Chapter 10: "Cause and Effect"
/Telling Zero as much as you did wasn't the best move, X.../ Alia muttered quietly into the X-Hunter line.
X climbed down through some of the wreckage of the jungle facility that Neon Tiger had used during his Maverick phase. /He already knew that much, it was a demonstration of trust because he told us about the Cain Anti-Virus./
/Which is incredibly hard to get more detail on without tripping alarms, especially with Iris involved now. She's good, X, I can't get around her reliably./
/Understood. I'm hoping Dr. Cain will offer an update I can move off of himself soon, but please keep checking your options./
/Of course, X. Just... be careful with Zero, alright? With that unsubtle investigation going on, you know he's the type that will nail you to the wall if he finds enough./
X slid down to an even surface, and moved up to a smooth, hardened wall. He ran his hands along it for a moment. /I know you're right, Alia. It was a risk I believed was needed at the time. ...We'll see if I was wrong./
Alia sighed at her console in HQ, pinching the bridge of her nose. How does me make feel guilty for being right!? /Okay... just stay safe out there? Vile's not going to quit, and neither are those two goons./
X smiled a little. /Copy that./
Once the signal cut off for the moment, he tightened his eyes at the smooth surface. He'd made note of it before, he knew a capsule was behind it, but now that he could actually take some time, the material really was remarkable. Dense, non-conductive, highly durable.
His colors shifted green, and his busters spawned plasma wheels from Wheel Gator's systems. He fired them, but they sparked and screamed against the material, leaving little more than glowing scratches on the surface once they ran out of power.
X nodded to himself. "You're dispersing the plasma almost instantly on impact. Clever. Explosives would have a similar problem if the shockwave wouldn't crack you, too." He thought for a moment, then winced as he remembered his fight with Volt Catfish.
Tornado Fang. The rocket drills from Tunnel Rhino were non-conductive, redirecting the heat outward to help melt through whatever it was drilling into.
Energy poured into X's frame as his colors shifted into darker. Instead of unleashing a huge barrage, the energy build focused down into his buster and empowered its reconfiguration. He now had a drill-arm very similar to Tunnel Rhino himself. X braced, lunged, and struck the wall with precise force.
The drill cut through the wall immediately, boring through it like sand. X shifted his stance, using the drill to tear out a tunnel he could move through, slowly easing forward step by step. After a couple of minutes, he finally punched through, stumbling a bit from the release of pressure.
Looking outward in mild surprise, X glanced across an odd chamber. His colors and buster reverted as he stepped up to the edge of the small platform he'd stepped onto, leading into a pit of hardened metal spikes before a far ledge with a capsule waiting atop it.
"...Really? That's it? A wall and a pit of spikes?"
X glanced down to his boots for a moment, then sprinted to the edge. A maximum thrust burst from his modified boots sent him sailing across the gap with no challenge. He even elevated upward a bit midflight, and then dropped to a crouch on the capsule's platform.
He had to take a moment, staring at the capsule sadly. How he wished this entire virus ordeal had already resolved. But...
X reached out, placing his hand on the capsule. It chimed, hissed, and the containment field flickered down into a hologram of Dr. Light once more.
"Megaman X, enter this capsule. It contains an upgrade for your weapon systems. Instead of charging separate volleys in your arms, you will be able to merge the discharges as you fire them, creating a tremendously enhanced energy wave. I trust you'll use it wisely."
X watched the hologram disperse, and bowed his head. "...I hope."
With a quick turn, he stepped into the capsule. Light streamed around him between the two ends of the capsule, and in a blinding flash, his arms were made new.
X stepped out of the capsule, looking down at his still-steaming arms. The new shape was considerably sharper, angular, with white, red, gold, and blue coloration similar to the boot upgrade. Frowning thoughtfully, X transformed both busters, and looked at them closely for a moment. The new systems were integrating and linking into his core programs.
Closing his eyes, X exhaled slowly. "This will be catastrophic when fired. ...But I think I know where to use it next."
Without actually firing the new weapons, he stepped forward, and vanished into a teleportation field.
