Chapter 7: "Deep Core"

Dr. Cain slowly set the datapad down on his desk, looking down thoughtfully, grim, as Zero stood in front of the desk, waiting with a degree of restrained impatience.

"...It seems cut and dry to me, Doctor," Zero finally prompted, though his tone remained calm.

Dr. Cain lifted his gaze to the red Reploid. "It does? Missing parts and suspicions doesn't seem cut and dry to me, Zero."

Zero frowned, but didn't lash out. "It at least demands an inquiry, Doctor..."

Dr. Cain stood up with his cane, and stepped around to the massive screen behind his chair, looking up at data readouts and analyses. The Doppler virus and the original, full virus both being analyzed.

"We're at a crossroads, Zero. We have suspicions of X, but can you question his results?"

Zero clenched his fists. "Dr. Cain, we can't ignore the implications here."

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself, too."

Zero bowed his head, his jaw clenching.

Dr. Cain looked over his shoulder, turning enough for one cane-tap on the ground. "I don't want to ground our most successful and, terrifyingly enough, most powerful Hunter." After a pause, he added, "Not during a crisis."

Zero lifted his gaze. "...So you're fine with letting him take bullets for us, but once the heat dies down, we lock him up?"

"And I'll tell him as much to his face. I imagine he'll agree, once the information is laid out."

Zero's fists shivered. He hadn't expected this. I was already conflicted, but this is... tricking. Manipulation. X is too noble to not fight, and too noble not to stand down when we want him to? And if we KNOW that much, why not just trust him? ...Because I want to know where all those mavericks went?

He finally looked up again. "Dr. Cain, we either trust him, or we don't. If you think he needs to be locked up after, then we must lock him up now. Or we're becoming the worst kind of hypocrites."

Dr. Cain finally showed some anger in his expression. The lines of age deepened with a surprisingly dark expression. He had suffered himself, and there was old iron behind those aged eyes. "He is lying to us, Zero." His voice was firm, sharp, but not loud. Each word hit like a quiet dagger. "Deceiving us. He does not trust us. But he is extremely effective. A crisis demands certain considerations. Peace time demands order and consequences."

Zero didn't weaken at the challenge. "Now who's convincing themselves?"

Dr. Cain glanced down.

"You're the boss, Doc... but if you want to loose him now, only to leash him later, I won't be your sheepdog. Since we're so focused on being honest."

A hard stare locked between them, but Dr. Cain only said, "Dismissed," after the intense pause.

Zero saluted, and marched out without another word.


Sigma's frame crashed down in the computer-core, and the hardlight matrix in the massive complex manifested his head as an embodiment of the virus. X struggled, dodged, clawed at the disembodied foe, but it seized onto him more than once.

And as it tried to infect him... A flash of light, peace, and Dr. Light's face.

X's optics snapped open.

He was in one of the charging bays, resting as Alia had pleaded with him to do.

"...A dream..." he murmured, sitting up, lost in thought. "Dream of memories, though..."

How had the attempted infection woken something so deep and... good in him? It felt safe, protected. X's brow creased, and he reached up, rubbing at his temple as he tried to access his deeper systems.

It might've surprised his friends, but there were significant parts of X's own systems he never accessed. Dr. Light structures and codes that still hadn't activated. It was so hard to find the source of that oddly calm relief during the infection attempt.

He searched further, deeper. Some systems even confirmed to him that they were awaiting other upgrades, other capsules, that had not called out to him yet.

Dozens of upgrades... Dr. Light must've spent the rest of his life hiding them away once I was locked into my testing cycle... Wait.

There it was. It was part of his body's core operating system coding. A kind of software-equivalent of a blackbox, with almost alien coding in the encryption. It...

It adapts like the virus...? It's practically alive, and it's... feeding data out into my systems, but I can't overwrite it at all. How is this...?

It was disturbing intrinsically. A part of himself he couldn't even fathom how to access. But the way it changed...

