuretic. You'd have to drink extra water to keep your systems healthy. Regular caffeine usage impacts the human body's ability to absorb calcium, so had you used them more than rarely, you'd have needed a supplement. They're addictive, very addictive, on top of all that, and had you deprived yourself of enough sleep, relied on these too many nights in a week, you could fall asleep in the middle of a task, like a narcoleptic. What if you were doing something dangerous, using a blade or something with a current? And that doesn't even touch upon where these are from and what else might be in them."

Ciel actually teetered back against the exam table, staggering at the realization of just what those pills would have done. She'd seen them used before: her father had taken a couple a few times a month when a project was being impossible or something needed to be done, but other than that? She hadn't known about the side effects at all. Calcium deficiency? Extra water? That alone would have required more runs into the city, possibly requiring Neige or one of their other contacts to falsify a medical report just for the calcium supplements. It would also indicate that there was a human involved in the Resistance, since Reploids didn't make use of pills in the same manner. Even the caffeine pills had been a risk.

All that said nothing of the risk she presented to herself if she did overuse the pills and fall asleep at her computer or her workbench. While the former wasn't all the dangerous, save for waking up to a long string of whatever letter she'd hit on the keyboard with her face, the latter was a threat. Monofilament wire, surgical blades, handheld welding torches - her workbench would have been the last place she would have wanted to be when the pills stopped working.

Cerveau dumped all but one of the pills back into the bottle. He popped the remaining pill into his mouth and swallowed it. As a medical unit, he had a system specifically constructed to break down and analyze chemicals. Ciel hadn't dared meet his or X's gaze the entire time. After a few moments, the analysis was completed and under his visor, Cerveau's eyes became round.
"Ciel. Who gave this to you?"

She was silent for a long moment, still unable to look at any of the three in the room with her.

"Aptikari," she finally whispered.

X looked at her when she finally provided the name, holding back from yelling at her about contacting that particular Reploid. Since human health was such a concern, doctors and other skilled medical techs were important Reploids to the city. Aptikari had been contacted for the first time a year prior, when Ciel had been unfortunate enough to come down with strep throat and they had needed to get her antibiotics. How she'd even caught the illness had been beyond them, though they figured that it may have been from Ciel's contact with Neige's group a short time prior.

Medical supplies were closely regulated to ensure that individuals who posed a health risk to the rest of the population were kept either under observation or in quarantine. Neige had offered to be the runner, reporting to Aptikari for treatment and getting the much-needed drugs relayed to the Resistance. This…X didn't even want to know if she had even bothered with a runner.

Cerveau sighed, "This isn't…it's not caffeine. It's methylphenidates. It's a medicine for narcoleptics. It increases production of dopamine and norepinephrine," both of which would increase her heart rate and thus, her blood pressure, "and…did Aptikari even give you dosage instructions? Half of one of these is for a human adult, but for someone your age? Taking two to four?" She'd have gotten really sick, she'd barely have been able to stand steadily. Cerveau had to cut himself off there, had to force himself to stop because the anger was creeping into his voice and really, that never helped with Ciel.

"I told him my father had used them, so I knew what I was doing. He make a point of telling me that I wasn't supposed to use them more than once a week, and no more than once a month if I could avoid it."

"Were you honestly going to regulate yourself to that kind of usage? And even if you were, you said two to four pills when the actual dosage instructions are half a tablet a day. If I'm not mistaken," X said, looking to Cerveau, "had those been prescribed, wouldn't she have had to be placed under observation, at least for the first week, to make sure that she wasn't dealing with the hypertensive side effect?" Being a lab tech early on really made X aware of all the things that could go wrong with human medications that were meant to help the person feel right again.

"Yes, there would have been at least one follow up, with instructions to see the physician immediately should she feel unwell." Cerveau wasn't quite successful with keeping the frustration from his voice, but at least it was directed at Aptikari and not Ciel.

X turned to the Reploid hovering by the door. "Milan, I need to ask a favor of you. I know that I assigned you as Ciel's bodyguard when we were planning to rescue Zero. Now, however, I need to upgrade your assignment."

Milan nodded. "To what, Master X?"

"I need you to keep an eye on Ciel. A more direct eye. As you did today, I want you to ensure that she goes to sleep in her bed, even if that requires moving her to said bed from wherever she crashes. Hopefully," he said, looking to the girl, "she'll realize this is for her own good and get to bed at a reasonable hour. Once she has been asleep for an hour, I want you in a recharger. The four-hour cycle you normally need will complete before she wakes up, even if her sleep cycle does get cut short. I'm not going to fault her for waking up early every now and again, but she needs to get as complete a cycle as possible each night. From there, you will serve as her lab assistant as well as her guardian."

