BACKLASH
The Aftermath of War
Prologue
The Year is 20XX…
Almost a year ago, a little known but well respected archeologist named Doctor James Cain made a fascinating discovery in the wilds of Japan, near the region of Mount Fuji that had been covered in ash and dirt for decades. There, he found the lost lab of the famed robotics genius, Doctor Thomas Xavier Light. And within that ruined structure rested the last great legacy of the esteemed doctor: his final work, the goal that he had sought all of his life to create.
A fully self aware, sentient robot, capable of making his own decisions without any prior programming other than basic speech and motor functions. His name was Mega Man X.
Cain, and the world, would be stunned by the lost work of Light. Soon, Cain had constructed his own robot, naming it Cancer. Like X, Cancer was fully self-aware. Cain had just created the first in a new line of robots, called Replicant Androids, or Repiloids, for short. The world was stunned, and soon repiloids were being produced by the thousands.
Like their now primitive ancestors before them, repiloids were assigned tasks too dangerous and risky for humans to carry out, and also those tasks that were deemed too delicate and sensitive for even the most advanced of robots. By comparison, even the famed Rock – the robotic hero Mega Man, to the world – would seem almost pathetic to even the lower end repiloids.
However, these new technological offspring proved to be more than mere workers and grunts. Soon, many had established themselves as accomplished artists, writers, mechanics, pilots – some people felt that they were out of a job. Indeed, many were; like the mass immigration to the United States during the turn of the 19th century, these newcomers were willing – and were fully capable of – working for longer periods of time, often with just as much pay, and sometimes even less.
And, just like the problems that faced the immigrants of the early 1900's, the repiloids faced much discrimination. Views on just what repiloids were varied; some felt that they were just another breed of robots, built to serve humanity's wants and needs as we saw fit. Others felt that they were the first of a new chapter in human history, the first self-aware beings to walk the Earth aside from humans. And still others felt that they were a menace, a threat to the carefully balanced peace that had been tenaciously built up since the "Wily Wars" of the days of 20XX.
Prejudice and a new breed of racial hatred spread across the globe. Almost everywhere they went, the newcomers were forced to endure the awful price of being different. Congress's and Parliament's and National Council's in almost every nation argued and debated endlessly about what to do about the "Repiloid Issue." In some countries, and in some specific regions, these "metal men" managed to find some degree of tolerance. In Japan, where centuries of tradition demanded acting kindly to strangers, the repiloids found a new home (it didn't hurt that Dr. Light had lived there for many years, eventually dying there at a very old age). In the United States, especially in California, New York, and much of the Northern Midwest, these newcomers were able to live without much hassle. In Great Briton, too, new homes were to found. In scattered regions across Europe, repliloids managed to live in peace with humans. Even (or especially?) in the harsh regions of the Middle East, these new people who were all too often very willing to earn their keep, were welcome.
Despite a slowly growing acceptance of this new breed of self-aware people, dissent and impatience was quickly growing among the repiloids. Soon, organized protests, revolts, and even paramilitary action was taken by some repiloid extremist groups. An American newspaper soon found a new name for these revolting repiloids: Mavericks. The name stuck, and soon, any repiloid found to be "irregular" was either quickly turned into a drone, or eliminated and broken down into scrap, their control chip – the thing that gave them their awareness, their personalities - burned to slag.
Despite this, many companies still continued to produce repiloids unsupervised, adding to the potential of a full-scale Maverick Revolt. It was about this time that a revolt did happen, ironically led by a repiloid created by the good doctor Cain; a repiloid who had, at first, led the long hard fight against the Irregulars. The Maverick's name was Sigma.
Sigma proceeded to lay waste to city after city, leveling many urban and industrial centers. Millions of humans died at his hands, and thousands of Repiloids were executed for not joining Sigma's genocidal cause. After only a week, it had become clear that it was going to take more than just the UN military to stop this monster. It was going to take a hero.
Although Mega Man X was a stark pacifist, he, too, was soon drawn into the conflict, finally activating the battle systems his creator had left for him. Utilizing the armor left for him by the late Dr. Light, X went forth with his mysterious friend Zero, and, at the cost of Zero's life, managed to stop Sigma.
Despite Sigma's demise, Irregular's around the world continued to battle against the Human forces. It was also discovered that Sigma was, in fact, still alive, and plotting to launch another was against the humans.
X Stopped him a second time, and also managed to revive his lost friend Zero. Still, Sigma appeared four more times, thanks to the aid of the newly discovered Maverick Virus – a portable and infectious repiloid virus that infects the being with said virus, with three simple commands: DESTROY, INFECT, and SURVIVE.
It fell to X and Zero to stop Sigma, and finally bring about peace. With this accomplished, and Sigma (assuredly) killed, X and Zero set about regaining their pasts, and retiring to live in peace (well, X did, anyway. Zero continued to hunt any Maverick that he hadn't killed yet).
But, during those hash years of the Maverick Wars, the lives of millions upon millions were ruined, human and repiloid alike. This is the story of one particular repiloid, named Doan…