X's eyes widened suddenly. He leapt to his feet, dashing out of the charging room. I have to verify this!


Barrel squinted his optics down at the quarry. He was far beyond the perimeter, with Quickman and Shimmer a bit further behind him, going over sensor data. Within the perimeter were hundreds of mechaniloids patrolling around, protecting automated mining carts that were carrying supplies to transport trucks.

"...Not like him to stay hidden from the most exposed part of his operation."

Shimmer and Quickman both looked up to Barrel's back.

"And the infection usually spikes aggression, not cowardice," Shimmer added. "Has Tunnel Rhino used other tactics before?"

Barrel frowned, his hands flexing a bit. "He's not a fool. He's a master of terrain manipulation and martial combat. I think he's waiting for something."

Quickman tilted his head. "You're more distant than usual yourself. ...I trust you won't just charge in without backup?"

Barrel gave Quickman a glare over his shoulder, and Shimmer took renewed interest in the sensor data.

Quickman just shrugged smoothly as his response to the glare.

Barrel finally replied, "I'm not that off kilter, Quick. How's the data coming? We ready to send in the army?"

Shimmer chimed in again, "Very strictly scheduled, and thus predictable, surface-level activity. So much so that I rather assume he's up to something, yes."

Quickman gestured out, "But we're not getting any new data, either. We're done here, regardless."

Barrel nodded. "Shall we get this report to Signas? ...I might have a chat with X while you do, if that's alright?"

Shimmer and Quickman dryly smiled back, and then nodded. The trio started packing up gear to avoid it being discovered in their absence.


X closed down a few screens in the X-Hunter bunker's main console as he turned. "You sounded pretty grim, Barrel."

The Reploid nodded to X as he stepped down into the central space of the bunker with a few hissing rushes of his legs. "I want to help with Tunnel Rhino. ...More directly, I mean."

X remained pensive, and stepped down to face Barrel more evenly. Barrel, like most Reploids, was significantly taller than X, but none of the X-Hunters ever underestimated him for it.

"Even though it's a lesser infection, the Doppler virus is powerful enough, Barrel. Do you really just want to be there to help put down his body?"

Barrel clenched his fists briefly, but nodded. "I owe him. Up to now, I haven't really had... justifiable reason to seek him out. Obvious risks to our cover, and he and I weren't... supremely close. He was a good student, respectable, and he... I'm confident he'd feel as ashamed as I do."

X tipped his head. "With the new situation, I have less reason to be so stingy about who fights these Mavericks. Neon Tiger and the others will be back online soon, more over. I just have to ask you: are you sure your head will be in the game?" He slowly shook his head. "I wouldn't be very stable if it was... Alia, for example?"

Barrel's agitation did get mitigated by X admitting his own conflicts in an equal case. "It'll be in it enough. I need to help stop him. And I know you understand how important is to keep him alive. I want to help you do it."

X offered a little smile, and nodded again. "Alright, fair enough." More grave, he added, "Just don't forget that some of you have forced me to tear your bodies apart in disturbing ways to actually stop you. You'll be okay with that?"

"As long as his personality drive is intact, I won't question you." Barrel offered his hand.

X took it, and they shook.


Zero squinted toward the quarry from his cover position. Colonel was fully in cover near him, and dozens of Hunters were arrayed along the perimeter line that Barrel and his squad had been monitoring some hours previous.

"Enough mechaniloids to look imposing, but they're right, this isn't enough to believably hold. Something's up."

Colonel glanced up to him. "Do you agree with the Commander's assessment after all, sir?"

Zero shrugged. "That we need more intel before committing a huge portion of our forces to a subterranean battle? Of course. That X and Barrel are the only pair best equipped for the deep recon? No. Which is why we're going to engage those perimeter forces once X and Barrel are inside, to keep things distracted. Once they are, you and I are going to go after X and Barrel to make sure we don't rely on reports for information."

Colonel raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "At your word, sir."