X turned to Ciel. "I'm not doing this to punish you, Ciel. Please try to understand. All I'm trying to do, as strict as this may seem, is show you how you're supposed to take care of yourself. You're a scientist. Observe yourself as you go through your days. See how you feel. If need be, keep a log of it. See that this, doing this, is better than pushing yourself to the point of breakdown. We'll see how you do after a month."

Milan nodded, understanding. "I will do everything I can to ensure that Ciel remains in good health and continues to take care of herself."

Ciel only shrugged. At this point, any argument would have been moot. X had his say, and even if she was co-commander, his word was final.

Once it was evident that X was going to be on the network for more than a minute or two, Blues straightened from the wall he'd been leaning on. He'd already seen Rocinolle before his encounter with Zero: he pretty much gave her a homework assignment and told her that he expected to be impressed with the Condoroids the following day. The portion of the coding she'd be concentrating on was similar enough to what the Hoppiders needed that Blues didn't think she'd have a problem projecting the problem-solving approaches to the Condoroids.

And so, Blues decided to spend the rest of the day alone, away from the rest of the base. He was certain that they wouldn't dare disturb him for the remainder of the day and even X would probably be giving Blues his space.

The short lift ride down to the sixth level and subsequent walk to his room was uneventful. The door slid open obediently and locked securely behind him.

He just stood there for a moment, as though gathering himself and focusing his objectives. Deciding where to even begin.

He eventually sat down cross-legged on the floor beside the bed and reached under, catching hold of the Neo Arcadian box and pulling it forward to rest beside him. The first thing he needed to do was organize the parts and separate out which were for him and which were for Rock. Rock's were much more by volume, but Blues knew that he couldn't continue with his buster as it was, so he took some of Rock's buster parts—Blues had enough made for both of Rock's busters—for his own and set them aside, beside the parts for his teleportation matrix.

That had to be his highest priority. He couldn't continue this way.

The matrix was in his variable system even though it was more common for it to be in a Robot Master's head case—this enabled Blues to do more maintenance on himself than was normally possible—and so he rolled his sleeve up, allowing the buster casing to envelop his arm once again. Then he allowed it to open up so the inner components could be accessed. He grimaced slightly; it was a mess, and began his work.

He really would have rathered that Rock had use of both of his busters, but his was so bad off…even charging it was stressing his systems. He needed a weapon that wouldn't break from a single shot.

He didn't have to test the teleportation matrix to know when it was back online. He'd done maintenance on it dozens of times before, interchanged parts on his own for so long that he could tell with a glance whether something was functional.

He couldn't be cornered without an out any more. It was such a relief.

His buster was quicker to repair; he hadn't actually cracked the casing and the new parts would ensure that the power would be focused properly, even with the unwieldy energy his core provided. When Wily found him and worked on him, he'd rerouted much of Blues' body to contend with the massive power output that the core would provide. The armor further stabilized his systems while he was in combat, when his core's power would be more heavily relied upon, and really, not having it was the same as not having a lot of his support systems.

Rock wasn't engineered that way, however, and concentrating on the little robot's welfare put Blues into a more positive mindset. Nothing was wrong with Rock's body that couldn't be fixed, nothing was missing that couldn't be replaced. He'd be able to wake Rock with systems showing green all down the line and from there, they could work on the portions of his memory damage that Blues couldn't properly fix himself. A good portion of it would require Rock himself to restore, but he could at least borrow Blues' processor power to help speed things along.

Two heads were better than one, after all. And when Robot Masters put their heads together, it was in a literal sense: they could share one another's headspace, borrow one another's processing power should the situation call for it.

And this situation called for it.

Blues began unwrapping Rock's various parts, going by which portion of the child's body he was working on and soon his floor was littered with swatches of padded, static-proof cloth and Blues was half-kneeling on the bed, one foot still on the floor, restoring the connections around Rock's power source so that the circuit around his body would be completed. He knew that letting Rock sit in the sun to charge would be out of the question in their current situation, but he could charge off Blues' core the first time around, and then use the charger after, if he wanted.

If he could stand sitting still that long. Though they could probably arrange for him to charge while he was working in the base if the child became that insistent. Worse came to worse, he could just charge off Blues: not like his power ever ran low.

