Epilogue: Time to rebuild.
It was three days since the battle in the simulators. Lifesaver and the other doctors had been busy through much of that time merely saving the hurry cases. Most of the cadets in the simulator were up and around, and had been treated with anti-viruses as a precaution. The Hunters had found that a dormant Maverick Virus could be treated, as it remained in one, easily deleted shape.
Zero had grabbed Ajax quickly for himself and some specialized training. Ajax's only comment on it was, "It's almost insulting how quickly Signas finished that transfer paperwork." Of course, X reflected, it wasn't as bad as Signas cackling madly, "I'm free! I'm free!" The simulator staff had been resolved of all responsibility, since the Sigma floating around the network had been installed before any of those technicians had joined, back when Middy was still running the mainframe.
Worse yet, news had broken out about the various problems the Maverick Hunters had recently with infected Hunters. Protests were starting to ring out for the remaining Repliforce soldiers to be dismantled, or at least have their programming wiped. Some wanted all the recent recruits wiped as well, and half had already had to be destroyed due to the Virus. Luckily, many who had gone through the simulator showed no sign of infection. A few had a dormant Virus, which was treated. Still, it was unlikely that those people would ever serve in combat roles.
The other four who had fought down Sigma, prior to X's arrival, were in a precarious position. Jazz had shown traces of the Virus, and no one was quite sure what happened in between Ajax awakening and the glitch signals that let X track down Sigma's main location. It was unlikely that the quartet knew themselves, as none of the four had regained conscious, and it had been a battle for their lives for a few hours. A few mechanics were still picking small pieces of shrapnel out of Laser Wolf's frame. They were probably going to have a few holes in their memories when they woke up, if they woke up.
The Hunters, now very jumpy that their own systems had turned against them, wanted them either destroyed or out of the Hunters, just in case. Zero was an experienced enough soldier to see things more than black or white, and was a bit more lenient than most, but even he was suggesting having buster-armed guards in the room. X wasn't quite sure what was going on either. Jazz's systems were a bit hard to trace, but the Maverick Virus had shown up clearly. Either she was very strongly Maverick, or it was a false signal.
Dr. Cain had recently turned in his retirement papers from overseeing Cain labs, sighting age issues. Cain had confided to X that he was weary of the fighting, and felt his own mistakes, starting from producing Reploids without a total understanding of Light's circuits, leading right up to the Repliforce notices that had set the two groups of supposed allies at each other's throats, and had nearly led to the destruction of the planet. A beach retirement party was being planned after the initial cleanup was done, which made sense, despite the level of readiness in the Hunter base. Getting everyone into the sunshine away from Maverick hunting would probably calm down even the most raging paranoiacs. Well, they'd probably be relieved once they heard who Dr. Cain's successor was, since on one knew who was taking over the Labs and Hunters.
Speaking of paranoiacs, thought X with amusement as Zero walked into the room. The Crimson Hunter felt responsible for not realizing what was going on earlier, as he had BEEN in the simulator room. Zero had very few failures on his list, but they tended to be large ones, which meant he tended to get to work at erasing them as soon as possible. Still, the fact that Zero had found some rather rough, 'get better NOW' cards, as Lifesaver had called them, only about a quarter in jest, would probably make the four feel better if, no when, they woke up. Zero dropped another card off on the table and asked, "Any change?"
X sighed and shook his head for a moment, looking at the rather depressing tale on the monitors. "We can tell on Alia and Laser Wolf that they're slowly inching towards consciousness, but we're not sure about the other two. The physical damage is about fixed, but who knows what could have happened to the software in there, even beyond the big problem they're facing. They're personalities could have fragmented completely. Even if not, there's probably emotional damage from the battle. Unfortunately, you know how hard it is to track certain older Reploids' circuits." Zero nodded in agreement. The medical staff HATED X and Zero's checkups, since they took about three times as long and got half as much information. Zero spent another moment looking at them before he started walking out.
"Well, I've got to get back to work. We've still got actual damage control to take care of, and all the spin-docs we have on retainer can't fix that. Call me if anything changes." Zero stomped off, barely allowing the door to open before him. Zero couldn't just stand around and let someone else do something. So, if Zero was sidelined for some reason, he usually made someone else miserable for the common good.
"I see recent events haven't changed Zero," said a sibilant voice from the air in amusement. X recognized the voice, which is why he didn't jump and start spraying the area with plasma. A distortion moved through the air above him before it resolved itself into a black bat Reploid. His wings had missile launchers placed on the ends, but otherwise he looked a great deal like a normal fruit bat, if normal fruit bats hit 6 feet high.