/They're teleporting in now, sir,/ Iris affirmed on their private Squad 00 line.


X and Barrel formed out of teleportation globules, X already brimming with energy before his colors snapped green and he vanished into a shimmer of air. Barrel smirked a bit, and then quickly spin-drilled into the terrain, rushing toward a cave entry that served as the main access to the mine complex below.

X flitted between several cargo hauling mechaniloids, then some of the fliers and spike-wheel defenders as he descended some distance, letting his enhanced sensors track the seismic path of Barrel digging along with him.

/You are surprisingly stealthy for rapid digging through solid rock,/ X chimed to his partner.

/Hey now, our fight under Sigma was open air stuff. I have some talents!/

They both privately chuckled, but stopped grim as their path opened up into a massive underground complex.

X's optics sharpened, his sensors realigning to gather visual data more specifically. /Barrel, this looks like a giant killbox./

/Because it is,/ Barrel affirmed as he finally popped out between crags some distance to X's right, peering out. /Those 'supports' along the different levels' ceilings? Rigged to blow loose. And the floor surfaces in at least a dozen places of this cavern look suspicious. Like they were laid loose over spikes or something along those lines./

And then alerts flared across the entire cavernous chamber, and mechaniloids began to swarm up through smaller paths as well as the path X and Barrel were hiding on either side of like insects ravenous for prey.

/What the-!?/ Barrel blurted out as he ducked tightly into cover.

X shifted channels, /Maverick Hunters, the mine just went to full alert!/

Zero's voice responded, /That's because we just hit their entire perimeter at the same time. Should buy our recon team some breathing room, hm?/

There was a hint of dry humor in that grim response, and it caused Barrel and X to share a look across the pouring swarm of mechaniloids that hadn't caught them yet.

Shifting to a squad-only channel, X said to Barrel, /Well, it's a mess now, let's go!/

Barrel nodded sharply, and drilled back in before X started flitting down in camouflage.


In Maverick Hunter HQ's command center, Alia frowned firmly as she flew her fingers over keys to send out tactical updates to the various squads on the ground. "Iris, I take it that was Zero's idea?" she called over in a tight tone.

Iris winced. "Yes, ma'am. I was under orders to keep mission objectives classified outside squad 00."

Alia rolled her optics, and then called over more casually, "Dex, check for seismic anomalies over the entire combat theater, please! I seriously doubt Tunnel Rhino is just going to let us mop up his entire mechaniloid force."

Dex nodded, shifting his console to different screens and reports. "Copy! Baselines within green zone at the moment, but that terrain is not stable, ma'am!"

Iris felt compelled to add, "I am sorry, ma'am..."

Alia quickly replied, "Squad 00 is outside the chain, you obeyed orders. I'm just not going to pretend I like it."

Signas, just some distance behind at the holotable, added, "Nor do I."

Iris wilted a bit as she kept data flowing to Zero and Colonel especially. "...I understand."


Barrel jerked back at the entrance of a service tunnel as a mechaniloid gate burst out of the surface at his feet, and slammed across.

/X, I'm exposed! Mech-gate!/

/Copy! On my way-/

/No, stay out of sight! This might draw Rhino out./

Barrel charged kinetic energy over his arms, and rammed them forward, tearing and melting the gate apart in a quick spiral. He dove through, charging along, and leapt out of the tunnel's other end, just over three spike-wheels trying to rush to the alert point.

Barrel fired backwards, blowing up the three wheels with a drill-shield, and slammed down to his haunches in a larger, open chamber, his optics sharpening.

The cavern was stone silent, save the distant rumble of the battles overhead.

"...Rhino, I know you're out there!" Barrel called as he started to pace slowly to one side. "I know it's an infection. We can help you get rid of it!"

He snapped his gaze to his foot at one step, watching the ground start to crumble. He immediately back-vaulted as a pit collapsed out, exposing steel spikes below.