There was something soothing about doing lab-like work: that had been part of his original purpose, even if his task set had more to do with coding and less to do with construction and maintenance. Rock's physiological design was nearly identical to Blues', save that Rock was smaller and appeared younger, and so anything that broke was fixed the same way between the two units.

It certainly simplified things.

It would be nice once another Robot Master was up and about, once the harmonic thrum on the network could begin to take place. There needed to be at least two units for that thrum of logic and harmony to really begin washing over the network and that was one thing that Blues truly did enjoy. X might like it too, though it wasn't that spectacular until there were five or six. Going onto the Wilybots' network was truly…it wasn't music, wasn't audible, but it felt that way in the rhythm and harmony. Like an orchestra for the mind.

Blues chose the buster in Rock's dominant hand to repair and was relieved to see that it wasn't as badly off as his: just a lot of old parts, weakened by time. Nothing truly broken. That was an easy fix.

Seeing as this wasn't one of the nights the Resistance had planned for a raid, which only ever happened at night unless drastic measures were required to get someone or something out of Neo Arcadia, activity in the base was next to nil shortly before midnight, since most of the Reploids had started heading for their chargers well before then. With his need for a charge no longer prioritized—seeing as he'd recharged after the first incident with Blues—X was heading down to the sixth level for something he should have picked up first chance Blues had actually given him.

He really hoped he wasn't disturbing his brother's sleep cycle. He honestly had no idea when Blues preferred to sleep, seeing as he probably only needed an hour or two more than Reploids.

X stopped for a moment at Zero's door, tempted to go in and see how the android was doing, especially in the wake of his game with Faucon earlier. Had Zero retained his memories, X was almost assured that today's marksmanship win would have left Zero with an inflated ego for the rest of the night. As it was, the android had simply exchanged a parting handshake with Faucon before returning the pistol to Cerveau.

He had been honestly surprised when Cerveau handed him a small bag of Energen Crystals.

Zero had no idea the medic had put a wager down in his name.

Shaking his head, X made for Blues' door, triggering the bell.

Blues had been seriously contemplating defragging when the bell chimed. He'd been sitting on the bed this time, the bundle situated behind him, his trench thrown over it once again. He lifted his head and shifted so that he was sitting cross-legged.

He'd even taken his boots off.

Mere moments after the chime finished sounding, the door slid open.

X stepped in, smiling at his brother even though his position on the bed left X wondering if Blues was about to go to sleep. The smile faltered when he saw Blues' boots sitting at the foot of the bed. "I hope I didn't come at a bad time. I wasn't sure when you started your sleep cycle, or if you even have a preferred time for it."

"Don't worry about it," Blues waved X's concerns off; he could defrag after X left.

X nodded, looking once more at the trench coat and wondering just what it was that Blues had under there. It was none of his business, but that didn't help his curiosity not want to get the better of him. "I wanted to know if there was enough time tonight to load the defense program," he said, "and wanted to know how it was supposed to be implanted if my systems outright reject outside programming. I know you used my code when you made it, but…" X shrugged.

Understanding only a fraction of his own systems made it difficult to fully determine how things would and wouldn't work. He'd had enough trouble trying to figure out how to upload the programs for all the languages he had to learn once his technology had gone mainstream and he actually had to talk in public about the replicated android project Doctor Cain had begun.

"You cannot be reprogrammed in the sense that an outside source can't force its way into your systems and exert changes on any aspect of yourself. You can welcome new programs and systems changes, provided you consciously permit the installation. It's like learning, though in a way…different from how humans do it. That's one of the main differences between what you are and what I am. Of course, it must be coded in a way your system will accept; just anything won't do. That's why your coding was so useful for this project." Blues suspected as much from Rock's descriptions of the X project, but seeing his coding gave the Robot Master a far fuller understanding.

"It's really that easy?" X was baffled. If the addition of programs to his system was that simple, why were there no prompts with the uploads he'd tried in years before? What had kept him from knowing that aspect of his programming, of his system? "Why would something that simple…why would it be something I didn't know?"

"I cannot say. It could be that whatever you were trying before wasn't coded in properly, but by the way Doctor Light programmed you, by the format he designed for you, this program should work." If it didn't, Blues would need to seriously reevaluate not only X's coding, but also his own competence at doing what he was built for.

"So…" X said, moving to the computer terminal. "Something tells me that uploading it will be the easy part. Application, actual knowledge of how to use it, will likely be something completely different."