Iris couldn't help being concerned. Conflicted between believing X was a good person, and agreeing with Zero that his behavior was at the very least worrying, seeing X's signal blip across most of the Doppler Town map was clearly not just a 'scouting mission.'
Gnawing on her lip for a moment, Iris glanced over toward Alia, who was coordinating with Dex to help several teams keep Crush Crawfish's base isolated while more forces built up.
Iris took a breath, and called softly, "Alia, sir? May I have a word?"
Alia blinked over at her, nodded, and shared a quick comment with Dex before stepping over smoothly. "What's wrong, Iris?" It was plain on the younger Reploid's face that she was bothered.
Iris pointed to her screen, tapped the display map, and showed the highlights of X's positions so far that day. Apparently he was visiting the wreckage of the power facility now.
Alia's expression fell somewhat, and she looked between the screen and Iris a few times. "...You're concerned about X's mission?"
Iris kept her voice soft, lower now. "What kind of scouting mission is this?"
Alia considered how to reply. Part of her wanted to pull rank, but crushing down on Iris' self-esteem like that was too cruel, as well as very likely to backfire in the end. Perhaps as honest as possible then. "...Do you trust that he's looking out for everyone?"
Iris blinked, and then glanced down after a moment. She certainly hoped so after all she'd seen, but... certainty was beyond her means.
Alia frowned, but mostly just from sadness. Zero had gotten to her heavily then. "...Report anything you wish to higher up the chain, Iris, but I'm not concerned by that mission myself. Clear enough?" Her tone remained calm and amicable.
Iris looked up again to nod subtly, showing a little smile. "Thank you, sir."
Alia smiled back, patted Iris' shoulder, and moved back to work with Dex.
Iris ducked her head, almost feeling Signas glancing her way afterward. Looking down, she realized her hands were shaking. She clenched them together, cycled her respirator, and tried to focus on her other work for the moment.
X stepped down onto some of the wreckage from the power facility. The entire area looked like a junkyard now, from the collapse of the towers, to the shattered flooring of the massive underground chamber that had opened up for the battle.
Nodding to himself, X swept one hand slowly over the ground before him. His internal systems confirmed that a Light-capsule was underneath. He'd sensed it before, of course, all four pods had been clear to him since the start of this fiasco, but now he finally had a moment to really analyze them.
And now, this one was buried under tons of metal, rock, and plastic.
With closed eyes, X started to charge, plasma swirling out of the air and along his arms, up to his shoulders, his torso, up over his crown and down to his boots. The power his body could draw out of the environment was immense, and had only grown more so with all of Light's upgrades and support.
X was afraid of his own power, and it only grew with each step of this upgrade process as well. It was in these moments that he really understood why anyone would be terrified of him, of mavericks, of all Reploids.
This was why he couldn't be enraged by Dr. Cain. Could you blame anyone for being afraid of someone who could possibly wipe out the planet with enough time?
X's colors shifted, purple and gray tones dominating his frame, and he slowly drew one buster skyward.
/Signas, Alia, you're about to register a gravity surge. It's me./
/A... what?/ Alia had to return on the X-Hunter line in understandably concerned confusion.
/Even Gravity Beetle's weapon system shouldn't cause enough to.../ Signas trailed off as X calmly replied.
/I've gotten upgrades. You'll detect this./
/...Copy,/ Signas returned, Alia conspicuously quiet.
And X opened his eyes before firing upward.
It wasn't just a gravity generator pod that released. The air warped, the light around the area paled, then darkened, and a swirled mass of catastrophic force ripped skyward... only to halt about fifteen meters up.
And then it brought the ground with it.
Massive girders, dead power lines, debris of all shapes and sizes fell up, swirling and crashing together, some crunching into single masses from the force of the gravity well that had been fired.
Slowly and surely, the capsule beneath was unburied... and somehow unaffected by the pull.
An alert had gone off at HQ, but it was quickly dismissed by Signas... that just didn't stop everyone from staring at any data they had for what was going on. Alia, Dex, and Iris were all equally stunned by the raw forces registering to their sensors.
Gravity Beetle hurried into the command center, glanced around, and then ran to Alia's station, his optics widening at the results.