Barrel's optics flared as he heard ground cracking behind him, still midair himself. He twisted, charging drill-shields over his arms, but a spinning, physical drill the size of his own arm came ripping out of the ground, and tore through his right arm like so much dirt.

Barrel roared in pain, twisting back, his right arm falling away the opposite direction from an obliterated shoulder socket.

Tunnel Rhino, a behemoth of a Reploid, was mid-lunge with his drill-capped arm, and was spin-twisting with his treadmill-equipped feet inside of Barrel's fall. This let Rhino elbow-ram Barrel down into the ground with a crash of metal and a pained grunt.

Rhino more calmly finished his spin, and leaned down so his drill-horned face could glare straight into Barrel's optics. "You act like you know me. Let's get under that face and see, shall we!?"

Barrel angled his head back as the arm-drill revved up near his face. "You'll be ashamed of this," was all he said, his tone almost soft.

Tunnel Rhino twitched faintly, then grimaced... and then roared, rearing up in renewed fury, diving down with his drill arm. It would obliterate Barrel's head entirely.

A shock-burst of a buster blast filled the air, and Barrel saw a flash of blue-pink light before Rhino's arm was rammed off target, and drove into the ground at Barrel's shoulder.

X stood about ten meters off, his right-arm buster still steaming from the shot, and his expression grim. "Tunnel Rhino. Stand down, and you will not be harmed. Otherwise, get the hell away from my friend."


Zero finished dashing through a wave of mechaniloids, holding his saber with both hands as his ponytail lashed up. They started to explode as he lifted his eyes, assessing the battle. A giant ring of explosions and flying metal surrounded the mine as the Hunters closed around the mechaniloid defenses.

Colonel appeared out to his left, dropping a cannon-walker in half with a dropping slash. "Sir! The battle goes well enough, it seems!"

Zero nodded, somewhat distant. "Too well, honestly. Nothing heavier is responding to a full-on assault.

Iris chimed in via comms, /Sir, X and Barrel are too deep for normal comm activity, but seismic activity has intensified at the deepest level of the mine. Irregular rhythm would indicate a fight./

Zero frowned. "So they're engaged, but we don't know how heavily. Let's-!?"

He cut himself off as his optics snapped to a couple of flickering shapes rushing down to the mine entrance.

"Colonel! Tunnel Rhino is getting back-up; let's do the same for X!"

"With you, sir!"

As they both jet-boosted toward the center of the mine, Zero touched his audioreceptor, "Alia! Dex! I think Maverick reinforcements are heading X and Barrel's way! Colonel and I are closing, but you need to try to warn X!"

/Zero, adjust your comm to tight-beam mode, and change the spread to 500%!/ Alia returned instantly.

Zero did so, trusting her decisions, but then asked, "What did that do?"

/You're now a comm hub, a signal booster. I'll use you to try reaching comms deeper into the mine. Keep going!/

"Copy that! Colonel, stay on my tail!"

"Of course, sir!"


Tunnel Rhino narrowed his optics at X, then suddenly revved his left foot's treads, letting him spin-drop-kick Barrel up toward the other Reploid, Barrel barking in pain as he was sent flying.

X revved his sensors to their painful extreme, and dove into a full-speed thruster-dash while his colors and busters reconfigured.

X aimed up first, his colors purple, and fire a chain-shot grapple to Barrel. It yanked with slack, jerking on but not halting Barrel instantly. It slowed his momentum and spun him, letting Barrel crash to his haunches, but upright.

However, before Barrel had even landed, X's colors snapped again, and he fired shotgun ice blasts at Rhino.

Tunnel Rhino laughed, though he did have to pause his movement to bash and swipe the shots away. "Extreme temperatures come with mining work, X! You should know better!"

X diverted out to his right, and Barrel aimed with his working arm to fire off a drill-shield.

Rhino deflected the drill with his normal arm, his optics tracking X as he twisted, but Barrel sharpened his gaze. The plating was scuffed by the drill, less glistening and clean.

