Chapter 49: Paralysis

Sometimes one didn't need to think. X wasn't thinking right now. It was a strange sort of release. After spending his whole life thinking, questioning, wondering, asking, learning, always, always thinking, now he wasn't thinking. He was very relaxed. Even his dream quest had not been this relaxing. Of course, then he had things to learn and things to think about. Now, it was just… he wasn't sure. X wasn't thinking, so he couldn't know. Perhaps just noticing.

He noticed fire. Fire all around him. Fire like a lake of fire. Zero had multiple dreams of a lake of fire when he was possessed by the Fire Dragon. Did fire move in waves and tides? Or was this lava? No, it was insubstantial. Fire. X sat in the fire and realized it wasn't deep. It was like a carpet, or blanket. Fire had such amazing beauty. X noticed how it danced.

He noticed footsteps. He looked up and saw Zero. He noticed all the battle wounds he bore. Zero's gaze was ahead. "We've dealt with the dragons," he said. "Now we must deal with the one who brought them here."

X, dumbfounded by the flower's scent, blinked.

Zero kept looking ahead. X finally turned his head to look. There was a path of ice with the fire. Ice was beautiful too. It was like a mirror. The mirror of ice reflected the tide of fire. It also reflected someone above.

X looked up and saw someone. Who was it? He didn't notice, and didn't care to think so he could recognize the someone. But the someone had wings. Great big black wings. Angel wings or demon wings? X couldn't think, so couldn't decide. And the someone with wings had wings on the head too. Were those wings, or were those clumps of hair sticking out like wings? And the face…

No, the eyes. The someone with wings had eyes. X looked into the eyes and saw the Paranoid Mirror. In those eyes, he saw a demonically possessed Zero tear X apart, while he was still alive. When Zero had eyes of fire…

He looked at Zero beside him. He wore an armor of fire. A large black rune blade was in his hand, etched with the runes, 'Master of Summer'. Zero looked down at X with eyes of demonic fire.

X screamed.

"Calm down, X," he heard Zero say.

"Get away from me!"

"X?" There was a bell-like tone of sorrow after.

"Drink this potion," a motherly voice said. "Then you need some actual rest."

X clasped a wooden goblet. His power core still fluttered with fear. "Huh?"

The cup was nudged. "Drink it."

He went ahead and drank from the cup. It was a warm concoction that tasted strongly of honey. He looked around, but the world was blurred with strange colors.

"Don't take what he's saying now personally," the female said. "His mind is still muddled by the Mindbane flowers."

"Okay," Zero said. No… that was Neko.

Or was it? X felt confused now. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Finish that and rest," she repeated.

"Sure." X drank what was in the goblet. Then he drifted into blurry dreams.


October 19, XX68

Iris was in her dressing room, preparing for another show. She wore a blue jumper dress over a white blouse, like a peasant girl. A straw hat and… she opened the drawers in increasing frustration. She went to the door and peered into the hall. Everyone was in a rush. "Kelly, where's my necklace?"

But the stage director was busy with someone else. Sighing, she started to close the door. One of her reploid co-stars, playing her rival in the play, put her hand on the door. "Iris dear, would you mind lending me one of your hairclips? I'm missing part of my costume."

"Sure, come on in. I'm missing part of mine too."

Chantal Angelique followed her in. "We'll have to give the costume department a talking to. This is the third play in a row where I haven't had my full costume on opening night. The first time, I got the wrong underthings."

"That couldn't be good." Iris looked through her bag of clips and pulled out one. It was white with a peach-pink iris and two doves on it. "I think this one will match."

"Thank you. You have such lovely tastes."

"I have to have a necklace though."

"What about that amber one you wear sometimes? I love that one."

Oh right, the one X gave to protect her. She wore it under her clothes when going home on late nights. "It might work. I don't think anyone will get close enough to realize it doesn't match the play." She opened up her purse to get it.

"Does this look good?"

"You look great, Chantal… oh, what happened to your neck?" Iris gently touched a strange blemish. It was pale and greenish.

She looked in the mirror. "Oh no, it's already wearing off. Don't mind it. I'd better go put on some more concealer."

"It doesn't look good. What happened to you?"

"It's old, don't worry. We have plenty enough to think of tonight. Knock the audience out of their seats, dear."

"Right, you too."


By the intermission, a number of people were cross about missing costume parts, mislabeled props, and part of the backdrop that had broken. They pressed ahead, figuring that acting quality might beat out any mishaps elsewhere. As a new play, nobody wanted a bad review.

In the second half, just before a scene they had together, Iris noticed that Chantal looked faint. "Are you okay? Do we need to grab your understudy?"