Blues' head tilted to follow X's movement across the small room. "Yes. I will walk you through how to properly implement it. You may need to delegate new input to your senses—I suggest sight—and there will likely be some clutter until you figure out how you want the data organized." The program was an active defensive program: it monitored constantly rather than only rearing to life once an attack already happened.

"New input?" X wondered what that could have meant. "I think I may have to see how this works before I can figure out what gets delegated to what. Need me to load into the net?"

Blues nodded as he shifted position on the bed, turning a bit to face toward X. "Yes, that'll be quickest. I can bring you to a secluded section of the security network again. You'll be able to practice there in peace," without others prodding as to what exactly Master X was doing, "though I'll let you know if anything…urgent comes up over either the security or communications networks."

"I meant to ask you about that. When did you link into the networks? No one here seems to know that you've gone online, and I'm sure you've heard the chatter about how you haven't really bothered to say hi to anyone. After a few weeks, even the excuse that you lived in Neo Arcadia is going to sound strained." He pressed against the terminal, dropping into the security network, knowing that his brother would pull him where he needed to go.

He had to admit, having a true admin on the system, having someone that could move him through the network, made it a lot easier to navigate than him moving on his own through the data streams.

Blues grabbed X before the security team even registered him online and moved him to the sequestered portion of the server before answering, 'I connected to the security network as soon as I arrived. I can…make an account that feels like a human's or like a Reploid's,' even though he didn't like to, 'though constraining myself so, even as a puppet, is frustrating.'
Blues gave X a moment to reorient himself in the data flow before sending him a prompt to accept the file transfers. He imagined X would take his time to go over the program first, but that was fine with Blues; he was in no hurry and he didn't want X to rush himself through this, either.

X accepted the transfer, but he didn't set the files to download to his systems. Even with as little as he understood about his code as a whole, whatever he didn't get of the program he could go over with Blues. As it stood, it would probably benefit him to…

'Blues, is there any chance that I can get the decrypted files of my programming code?' The sooner X learned the full extent of his coding, the faster he'd be able to apply that to future programs for himself, as well as further upgrades for the Reploids. If he needed the program this much, there was little argument that the Reploids needed it as well.

After a moment's consideration, Blues sent a new transfer prompt to X, this time a compressed file containing his decrypted code. Even just comparing the two should help X understand the encryptions, Blues thought, though that was unlikely that that was what he wanted them for.

X's brow furrowed as he continued to scan the code Blues had provided, letting the file for his programming download separately. He'd look over that later, although he was certain that his brother wouldn't approve of him directly downloading anything. 'Blues, I have a question about the program displays. If I set the sensory input to sight, it'd work along the same line as a HUD or peripheral status screen, right?'

Blues had to think about that for a moment: his own systems were so customized to his tastes that he actually had to dig around for the default settings. X's mind was more human than his, but Doctor Light designed Blues' default: it was designed as something humans would prefer. 'Yes, it should. You'll be able to minimize it to the side, or back to your mind's eye for when you don't want the main status display open.'

Well, that at least covered that problem, not that it was even much of one. With all the communications that had been required during his time with the Maverick Hunters, X had become quite accustomed to living in a world where only one eye really ever took in the world around him. Sure, they were programmed to be as human as possible, but Reploids did have a particular knack with multitasking their communications.

'I'm actually familiar with a display system like that, so that won't pose a problem.' His eyes continued to drift across the code; the defensive protocols, the active scan mode that the program would initiate, the…wait, what was that? 'Blues, if there's a section of coding I don't get, how would I go about displaying it to you so you could tell me what it was for?'

'You can slip a copy of the section into a new file and send it to me,' Blues said; it really was just like sending with computers. 'Or you could flag the section in the main document and send me the altered file.' Either way would work just fine.

'I'd rather we address these as I go. That way, I'm learning the coding and the program at the same time.' He quickly copied the section of code, created a new save file, inserted the data and sent the packet to Blues. 'I don't get it. I already have status monitors for my system, so when I noticed that talking about status queries, I was wondering if there is supposed to be a redundancy in the program.'

Oh, that. 'Ah…that's not in regard to your own status. That's to query the status of whatever…individual you encounter on the network.' So that X could tell if they were well and get a read on their systems status so that the program could classify them as an enemy unit if need be.

'Oh.' X simply took note of how the encryption translated and moved on. Minutes passed in silence before X found another pile of code. 'Before I keep looking over this, Blues, is it alright for me to be keeping you up so late? I don't want to inconvenience you.'