"...I needed an entire facility to create that effect..."
Alia nodded slowly. "...I thought that was the only way to do something of that scale..."
Even Signas was watching, troubled in silence. This was power on a different level entirely. He'd respected X's power on the field since he'd taken on his new name, but this time it was... frightening.
Finally, Zero and Colonel ran into the command center as well, saw the mood, and then hurried to Iris' station with Alia's already crowded.
Zero slowly clenched a fist as he realized what the data was displaying. "...This is accurate?" he muttered softly.
Iris just nodded, clearly stunned silent as well.
Colonel folded his arms. "My hesitation regarding our tasking is gone, sir," he added quietly.
Zero nodded slowly this time, and then looked over to Signas. "Status report, please?"
Signas looked over, "Unsure, sir. X's scouting mission wouldn't call for this display, as far as I am aware. We also don't detect any threats, or civilians, in that region."
Zero opted for the direct approach, and touched his audio receptor. "X, do you copy?"
"Loud and clear," X's voice returned, though background noise of crashing metal and rock was still obvious.
"Status report?"
"Clearing debris to check for something my sensors picked up. Just verifying there's no lingering threat."
Zero tightened his eyes, but didn't push it here. Not yet. "Copy, you gave us a scare."
"Sorry about that. Gravity flux will be over shortly."
Zero cut the line, and rubbed at his chin. "Upgrades, huh...?"
X stepped down to the capsule as debris started to rain back down further away. At his touch, it opened, and Light's hologram returned.
"Megaman X, enter this capsule. It will upgrade your armor and defense systems, converting incoming energy damage and kinetic force into a shield generator discharge. It should greatly reduce the threat of smaller scale weapons against you, but please remain careful."
X took a breath. At least it was a shield, rather than another super-weapon. He stepped into the capsule, and closed his eyes as the light washed over his frame once again.
X stood in the mines of what had been Tunnel Rhino's facility, looking up at a carefully engineered trap of rubble and boulders ready to come tumbling down on whatever tried to break through it from below.
His new armor glistened even in the dim light. He was more angular, his shoulder guards more pronounced, and the red, white, blue colors sharply spread over his entire frame other than his head now.
X's eyes tightened as he considered the trap. He knew the capsule was above, and this trap was likely engineered just for him, so the tonnage and spread would be... overboard.
His brow creased as he remembered something. Volt Catfish, unleashing a shockwave of electromagnetic power with a tremendous punch to the flooring.
Taking a few moments, X closed his eyes and ran system checks on his weapon system upgrades from the recent battles. Combined with his new body upgrades, he could mimic the raw force and discharge, though with significantly more build up required.
Nodding a little, X began to rush over with power once again, his colors snapping to purples and greens.
Once the energy reached full charge, X suddenly roared, and slammed his fist down into the ground. All of the power ripped out through the ground in a shockwave mingled with electromagnetic destruction... soon matched by the thunderous rumble throughout the cavern of the mine.
The trap crashed apart, falling down harmlessly ahead of X, as if the cavern was raining down from a storm, and he knelt under an awning out of its path.
As the rubble finally calmed, the air still filled with dust, X slipped, dashed, and hopped across boulders, rising up into the hidden cavern that was holding the capsule.
Taking a breath, X stepped up, and touched it like the others.
Dr. Light's hologram reappeared, of course.
"Megaman X, enter this capsule. This is a massive sensor-system upgrade. To make full use of it will require your entire attention. When active, it will use seismic, ultrasonic, thermal, and radioactive feedback systems to scan, map, and navigate the entire area around you. ...I built this so you could always find your way, even in the darkest hour."
X blinked at the shift in tone with that last sentence, then found himself smiling gently. "...Thank you."
This time the hologram nodded, and winked off.
X bowed his head... then stepped up into the capsule as the light began to rush around him once again.
Dr. Cain actually stood in the command center of HQ for once, staring rigidly down at the master display with Signas and Zero. Iris, Dex, and Alia were awkwardly trying to keep working while eavesdropping intently.
"...X caused all of these disruptions? Alone?"