"I'll be fine, dear," she asserted. "Just… see about stalling my entrance for just a minute, so I can get settled."

"Okay." And her entrance cue came up. Iris made a sign that Chantal needed a moment, then went onstage.

They were to participate in a duet, an argument over who would marry one of the men not knowing he was about to be revealed (to them) as the villain. Iris was just supposed to be walking in the town square, but since her character did have a ditty she repeated often, she sang that. It should give Chantal the moment she needed.

She came on and they went into the duet. But Chantal's voice was wavering and she wasn't singing entirely in character. This wasn't good. Iris did her half well. That is, until Chantal attacked her.

Iris saw her co-star's eyes and how monstrous they seemed. She screamed and stumbled back. The audience was anxious, not sure if this was part of the play or not. And then the amber necklace glowed.

Chantal shrieked this time, with black lines forming over her hands. She sent a black wave of shadow magic with a wild wave of her arm. The audience realized this was real and started a panic to leave. But the amber necklace kept the wave from hurting Iris.

"Chantal?" Iris asked, nervous.

She ran off-stage and grabbed a background techie. He screamed and tried to fight her off, until she put him to sleep. Then she entered Iris' dressing room (as the nearest one), touched the mirror… and they were gone.

Iris grabbed hold of the amber. The stage director came onstage. "Iris, are you okay?"

"I'm all right." She looked at the clover stuck in the amber. "She couldn't hurt me."


October 20, XX68

Sigma stood at the entrance of a cave, watching for monsters. Off in the distance, he could see the twisted black branches of Ikari Tower. It was impressive, surrounded by mountains but not intimidated by them. But still, why build it like a dead tree? That made it look blatantly evil. Sigma would build it to look like a living tree, so its presence was still awe-inspiring and made others think nothing sinister could go on there.

Agile approached him from behind. "Sigma, we're in."

"Good. Let's go."

They walked quickly down the cave corridor. After a turn, stairs appeared and the walls became carved. There was a long descent to large iron doors. Violen let Agile and Sigma through, then came in and shut the doors behind them. They were in now, and escape would be difficult.

This particular entrance, being so far from the Tower itself, had a trolley. Agile entered the password and the three rode into the main underground network. It was quiet, Sigma noticed.

"We haven't had any trouble," Agile whispered. "No security beyond the network, no guards, not a single reploid. The guys are sticking together, but this quiet is nerve-racking."

"The old master could be expecting us," Sigma said. "I wouldn't put it past him. Or Gate, for that matter."

At the end of the trolley line, Sigma's squad stood in a room, uneasy. Serges pointed to some screens, which showed static. "We got nothing," he said. "We met no resistance coming here, we met no resistance getting in here, and we still have no resistance… I don't like this."

"Neither do I." He looked around the room and made sure he had everyone's attention. "Okay men, we need caution, but we may be expected. Let's go in open and peaceful for now. We expect to meet with Albert Wily, the mastermind of this place. However, based on certain facts and X's prophetic statement, we should also expect Ikari Domino, who may be the real power, using Wily's phantom to frighten the public. Above all, keep your eyes open. Now, you four know where we're going."

The four second gen Wily reploids nodded and led the way. It remained quiet. Some security cameras noticed them, but did nothing. They met with no one.

Laudo was first to notice. He slipped back to Sigma and said, "I sense a large number of reploids ahead. All in one room."

Lumine put a scanner over his head. "He's right. Fifty-nine reploids and a single human. Seems like the entire Wily force."

"Just fifty-nine?"

Dynamo nodded. "That's the current strength."

"They don't seem aggressive," Laudo said. "Just… it's like they're waiting."

"Waiting?"

Laudo nodded.

"Let's hope they have answers." Sigma opened the door.

It was a long dining hall. The fifty-nine Wily reploids were sitting at the tables. They turned to look at Sigma's squad, but did nothing. As Sigma came in, they watched him, but said nothing. It was eerie.

"What's going on here?" Sigma asked. "Where's your father?"

There was no response. A few looked to others, as if puzzled by the situation.

Sigma picked Quint out of the crowd. "Well? Explain yourselves."

Quint looked up at him. His silver eye glittered. His other eye seemed blank. Looking closer, Sigma saw that his organic skin looked dry and sickly. There was a faint burn odor in the air too. That would only be there if Quint, and the others, hadn't taken in any liquids for several days.