'Don't worry about it,' Blues reiterated. He wasn't being kept up at all. In fact, this counted as productive time in Blues' book and X needed to get this program installed. This was checking something off of Blues' itinerary, which always pleased him. 'I've had ample time to rest, so upsetting my schedule one night won't be a problem.'

Another section of code was selected, copied, and bounced back to Blues. "Okay, I can't make heads or tails of that."

Blues was quiet again for a few moments, presumably looking over the code. 'This is a protocol that reaches out to other friendly units as support. It'll activate if you find yourself in a…situation you would have a hard time overcoming on your own.' It was an SOS beacon, in short. One that was programmed to send without conscious permission by the user. 'This portion deals with the classification of units into subtypes and friendly/foe divisions.' There were three subtypes: Robot Master, Android, and Reploid, though Blues expected the Reploid portion to greatly out-populate the other two combined.

'Well, that helps,' X admitted. 'I didn't realize that these were separate sections of code.' For all the years he'd spent staring at his own, staring at Zero's, at Axl's, at every Reploid he'd ever worked on…Blues certainly made him feel inept.

'Okay,' he said after a moment, 'this whole section here deals with defenses: breaking out of quarantine, cloaking my signal,' X drifted off, looking at his hands. 'If I'm a data being when I'm on a network, a formed mass of information, how is generating a false signal location going to keep whomever I'm dealing with from seeing me?'

Blues blinked at X's question, tilting his head slightly as he answered. 'You are a signal on the network. The others recognize you as X because they recognize your source as being you. Your identity is that source. So by creating a false identity, you cloak yourself from others on the net.'

'Wait. You…you don't see me?' Idly, X wondered why no one else had brought this up before, realizing that, as the only Cyber Elf of his particular origin, it was likely no one else understood that X saw himself, in body, on the network.

'As in you, how you appear in the physical world? No. I've…customized my interface extensively, but I'd hazard that to the Reploids, you just look like a signal. To me? A point of light at your location, with tags identifying you and giving some data on your general status and condition.' Blues' interface actually looked a lot like deep space, each network like a cloud of galactic debris, each signal taking on a different look depending on its classification. He found it orderly and soothing, everything in its place.

Well, that explained a lot. 'I guess I figured that people could see me on the net much in the same way as I could see myself.' For a moment, X wondered if the body he saw when he looked down at himself was more a matter of his mind making him perceive a body there.

A bit more time was spent going over the new program, but X could see little wrong with it, little reason for it to remain uninstalled. 'As far as I can tell, I'm good to go for install. I know that this is meant to work while I'm on a network, but will it remain active when I'm offline?'

'It goes into a more dormant state when you're not connected, but the scanning capabilities remain on standby regardless,' which would allow the program to be quicker to react should there be an emergency. Blues knew that that aspect of the program was edging on the side of paranoia, but he didn't think that was reason enough not to include it. Either way, it wouldn't take a lot of effort for X's systems to support it, so it shouldn't become burdensome.

'Okay, well, I can't see anything wrong with the code. I hope I didn't make you feel like I wasn't thankful for this because I looked over it first.' X wasn't sure if his brother could tell that he was smiling. 'I'm going to go ahead and set this—' His voice dropped off suddenly, systems copying a pile of code and sending the copied data back at Blues. 'I'm actually not going to download this to my systems yet. Blues, what the hell is that?' He'd sent the package before he'd even finished his sentence.

Blues smirked when he saw the coding that X sent and didn't keep the almost-smile from his voice on the network. It was out of place in the coding, that was certain, and though he'd hidden it well, it didn't belong. And that was reason enough for X to be on edge over it.

He was honestly glad that X took the time to go over the program and coding, took the time to ask questions before installing it. He'd hoped the android wasn't so blindly trusting to just install whatever, even if the program did originate from another of Doctor Light's creations, and he was pleased and more than a little relieved that he was right.

If he'd been wrong, he'd have needed to take future measures to prove to X that he should always evaluate a new program, a new bit of coding, before adding it to his systems, before allowing it to become part of his being.

'That is…well, consider it a gift for having the wisdom to examine the coding. I'd hoped you would.' Blues sounded pleased, like X passed a test of sorts, and he quickly undid the encryption and bounced the file back to X.

X was a little concerned at finding the coding, but when Blues told him that it served as a reward? He was still a little skeptical, but opened the file anyway.