Chapter VII - Sigma Revisited
"No! This cannot be!"
"Then what is, Doc?"
"He has been destroyed, I made sure of that. Yet the evidence of his existence is overwhelming."
"I know what you mean. Me and X have gotten rid of him five times already, at least."
"Let me see that," said a new voice.
Dr. Doppler and Zero were going over the results of Bass's tests. The dark armored Hunter was crouched in a corner, apparently asleep, but closer examination revealed that he was de-activated at the moment. The new person speaking was Dr. Cain, who had just walked into the room.
Zero jumped a bit into the air at the sudden interruption. "Whoa, don't do that. You startled me."
Cain was very impatient. He had just been speaking with X about the recent Maverick revolt and X immediately thought Sigma was behind it all. Being who he was, it was impossible to convince X that he could have been mistaken.
"Just let me see that data."
"Okay, sir," replied Zero. "Doppler, could you display Bass's Maverick infection results?"
"That's Dr. Doppler," sighed the computer as a close-up of Bass's memory banks appeared on screen.
"That's interesting. I don't recognize that pattern of programming," muttered Cain as he stroked his abnormally large beard. "Dr. Doppler, would you please do a search for the program in cluster MD-10132?"
"I've been telling Zero for the past half hour, that's Sigma's program."
"And I know for a fact that about half of that is wrong for the Virus. See that right there? Cain could never have understood that enough when Sigma was built to put it in."
"Sigma can alter his program to suit his needs. He wasn't originally compatible with the Kaiser Body I designed, so he changed his operating parameters."
"This is too complex. That much alteration would destroy Sigma entirely . . ."
The arguing went on for about ten minutes before Dr. Cain lost his temper.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP!" yelled the enraged scientist. "How can we get anything done when the two of you are constantly bickering about computer code!?! Just be quiet for a minute so I can study this!"
After what seemed like hours Dr. Cain looked away from the schematics.
"This appears to be the original program for the Maverick Virus."
"Don't you mean Sigma Virus?" inquired Zero?
Cain turned his attention back to the screen. "No, Zero, I mean Maverick Virus. When you infected Sigma, the file altered itself to cope with a stronger host. Eventually Sigma managed to further change the Virus to help in his conquest. In doing so, it became something else entirely. The program we call the Sigma Virus. Tell me if this gets repetitive."
Zero, who had become bored during Cain's endless droning, had fallen asleep and began to snore loudly. "Yeah, yeah . . . I like cookies . . . Back up the truck," he said in his sleep.
Cain walked over to the red Reploid and whapped him sharply on the head with his cane. "Wake up! I need you to look at this," ordered Cain as he turned around. "Dr. Doppler, do you have that file?"
"Yes, sir. Here it is," answered the robot scientist as another file was displayed beneath the first.
"Thank you, Doctor," said Cain as he pointed out various sections of the two viruses to Zero. "This here is what causes the Reploids to become berserk, but notice how in the more recent version that code is different. It allows those infected to think clearly, with the exception that they want to eliminate the human race."
"Interesting, but hoe does this affect me?" question Zero, beginning to yawn.
"Doppler's anti-virus was designed to capture the Maverick Virus, but Sigma had changed the program to far, which explains why he escaped. Our friend Bass is a living carrier of the virus, which means that I may be able to produce a more effective antidote for the Sigma, which could, in theory, bring him back to our side."
X had just stepped into the room at this point and heard the last sentence of Dr. Cain's brief speech. The prospect of having Sigma as a good guy was unbelievable, and X passed out again as his logic comprehension circuits overloaded.
"No! This cannot be!"
"Then what is, Doc?"
"He has been destroyed, I made sure of that. Yet the evidence of his existence is overwhelming."
"I know what you mean. Me and X have gotten rid of him five times already, at least."
"Let me see that," said a new voice.
Dr. Doppler and Zero were going over the results of Bass's tests. The dark armored Hunter was crouched in a corner, apparently asleep, but closer examination revealed that he was de-activated at the moment. The new person speaking was Dr. Cain, who had just walked into the room.
Zero jumped a bit into the air at the sudden interruption. "Whoa, don't do that. You startled me."
Cain was very impatient. He had just been speaking with X about the recent Maverick revolt and X immediately thought Sigma was behind it all. Being who he was, it was impossible to convince X that he could have been mistaken.
"Just let me see that data."
"Okay, sir," replied Zero. "Doppler, could you display Bass's Maverick infection results?"
"That's Dr. Doppler," sighed the computer as a close-up of Bass's memory banks appeared on screen.
"That's interesting. I don't recognize that pattern of programming," muttered Cain as he stroked his abnormally large beard. "Dr. Doppler, would you please do a search for the program in cluster MD-10132?"
"I've been telling Zero for the past half hour, that's Sigma's program."
"And I know for a fact that about half of that is wrong for the Virus. See that right there? Cain could never have understood that enough when Sigma was built to put it in."
"Sigma can alter his program to suit his needs. He wasn't originally compatible with the Kaiser Body I designed, so he changed his operating parameters."
"This is too complex. That much alteration would destroy Sigma entirely . . ."
The arguing went on for about ten minutes before Dr. Cain lost his temper.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP!" yelled the enraged scientist. "How can we get anything done when the two of you are constantly bickering about computer code!?! Just be quiet for a minute so I can study this!"
After what seemed like hours Dr. Cain looked away from the schematics.
"This appears to be the original program for the Maverick Virus."
"Don't you mean Sigma Virus?" inquired Zero?
Cain turned his attention back to the screen. "No, Zero, I mean Maverick Virus. When you infected Sigma, the file altered itself to cope with a stronger host. Eventually Sigma managed to further change the Virus to help in his conquest. In doing so, it became something else entirely. The program we call the Sigma Virus. Tell me if this gets repetitive."
Zero, who had become bored during Cain's endless droning, had fallen asleep and began to snore loudly. "Yeah, yeah . . . I like cookies . . . Back up the truck," he said in his sleep.
Cain walked over to the red Reploid and whapped him sharply on the head with his cane. "Wake up! I need you to look at this," ordered Cain as he turned around. "Dr. Doppler, do you have that file?"
"Yes, sir. Here it is," answered the robot scientist as another file was displayed beneath the first.
"Thank you, Doctor," said Cain as he pointed out various sections of the two viruses to Zero. "This here is what causes the Reploids to become berserk, but notice how in the more recent version that code is different. It allows those infected to think clearly, with the exception that they want to eliminate the human race."
"Interesting, but hoe does this affect me?" question Zero, beginning to yawn.
"Doppler's anti-virus was designed to capture the Maverick Virus, but Sigma had changed the program to far, which explains why he escaped. Our friend Bass is a living carrier of the virus, which means that I may be able to produce a more effective antidote for the Sigma, which could, in theory, bring him back to our side."
X had just stepped into the room at this point and heard the last sentence of Dr. Cain's brief speech. The prospect of having Sigma as a good guy was unbelievable, and X passed out again as his logic comprehension circuits overloaded.