On an educated guess, Sigma touched Quint's outlet port for a diagnostics check. Normally one couldn't do this to an acquaintance. Quint did nothing. His diagnostics indicated that he had not eaten or drank anything for three days. He had not done anything, apparently. For now, he would be fine if he was fed, given water, and allowed to sleep. But he was close to a dangerous condition where his systems would begin collapsing.

He handed Quint his own canteen. "Drink that."

Quint did nothing. His one eye looked at the canteen with need, but the silver eye glittered.

"Sigma, these reploids are very sick," Lumine said.

"I've noticed," he replied. "Lumine, come with me. The rest of you try to get them to drink clean water. You may have to force them."

"Is Wily punishing them somehow?"

"Tell me where the human signal is coming from."

"Right," he paused to check his scanner. "Should be behind the front table."

It was Ikari Domino. He was lying unconscious on the floor, but he was breathing. Sigma looked at Lumine. "Well?"

"Half-dead. Could revive him if we had to. I can't tell what that mess is, though." He pointed to an array of glass, mechanics, and gelatinous blobs. "It's something organic, part of it anyhow."

Sigma looked over the mess. "Hmmm… Vile, come up here!"

"Yes Sigma?"

"Come over here. Tell me what this is."

Vile looked over the mess on the floor. "That… that would be Dr. Wily's life support machine."

"I guess that explains them," Sigma said. "Wily left no contingency plan in case of his final death. Although it doesn't explain him."

Lumine knelt down and picked up a shard of glass. The edge was partly melted. "Rune blade, particularly one of fire. From the lack of damage elsewhere, I'd say whoever attacked him wasn't expected. Someone he trusted, but didn't control."

"Sigma, check this out." Vile picked up and handed over part of a hidden drawer. It held two globes the size of a human's fist. One was gold; one was silver. Also with the globes was a ring made of bone.

Sigma looked them over closely. They had small holes in the bottom. He peered through the gold one. It showed him another view of the room, from one of the Wily reploids sitting still now. "Raise your hand if you can hear me."

One of the gold-eyed reploids raised his left hand.

"These are the control spheres," Sigma said. "You guys, wait a sec." Then he smashed the two metal globes against the table.

There were startled noises as the long enslaved reploids finally were freed. They were grateful to be given water and food at last, not to mention their own minds. Quint came up to the front table. "You'll want to save Ikari," he suggested.

"What for?"

"He's Wily's son, and was enslaved like the rest of us. But he will know things none of us know. I'll show you to the human care center."


It was a strange sensation. Equinox was starving. Worse, he was so thirsty. But he could not do anything. He could hardly think without pain. Wily was dead, but his reploids were still trapped by the silver and gold eyes.

Equinox looked at the glass of water in front of him. It had been sitting there for three days. He tried again to will himself to drink. But it didn't work. He just couldn't make himself move. Who knew one of his biggest frustrations would be trying to drink a glass of water right in front of him? Equinox's head spun and felt as if it would float away. He was on the verge of losing consciousness.

The door opened. Sigma and his patrol walked in. They demanded an explanation. No one in the room could give one. They all sat silently and watched.

Would they override the eyes? Equinox hoped for that. The gold eye didn't even inflict pain on him for that. Even if he just took the masters, that would be good, because then he could get water and food and not just waste away, dying ignobly. The Fire Dragon Omega was so cruel.

One of Sigma's men came over to him. He had long white hair. "What's a kid doing here?" he asked. "And about to pass out too. Here." He took the glass and tried to make Equinox drink.

Once his lips touched water, his body took over and allowed him to drink finally. It felt so good. They weren't going to die.

When he was halfway done, he felt an odd signal from the gold eye. It did nothing, so he continued drinking. And then Sigma smashed the master eyes on the front table.

Equinox gagged and coughed as some water slipped down the wrong tubes. The one helping him, Dynamo, used a spell to help him. "Thank you," he said, even though his throat scratched.

"Don't talk now," Dynamo said. "Get rehydrated and something to eat. Then we have plenty to talk about."


October 22, XX68

One of the more time consuming jobs was replacing all the shattered eyes with normal ones. Some wanted the same color, while others didn't mind having two-toned eyes. Laudo and Raitzen helped out, searching through a cabinet of eye parts to find suitable ones. At one point, Raitzen poked his brother. He held out a red-violet eye that matched theirs exactly.

Laudo checked the screen that told them what abilities the eyes had. "It was made specifically for him. Do we want to go talk?"

Raitzen nodded, so they took it back to the repair room Quint was in. Laudo put the eye into a repair machine. "Found yours. It was the only one of its color here."

"I know that."

"Anything else you need for repairs?"

"I'm good."