"Hello Lancer," X said calmly, "How was the Amazon?" The Commander of the Ninth Unit was an old acquaintance of X's, as was anyone who had managed to stay alive and intact long enough to make it up to command rank. They weren't especially close. Lancer suffered from claustrophobia, and hated indoors, even in areas as roomy as Maverick Hunter Headquarters. He did quite a bit of his commanding by remote teleconferencing and on-the-job training, typically in the mountains and national forests around Tokyo.
"The Amazon was hot and wet, and made hotter by the Maverick bases we found and destroyed, X, but nothing compared to the heat around here, or so I've heard," Lancer hissed in laughter. X chuckled, but only politely. Resolutely, Lancer continued, "In any case, I have the solution to your problems. They wanted to join the Ninth Unit, so let them?"
"Active duty? Has hanging upside down finally tipped your lid?" asked X incredulously.
"I'll ignore that," said Lancer coldly, "the Ninth operates out of the public eye. We're much like Zero's unit, stealth and speed, except we aren't equipped to fight enemies in populated areas. There is no better way to drop from the public eye than to go into the wilderness, and I've seen the tapes we salvaged from your debacle in the simulators. I definitely could use that kind of talent, especially since the Ninth is running under strength and this new batch of recruits you scraped together are probably going to resign."
"It wasn't my debacle," said X irritably. X ran the conversation through his mind again and asked, "What makes you so certain that these four won't quit?"
Lancer folded a wing and then began ticking off points from the pseudo-hand mounted at the joint, "Jazz and Bebop do not really have elsewhere to go, and never had, sadly enough. With the current stigma over them, someone who accepts them, cold-blooded as it sounds, will be accepted right back. Laser Wolf is Repliforce, and wants to regain his honor, which is probably more tainted, and Alia, though she isn't a warrior, didn't back down despite the face she soaked up more damage than any of them until the final battle. Plus, they chose to come to us. They'll be glad to see our offer still stands."
X mulled the point and quickly agreed with Lancer's reasoning. Direction would be important for recovering from such grievous injuries. X had been adrift prior to joining the Hunters, though the injury you could make a case for was lack of memory of his previous existence. Zero had fallen back into his Hunter's role almost desperately after his return from the dead, and X really couldn't see Zero doing anything else. X wished he could do almost anything else, but his reputation had grown to the point that no one else could think of taking on Sigma on their own. X held out his hand, and Lancer eagerly shook it, his smile full of fangs.
Meanwhile, Zero was back at his office and switched on the terminal at his desk, ready to see the latest report for rebuilding the simulator. Zero roared with anger with the screen came on: a full-sized profile portrait of Iris was all the screen showed. Zero ignited his saber in unthinking rage and held it over his head.
"I wouldn't do that, my angry young friend," came a voice from the screen. Zero found himself unable to move until he mentally willed the saber off. "That's much better. You may be pleased to note that this beautiful piece of artwork was finished only a few days ago. I'm sure you'd like to know where the original copy and the subject matter are, but that's for later. Consider this your reward for doing so well on that latest Maverick break. Keep up the good work, and good things will come your way." The picture of Iris wiped itself as Zero found himself able to move again. The normal desktop was displayed, with seemingly nothing amiss. Zero collapsed into the chair by his desk and stared at the screen for a long time into the night.
End Part I
Author's note.
To make up for the (13 pages when I wrote it out) long last story, here's a nice short piece to set the stage for next time. Dr. Cain's out, and the new leader hasn't been announced yet. The Hunters are facing serious bad press. (Heck, they face bad press in 6, as they seem really ineffectual for a bit, playing serious catch-up. Now imagine if everyone was still alive to complain about the various failures in 5....)
And on a side rant, 6 is one of the most evil Mega Man games I've ever played. Too many Nightmares, not enough Mavericks running around dropping health power-ups. And the Nightmares return even if the Reploids who are supposed to hand out the power-ups don't return! There's a reason it's called the 'nightmare system' folks, and it has nothing to do with plot... I think they should have brought back the golden armor from 3 if you're going to have a cheat, as it's energy restoring abilities would really come in handy. End side rant.
Why'd I mention 6? Since I played it, I found Alia eerily similar to Commander Yammark's, both in terms of Alia's function as a game warden and her special weapon abilities (the drones). Luckily I didn't think about her accidently lighting fires, or she probably would have the Reploid equivalent of size 20 concrete overshoes by now...
Yeah, so most of the characters are distracted, and Zero may about to become a puppet to some faction. X is depressed, but I get the feeling that's the way he usually is through these uprisings. I may have to add angst to the story description line.
Well, until next time, where we should get to see a nice beach party, and Dr. Cain making a cameo, rather than just being heard over the radio!