Signas nodded simply. He couldn't even try to hide these sensor anomalies, so there was no reason to try to.
Zero did reply, "He wasn't kidding about finding upgrades."
Dr. Cain clenched his jaw, and then looked over. "Alia, where is he n-?"
Everyone paused, looking back as the command center doors opened... and revealed a barely recognizable X. Other than his face, he was transformed into a futuristic knight in armor in brilliant colors now.
"Right here, Dr. Cain," X answered for himself as he moved closer. His body made smoother, softer sounds now, clearly using new systems even for simple motion. He stood at attention. "Scouting mission complete, sir," was all he added for Signas.
Dr. Cain stormed over, cane thumping, "My lab. Now."
X didn't hesitate to turn into Dr. Cain's wake, leaving everyone else watching in varying degrees of shock.
Alia snapped a glance to Signas, and all he did was shake his head a little. X would have to handle this blow-up alone. The whole team would be exposed if they tried to protect him after his display...
X simply remained grave, though calm, as Dr. Cain stormed around to his desk to face him across it.
"And you wonder why we look on your actions with such suspicion!?" the human started sharply, though clearly desperate as much as angry. "The council is going to have a field day with this! One Reploid generating those anomalies can't be ignored, X!"
X tilted his head slightly. "Are you saying that the council is calling for my detainment, Doctor?"
Dr. Cain pressed his lips into a line. "Not at this time, no. But you make a lot of people nervous, X. I want to trust that you're still the good-hearted robot I woke up from that first capsule, but you are scaring me, X!"
X only then softened his expression, giving Dr. Cain a sympathetic look. "Do you really think I'm going to harm innocent people, Dr. Cain?"
Dr. Cain snapped one hand out to the side, pointing off generally. "You just generated a low-intensity singularity without a power-facility to support the influx! A tremor that registered on the Richter scale! That kind of power is inherently terrifying, X!"
"So you don't trust me as long as I can do those things, you mean?"
It stopped Dr. Cain enough for them to stare across at each other for a moment.
Dr. Cain finally exhaled. "It means the council is watching all the more closely. I'm going to have to accelerate my own plans, and that is not good for anyone!"
X's eyes tightened. "Your plans?"
Dr. Cain glanced down, settling his hands on his cane again. "I have developed an anti-virus for the Sigma infection. It is... destructive to the host, but it works. To calm the council down, I had to make a presentation on it."
X slowly tightened his fists. "Destructive to the host?" His pained outrage at Dr. Cain's choice only helped him hide that he already heard some of this from Zero. At least how to get information about it had been solved for him...
Dr. Cain reached down, touching a console control. A holoscreen manifested near X, showing the data Dr. Cain had tried to show Zero.
X stared at it, his eyes widening for a moment. At last, he slowly spoke as he looked over the data, "It's ingenious and simple. You present dummy personality algorithms in such rapid sequence and high numbers that it overclocks the host processor as the virus tries to adapt and control them. The processor burns out, destroying the host mechanism." He slowly looked up to Dr. Cain. "…You're killing the host to stop the plague."
Dr. Cain shivered with frustration, especially with X echoing Zero so closely. "This is the only way to stop a panic, to keep the council from rounding all Reploids up. If we tell the world we have a way to stop a Maverick dead in its tracks, they won't feel like every Reploid has to be shut down!"
"By holding a guillotine over every Reploid's neck?"
Dr. Cain grew quiet.
X pointed at the screen. "This isn't a solution. It's genocide. And it's precisely what I knew you would do. Do you still wonder why I keep some things from you, Dr. Cain?"
Dr. Cain glared up at X.
"I'm dedicated to ending the Maverick threat without the Reploids being wiped out for the sake of it."
Dr. Cain's composure finally snapped at the implication of the statement. "Do you truly think me genocidal!?"
X's voice was horrifyingly calm as it cut across in response, "I think you underestimate how far you'll push your boundaries because of guilt."
Dr. Cain's eyes widened. He wanted to snap in further outrage, but a chill also ran up his spine at being called out so.
"The human governments want an army just to hunt Mavericks down. Despite the risk of that backfiring so astonishingly. Your anti-virus designs are desperate and rushed. You are using scorched earth tactics. Here and now."