He didn't say anything for a bit, so they went to leave. It was disappointing, but then again, he may not have known. But he should know, Laudo thought. He was younger than Raitzen by three years.

Then Quint said, "Your mother, Mimosa, is she still in Velspar?"

Laudo shook his head. "No, we moved to Alexandria. She's there."

He seemed serious as he nodded. But then his lips curled in a warm smile. "You may have to show me where. It has been much too long since I have seen her."


Sigma opted out of the eye operations and instead looked over the bone ring. It was odd, but several of the clan recommended he didn't break it. He got word that the human was fully revived, so Sigma went to meet him. Ikari was brewing tea when he entered the room. "Do you take sugar, milk, or plain?"

"I'll take care of my own, thank you."

"If you wish." He put a spoon of sugar in his tea and stirred.

You need to sit in that chair, Sigma thought.

Ikari picked up his tea and sat in the chair Sigma picked out. He seemed quite natural. Anyone else in the room would have guessed Ikari picked the chair on his own. He took a sip, then looked at Sigma. "What do you wish to know?"

"Who killed Wily and how?"

"You have spoken to the others. But I will tell. The Fire Dragon did."

"Fire Dragon?"

He nodded. "Yes. There was a secret affair years ago between one of our reploids and the Light girl. I did a reading on it and discovered something remarkable. The child had been conceived at a mystically potent moment. The stars were in the right places, the planet's aura was just so, the couple was well matched, and certain flowers were blooming in the vicinity. And a myriad of other small signs pointed to this child becoming a great person. Am I taking too long, or do you mind?"

"Go ahead. I have time. Just don't bore me."

Ikari bowed his head. "As you wish. So we conspired to get a copy of the child's DNA programming. I recommended leaving it as is, but my father wished to meddle with it. It took much too long, and Blues managed to capture the Fire Dragon, as his codename was. When the Ice Dragon experiment failed…"

"Ice Dragon experiment?"

"Yes. The Ice Dragon came from us. However, father did not listen to my advice and we lost control as a result. At that point, he became willing to listen to my ideas. I told him we should make the Fire Dragon fight the Ice Dragon, with a plot that included taking the original child, the child of Rock, and one of the children of this clan. You know how that wound up."

"I do. But doesn't that mean your 'Fire Dragon' could be either Zero or the shadow you made?"

"No. I would say Zero if I meant that child. Fire Dragon means the shadow, now called Omega. I am simply used to thinking of him as the Fire Dragon."

"Well use Omega. You don't have to be so riddling."

"I will try to be clearer from now on."

"Tell me what happened at the killing."

"We were having a celebratory feast at my father's birthday. He made us do that every year, even as he was becoming senile as of late. Omega showed up and everyone assumed he was there to offer his services. It had certainly been so long, and his activation was a pleasant surprise. But without warning, he slew our father." Ikari shrugged. "It happened so suddenly, no one could react to shield father. Our slave programs waited for instructions on what to do. Of course, none could come. Omega spoke in my hearing, as if to himself or some invisible other. He thought of draining our souls dry, but decided against it. He thought we were fools, soft on having our wills enslaved all our lives. So he left us there, to suffer an ignoble and slow death. We are all grateful to you."

It matched what others had said. "So what about you? If you're Wily's human son, why are you enslaved and using another name?"

"My mother named me," Ikari explained. "And my father decided to continue having me use it, to confuse others. My identity was used to disguise illegal works. As for why I am enslaved, you have the ring. You know."

"I don't."

"Then I shall show you."

Ikari reached behind his ears and fiddled with something. Then he pulled his scalp off, hair, skin, and all. Implanted right on top of his natural skull was a mass of electronics. Black boxes dug right into his brain, with wires coming in and out of the bone. A black square with a white symbol matched the control ring. The skin around the edge had sealant, so that when his scalp was on, his delicate brainwork was protected.

Sigma examined the craftsmanship. It was very well done, as all of Wily's other works. But unlike the slave eyes, this mental harness would be difficult to remove without killing Ikari. Sigma had no intention of freeing the human, but it was good to know. "I see." He silently gave permission to put the scalp back on.

Ikari sealed his head back up. As he set the hair right, he went on. "I have several siblings, all illegitimate and most unknowing. But he discovered I inherited his intellect and magical prowess. He brought me into his care; it didn't take long for him to despise me because I had my own mind and to become jealous because I was powerful. And so, I've been under enslavement since I was eleven."

"How old are you?"

"Seventy-nine. I know I do not look my age, but father wished to find immortality and experimented on me. I stopped aging around twenty-three, but his body was too old to save. We worked on creating a new immortal body for him. However, we had many other projects to attend to, and even now, his new body is incomplete. Not that it matters with his brain dead, but it's in storage."