Rhino, meanwhile, braced down, and the drills on his shoulders and nose revved up before suddenly rocketing out as projectiles, which were instantly reloaded from inside his body. The drills all curved and arced through the air, closing in on X very much like homing missiles.

"You can't kill me, and my tornado fangs will tear you to shreds, X!"

X sharpened his optics, still in pain from his sensors... but entirely worth it, as it made twist, flip, and roll dodging the three missiles almost child's play for him. They all burrowed fast into the hard ground around him.

/X, it's a coating of some kind./

X paused, but he successfully made it look like he was just assessing Rhino, pacing slowly around the Maverick as Rhino leered with satisfaction, apparently confident in his invincibility.

/Chemical compound that resists thermal shock?/

/Exactly,/ Barrel continued, /My drill-shield stripped some small bits away, but it won't be terribly effective./

X frowned slowly. /I have an idea, but there's too many unknowns that would put his personality drive at risk. I need to do some field tests, but it'll ruin any chance of surprise working. Can you help keep him busy with your pain?/

/Let me worry about my pain. I'm here to help. Just need his eyes my way?/

/Multiple times. He's going to refocus on me as I test a weapon./

/Copy./

X's colors suddenly snapped to green and yellow hues, his busters transforming into some kind of liquid compound sprayers.

Rhino braced, abruptly quite serious rather than cocky, and then tread-dashed to his right as X fired at him.

X deliberately only aimed for an extremity regardless, and Rhino successfully dodged the sphereical blob of acid X had launched. It arced high, rushed down, and splashed thickly across the rock... steam billowing out as it ate away the minerals into gases and liquids far more toxic.

Barrel took his cue, and fired rapidly as he strafed opposite X. Rhino took a few harmless blasts to his back, and twisted to snap off tornado fangs from his shoulder.

While Barrel dove behind a boulder, letting it warp the fangs' paths, X dash-leapt over the acid-hole he'd made, his optics scanning it with his full sensor array.

It corroded the stone to a depth of fifty centimeters, but didn't spread much beyond the original globs diameter. So it eats faster than it can splash, but it eats so fast... He landed, twist diving out of a tornado-fang volley himself as Rhino tried to keep him pinned down. /Barrel, I think it'll work, but I have to hit the sides of his body, not center mass, or the risk is too great!/

Rhino became a missile launcher in the center of their battle, constantly firing off fangs at both Reploids trying to fight him.

Barrel ducked, then dive-rolled out of cover to finish dodging his latest volley. /I wish I had a safer idea, but I really don't! I trust you, X. Getting his attention!/

Rising out of the roll, Barrel braced. "Rhino! It's me," and he altered his voice. He flawlessly knew the sound pattern of his original voice, as only a Reploid could. He sounded like Armored Armadillo again. "I know you can fight this! We can help you!"

Rhino twisted at him, his optics flaring in a strange kind of manic rage at the voice change. He also shivered, unable to attack.

X twitched, pausing. It was a flawless distraction, but if the real Rhino was actually fighting off the infection with the reminder of his old comrade, X didn't want to turn that into a lie. /He might be breaking loose!/

Barrel kept his weapon down, despite the risks, for similar reasons to X. "The help is real, Rhino. It's not a lie. If you stand down, you WILL be free of it! Secured for a brief time, but then free again, I swear to you!"

Tunnel Rhino remained frozen, shivering, for a moment more, but this started to sneer into a grimace, shaking more violently... and finally roared as he started to blaze toward Barrel with thrusters popping out of his back and treads revving so hard they pitched dirt geysers up in his wake. Worse, his entire frame started to glimmer and glisten in strange, rainbow hues, something causing his chemical layer on his armor to react vibrantly.

X's optics widened, and he suddenly rocketed forward, staining the air with his shape from his speed. Two globs of acid flew out at Rhino's shoulders from the back, but X shot past his own attacks, curved around Rhino, and swept toward Barrel, who was just starting to dive aside... too slowly.