Dr. Cain bowed his head, but stared across at X with a dark, harrowed gaze. "And you've wiped out dozens of Mavericks yourself manually. Do you really fault my effort to destroy them without risking innocent Reploids who are willing to die to protect everyone else?"
The strange anger that etched across X's features confused Dr. Cain for a moment. It wasn't offense. It wasn't aimed at Cain himself. It was almost as if X had been reminded of something that enraged him.
At length, X only replied, "As I said, I won't fault you for doing what you believe is right."
Dr. Cain sincerely snapped at last, "You clearly have a reason to believe I am wrong! Why won't you share it!?"
"Because I'm more afraid of what you'll do, if you have it."
Dr. Cain clenched his jaw, but his eyes watered as well. "...You must think very poorly of me."
X shook his head slowly, his eyes also watering in social simulation, despite his grave expression. "I respect how desperately you want to make amends. And the solution is long term. I can't change your nature, Dr. Cain, it would be dangerously arrogant to assume I can."
"So I'm simply too desperate to be relied upon?"
"...In much cruder terms, yes."
Dr. Cain's hands trembled on the cane again, his eyes falling to his desk in pained anger. "...You can expect an inquiry to begin once Doppler Town is secured. Your behavior has garnered too much attention. Not only the anomalies, but suspicious autopsy documentation from your targets. It was all I could do to stop you from being locked up."
X tightened his eyes at the list of items, but then calmed his expression, and saluted. "Understood, sir."
He left without further pause, though once the doors sealed in his wake, both had silent tears falling down their faces.
Zero, Colonel, and Iris entered Dr. Cain's office with a bit of trepidation a short time later. Dr. Cain nodded to them as they gathered in a line, mostly to calm Colonel's salute so he could stand at-ease.
"I wanted to give you, as Unit 00, an important update on a few items."
All three remained attentive.
"The council is alarmed by X's behavior, especially in combination with your previous findings," he gave a little nod to Iris, who wilted slightly rather than feeling the praise. Dr. Cain frowned a bit, but continued, "An inquiry will be launched once the Doppler Town matter has been settled safely. There's no point benching an effective Hunter during a crisis, but once we have some peace... he can't be overlooked any longer."
Zero frowned, but nodded. He tried to prevent X from facing this...
Colonel seemed satisfied, giving a sharper nod.
Iris, however, fidgeted with her hands, clearly feeling guilt over this turn of events.
Dr. Cain noted the varied reactions, and then continued again, "The... ahem, Cain Anti-Virus, is going to be deployed experimentally very soon. Zero, I'd like to discuss options with you on that to... keep things on balance."
Zero raised an eyebrow, and then nodded again.
"And... it appears the council is also too alarmed for me to talk them out of their Reploid Defense Force concept. Early phases of its creation are beginning."
Zero frowned, but Colonel brightened up a bit.
"They are moving forward with a proper defense force rather than hunter teams?"
His curiosity surprised most of everyone present. Dr. Cain blinked, then nodded. "Exactly so, Colonel. You... are interested?"
"Very, sir, if my duties to Unit 00 can spare me."
Zero blinked this time. He shrewdly glanced to Iris, who seemed alarmed, and then back to Dr. Cain. "Unit 00 could still use him for now, at the very least, if my preference is to be noted, Doc."
Dr. Cain nodded. "For now, continue as you are, but your interest is noted as well, Colonel."
Colonel saluted, not seeming angry.
"That's all I had for you. Zero, we can discuss the anti-virus, you two can return to your hunter-duties."
Iris bowed, Colonel saluted, and they left the two alone.
Zero waited for the door to shut before bowing his head, commenting with eyes closed, "So X scared the wits out of you, then?"
"And the entire council."
Zero nodded, mostly to himself. "So... what options do we have?"
X stood at one end of the X-Hunter bunker, nodding slowly as a crowd gathered and focused in varying degrees of concern. Airstrike, Inferno, Deepfreeze, and Overload lingered near the main entry; Barrel, Depthcharge, Quickman, and Shimmer were spread along the wall opposite to X; Signas and Alia were seated near the center; Tripwire, Spikesaw, Turbo, and Snapvice were all loosely seated or leaning off to X's right; Pyrostrike, Blast Squirrel, Mapteron, and Warp Turtle stood by closer to X.