"I see. Well, you are working for the Reploid Freedom Force now. I can count on your support and loyalty, right?"

"Sigma, whoever owns that ring owns my soul and body. I will serve you and you alone. If you happen to work for someone else, I may do their bidding as you instruct me to."

"I am the leader of the RFF. They'll all listen to me, especially with the Wily reploids in debt to me."

"Actually, now you have quite a job in establishing yourself as the true leader. Wily did a lot to separate power within your group. We found you useful, but did not want you gaining too much power."

Sigma glared at Ikari. "So you did manipulate us from the start."

"I am loyal to you now. I hope you have a lot of time." Ikari took a drink of his tea. "I will tell you how things are truly arranged. Knowledge is the best weapon."


October 29, XX68

Raitzen and Laudo were brothers. The former was older and usually didn't speak. He had hair the color of deep red wine and eyes the same. As a time mage, he wore heavily enchanted robes for armor, usually black and orange in color. He could manipulate time and space in a limited fashion. Warping himself and others short distances, splicing time for himself, quickening time for small spaces, and multiple body modifying spells made up his database. He could enter cursed places without effect.

Laudo was younger and practiced poetry for a hobby. His hair was exactly like their mother's, a mass of deep violet that blocked the right half of his face, but he shared his brother's and father's red eyes. His armor appeared light, but Raitzen had specially endowed it to have the same defensive strength as ultra-heavy armor. Laudo was an oracle that specialized in finding objects and people. He was probably the worst warrior in Squad 19, but his attuned senses made him an excellent scout and lookout.

The two of them were returning to Ikari Tower from a scouting trip into Mirage Swamp. Sigma wanted them to check on X, in case he'd died. Raitzen warped them quickly through the Tower's roots.

Sigma, Vile, and Serges were discussing plans. Laudo knocked on the door, although they were already in. "We've got something."

"What do you have?"

Raitzen placed the items on the table: a heavily damaged wizard robe and a tiny gold cross. Laudo spoke, "That is all we found, but it might be enough."

Serges pointed to a shredded edge. "Betagator." He pointed to a magic burn. "Will'o'wisp." He pointed to a long tear on the shoulder. "Possibly a banshee, definitely a flying foe." He pointed to a black and brown-red stain. "His. He's dead. But what's with this cross?"

"It belongs to his elf. It's the sign of a holy elf. Another proof that they got far in. But it doesn't guarantee they're dead."

"With that damage, it's not guaranteed?" Sigma asked skeptically. "That looks like proof enough."

"It could fool his father. But I kept getting the feeling something was off. X could be alive, although he's definitely got some damage. And goodness knows what Mirage Swamp did to his senses. He's not a finder; he's a visionary. But I could not find him. To me, that means there's a chance he could have made it to wherever he was going. Even so, this area is dangerous to a lone traveler and elf."

"And if he's making offerings to a dragon, he's still got a ways to go," Serges said. "We can pull it off."


November 2

Sigma walked into Rock's office. It was cluttered with spell books and accessories. The old hero, the one he'd admired for so long… now he smiled at Sigma coming in. "Good afternoon, Commander Sigma. Good to meet you."

He nodded. "Afternoon, Master Rock. I'm afraid I don't have good news for you. It's about your son."

Any polite gladness was replaced with deep concern. "Has he been hurt? No one had any clue that he would take off this time."

"My squad was doing a foray into the outer rim of the Forbidden Mountains when we found him. He tried to send us off initially, but after some conversation he accepted my offer to escort him. But not out of the range. He wanted to go into Mirage Swamp."

"Mirage Swamp?"

"We tried to dissuade him, all of us. But he was determined; he said there was something important and personal he had to do in that area. We offered an escort in there; I have two mages in my unit adept in exploring such places. We offered extra supplies, because he only had one backpack and his bonded elf. But he refused any more help and actually slipped away in the night, so we didn't try to keep him with us. I've never seen such reckless determination in anyone before."

Rock tapped his hands together. "Normally he's cautious but sometimes, these moods just hit X, I guess, and he does the strangest things, nearly always dangerous."

"He told one of my men that he expected to take a week at most in the swamp. So we waited for a week. I sent my mages after him. One is a finder oracle, but he couldn't locate X's aura. This was all they found." He handed over the tattered and messy robe and the small cross.

Rock was very upset. Sigma stayed with him, and thus earned his trust. His rebellion was coming to be more unexpected and certain to succeed.


This may seem very scattershot, but it's bringing threads together.