X side-twisted at the end of his sweep, thruster-kicking Barrel in the flank, while raising his right buster up to the right to meet Rhino's diving primary drill.

As Barrel flew out in surprise, Rhino's drill slammed into and through X's buster, shearing it apart like kindling. Yet X didn't scream. His optics flared with red light, but he thruster-boosted himself as if he could leap off empty air, and flipped further out to Rhino's opposite side from Barrel.

Then the acid splashed over Rhino on both sides, but something in the glowing chemical layers just made the acid sizzle and splash down into the rock below.

/-can hear this, Zero is close!/

It was Alia's voice suddenly breaking across the X-Hunter line for both Reploids.

X braced with his left buster. "Barrel, say nothing!"

Barrel clamped his jaw shut, reconfiguring his voice again, while X fired a couple more acid blasts.

They sizzled off Rhino, but after they did, Rhino charged at X... his colors fading back to normal.

And part of the rocky wall exploded out around Zero and Colonel the next second, both of them ripping past Tunnel Rhino with swiping blades.

Rhino braced his arms up, the energy blades sparking off his special armor, and his drill started to rev up for launch. "More the merrier!" he bellowed with a vicious tone.

A thruster-blast sounded, and everyone blinked, looking up.

X was twist-flipping over the battle, aiming down at Rhino from the apex of his arc. "Zero, Colonel, MOVE!" and he fired twice.

The two dashed backwards, Rhino firing his volley up at X, but it was around the acid globs. X madly twisted and writhed between the them mid-air... and Rhino's shoulders were hit.

Rhino gave the most awful wailing roar of pain and shock as the acid chewed down through is shoulders so fast it kept spilling on down, chewing into his legs as well.

In seconds, X landing off to one side, grimacing at his actions, Rhino fell to the ground as little more than a torso, roaring and writhing from the sensor overload.

Barrel made an ill groan. "Light's mercy, please put him in stasis..."

X started to run forward, but Zero and Colonel shot in, and stabbed down in unison... perfectly on either side of Rhino's personality drive and buffer system. It triggered emergency stasis, and the body shut off at last.

Colonel glanced around, taking note of the damage... and how little complaint the two wounded Reploids were making of their wounds.

Zero eyed X for longer, especially the mostly missing lower right arm. "...Looks like we got here just in time..."

X looked to Zero for a moment, then back down to Rhino. "Command codes. He'll have them. Shut down the defenses before someone else gets hurt?"

Zero raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Colonel, escort these two to teleport range, they need medical." He started to crouch down at Rhino.

"You'll get the drive and buffer to Dr. Cain, right?" Barrel had to check.

X glanced at him, but only that, moving to join Colonel.

Zero blinked up at Barrel. "...Of course, he's another victim of the infection, now that he's neutralized as a threat."

Barrel nodded, and moved to join X and Colonel himself, holding his severed shoulder mildly.

Zero watched them leave the cavern as he retrieved the codes from Rhino's cortex, and caught a glance back from X. A very analytical one.

What did we interrupt?


/X, how you healing up?/

He smiled physically. /Alia, good to hear your voice. And fine. I do need to ask you a favor, though./

Her tone was mildly softer, perhaps self conscious with the start of his response. /Go ahead?/

/Can you confirm Zero got the personality drive for Rhino to Dr. Cain, and that he's getting rebuilt to join the others? If I try to dig directly, it will just set off alarms./

Alia gave a soft sigh on the comm. /You need to learn to rest mentally as well as physically, you know that?/

/...This will help me rest easier...?/

/You're lucky I think you're cute, X. I'll update you when I have data./

/Thank you, Alia./

The line disconnected, and X looked down inside the repair pod, his arm being reconstructed from design plans inside his own systems. He was glad that his designs were so data-dense they couldn't be fully copied. But then, that inability to copy was probably the gap in the Reploid designs that allowed the virus to have such massive effects.