"I know it's dangerous to have all of us gather, but this bore the risk," X began seriously, looking across his whole team. "Dr. Cain has lost confidence in me to the point that an inquiry will be launched once Doppler Town is secure. The suspicious absence of personality drives and system buffers from each of your cases in addition to my... display of power recovering my upgrades made the council to scared not to take action. I will be detained pending the investigation, which means that Wily's virus will be all the more likely to try something truly devastating."
A pall fell over the team, Alia especially glancing down with deeply conflicted emotions.
Signas frowned thoughtfully, "You don't intend to subvert Dr. Cain's efforts?"
"If I thought that would meaningfully help defeat the virus, I would, but it would only betray him worse. Instead, I have a proposal for all of you."
Surprised intrigue filled the room, attention fully returning from the various thoughtful reveries.
X explained, "Doppler Town is the... 'safest' the virus has ever played its hand yet. Indirect infections, highly secretive direct agents between ambush strikes, even attempting to weaponize Dr. Light's equipment against me. ...I believe if the virus thinks I've been undermined by my allies, it will become more brazen. Higher risk... for both sides."
Shimmer angled his head back. "Let him overextend, then bleed him?"
X clarified, "Then end the infection threat. Permanently."
Signas voiced the question immediately on everyone's minds. "How?"
X rubbed along his chin slowly. "I've been working on a proper anti-virus. It is... complex, immobile because of it, but it would also require the core nexus of the infection to actually work. Any sub-strain or any surviving component would allow for mutation-coding that would render my anti-virus moot."
Shocked silence reigned for a few moments.
Warp Turtle finally spoke, "How on earth did you craft an anti-virus of the complexity required?"
X cringed a bit. "Let's say I had Dr. Light's help. ...I ...request you allow me to be vague beyond that."
Spikesaw and Quickman seemed the most suspicious, but still accepting. No one actually tried to press X on the matter.
"One of the capsules supplied an insight?" Alia finally tried to confirm, just out of instinct.
X glanced aside for a moment, then nodded. "That's as good a way to explain it as any, yes." He cycled his respirator, and then added, "Obviously, this is demanding a great deal of all of you. I can't command what you will do during the inquiry. I would be grateful for any help you offer, but I am essentially abandoning you for the sake of this... tactic."
He seemed truly guilty. Glancing down, anxious... sad.
Airstrike folded his arms simply. "Do you really think any of us are going to quit just because you finally take a damn vacation?"
Almost everyone burst with surprised chuckles or giggles, even X huffing a wan laugh, rubbing the back of his helmet.
"...I'm honored to work with each of you," X managed quietly after the humor settled a moment.
Signas stood straighter to give a salute. X started to return it, but not before the entire room straightened to share it. X's weren't the only damp optics for the trust shared in that moment.
Signas took a moment to finally prompt, "With that settled, we should disperse out in groups of two or three to mitigate risk, and we should get back to things quickly."
X nodded.
The X-Hunters started to disperse out of the hideout, but X caught Alia's eye, and softly nodded to ask if she'd come closer.
Curious and concerned, she came over directly.
"Can we speak privately for a moment?" X asked in a soft whisper.
Alia saw how worried he was, even afraid. She pouted somewhat, touched his arm, and nodded.
Author's Note: Oddly enough, this was probably the hardest chapter to get written in the entire series so far. The reason is because this conversation in the final scene will actually serve as a threading line throughout the rest of the series (stories 4 and 5, to be clear). I've had to check, re-check, and tweak bits and pieces of it multiple times to make sure it affirms accurate information, without specifying so much that I have no flex for issues that might appear during the creation of 4 and 5. (Something always goes wrong, it's just a question of how you manage it)
The flipside of this, is that the chapter also contains moments I've been wanting to get into the story since early phases of chronicle 1. Immensely satisfying to finally get them onto the page and out to the reader!