He looked up into nothing for a moment. Dr. Light protects me, but it's not a silver bullet. I have to hit the exact target... So I have to figure out how...


Neon Tiger looked down at his hand as he slowly flexed the digits. "...I actually feel like myself again..." Even with his clear relief, there was a hint of gravity pulling on his emotions.

Gravity Beetle glanced toward Tiger from leaning against a bulkhead in their secured quarters for the time being. "Just in time for the guilt to come crashing in?"

Blast Hornet lounged back, side-eyeing the two of them from a simple couch on the far side. "Virus puppetry is a very real threat to Reploids. I can only be made to feel so bad."

Tiger frowned over at Hornet, but didn't voice argument.

Blizzard Buffalo opened his optics to look across the room. He was apparently meditating in some way, folded down onto the floor, though his raw bulk kept him near equivalent height to the others. "My guilt is focused on my inability to fight from within effectively. However, it also showed me parts of myself I had been blind to. Perhaps by understanding them, I will not be so weak next time?"

And Acid Seahorse lifted his head from a table in the corner. "Preachy, but yeah, I was... shown parts of myself during that insanity." He looked down again. "I'm glad Depthcharge survived the fight."

At last, the door hissed, and they all straightened and stood to attention. Signas stepped down into the room, joined by Dex.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Signas greeted with an apparently sincere smile, glancing around with little nods to each of them.

"Appreciated, Commander, but may we be updated on our fate? Are we to be locked in the stockade pending review...?" Blizzard Buffalo responded directly.

Signas twisted his smile with a touch of wry humor. "I appreciate cutting to the heart of it, Blizzard Buffalo. After extensive testing..." he trailed as he turned to Dex and gestured out.

Dex stepped around the room, handing each Reploid a datapad.

Signas continued, "Dr. Cain's authority has been stamped on your full recoveries. You can choose to rejoin the Maverick Hunters, or retire to civilian life after enduring such trials. If you choose to retire, please understand that your weapon systems will be permanently deactivated or uninstalled."

It was clear that all of the recovered Mavericks were in some degree of shock as Dex returned to Signas' side. Signas didn't try to rush responses, standing by, glancing across them smoothly.

Neon Tiger finally lowered his copy of the datapad, and saluted. "Eager to serve, sir. More so than ever."

"Here, here," Gravity Beetle offered with a firm nod.

"I owe a debt," Acid Seahorse added, saluting.

Blizzard Buffalo simply saluted again.

Blast Hornet smirked, chuckling, and buzzed his wings a bit. "I don't do well without my tinkering. I'm still on board, sir."

Signas returned the saluted. "Welcome back to active duty, each of you. Please assist Dex with a general intel debrief. We understand memories are likely muddied, but if you happen to recall anything about Doppler forces or activity, it is obviously of paramount importance."

Dex simply moved back to the door, waiting calmly.

The Reploids all saluted again, and simply filed into Dex's wake without further comment.

Signas was left alone for a moment, and he bowed his head with a faint smile. "...Hopefully a taste of many similar redemptions."


X stood before the heavy-repair pod, a grim shadow hanging over his face all the while. Inside the pod, Tunnel Rhino was being rebuilt, his original frame recovered after a quarantine check. The acid-melted parts that still physically existed were being removed bit by bit, and replaced with clean, new components.

X etched it into his memory. He tried to actively imagine the agony Rhino had to suffer through with each piece he saw pulled away.

The simultaneous fact of hating what he'd done, and knowing he'd do it again out of necessity corroded his own core. All he could hope was to find a better solution next time... But would he?

X glanced down at one of his arms, configuring it into a buster for a moment of hateful contemplation... then reverting it as he looked back to Rhino for his vigil.

"I'm starting to realize I don't actually understand you."

X twitched his optics, but didn't turn. "Understanding someone is a rare gift, Zero. I'm not sure I fully understand anyone."

Zero drew up on X's right, watching Tunnel Rhino's rebuild as well. He was serious, but not as grim as the one on his left.

"We don't trust each other."

"No."

A sad, faint laugh echoed between them. At least they could be honest to some degree.

Zero cycled his respirator. "We know you're up to something off-book. It'll go badly for you after Dopplertown is resolved, assuming we succeed."

X tightened his optics, but didn't actually feel shock at the revelation. Zero's investigation was inevitably going to give them enough to act against him. "Fair enough. I appreciate the heads-up."

Zero side-glanced his old comrade. "I figured you were naive, but you play your cards so close to your chest, I don't actually know anymore." He looked ahead again. "If you give us a reason to trust you, we can probably stop wasting resources investigating you."

"And I can't, so I won't ask you to go against your ethics."

The response was instant, calm, and certain.

Zero frowned, glanced down, and more quietly asked, "What do you need their personality drives for, X?"

X tilted his head slowly, his optics scanning over Rhino's wounds even more intently for a moment. "...Hope."

Zero became both troubled and confused, rather than angry, and looked up to X directly. "Hope for what?"

X didn't look away from Rhino. "Hope that all this suffering has an end, and we can walk away from this fight without putting the entire world at risk."

"Don't you think that's something Dr. Cain and I would help with?"

X finally looked to Zero, a calm gravity to it that actually did send some ice up Zero's back. "You killed Mac, Zero. He was probably infected. You don't share my hope."

Zero's optics tightened slowly. "...And Dr. Cain?"

"Is so guilty about Mavericks existing, he will take desperate action to end it. Desperate action will kill innocent people."

"And you're not desperate?"

"I'm not perfect, Zero. I don't pretend to be. But for all the risks I've taken, I consider sharing my intel with you two too great a danger. I'm sorry."

Zero finally showed some anger, but he didn't lash out. He was mostly furious because he could tell X was sincere. X hated not trusting them. He didn't, but he hated it.

"...You know you're starting to look Maverick, right?"

X nodded calmly. "To you two, I have to."

Zero clenched his fists, but cycled his respirator, and started to turn. "...When you first started fighting, I was afraid you'd die. Too untrained, too naive. ...Now, I'm just afraid of what you're turning into."

X looked back to Rhino, his optics watering. "...So am I."

Zero paused, looking back to X with a form of shock. Then he turned grave. "...You know I'll kill you if you force me to, right?"

X just nodded. Without hesitation.

"Rather than just tell me?"

"...We're all putting our lives on the line for the future, Zero."

Zero sharpened his gaze. X had more carefully considered those words than the others. He shook his head, and then started for the door again. "I wish we could still be friends, X."

"...Me too."

The door shut in Zero's wake.


Author's Note: I greatly enjoyed watching Barrel fight for his old comrade so hard here. Barrel has always been one of the support-cast that I felt got too little activity despite being a fairly strong, stable individual. I enjoyed this chapter, and how it came together, in large part because of how it paid that off. This chapter also wraps up on some clarity for the reader on what's going on between Zero and X within this Chronicles. I know several readers don't necessarily like them being so antagonistic to each other, but I hope this demonstrated how my interpretation isn't completely dismissing their relationship, so much as putting it through believable paces based on their personalities.

Also! Since it was noted in a guest-review, I confirm that I spent less time describing the Maverick-controlled zones in this story for a few specific reasons: First and foremost, the cast was large enough that to give them all proper attention after establishing them, more of the page-time needed to be on the raw character actions without meaninglessly fluffing up word count. Second, the specific stages in the X3 game were MOSTLY much simpler and more straight forward (there are a few exceptions, partially including this chapter), and thus they didn't bare so much description beyond necessities for context. Third, I was considering fleshing out the environments more on a draft pass, but felt the chapters flowed properly without it. I may be mistaken!

Thanks for the reviews, favs, and views, folks! Always gives me a boost!