Chapter VIII - The Truth Takes Flight
"Maybe X is the one who needs to be released from the Hunters," said Zero as he rushed over to the blue robot who was no unconscious on the ground.
"No, that won't help, Zero. The last thing we need is to discharge one of our best," said Cain as he hurried after Zero. "Dr. Doppler, could you re-activate the diagnostic program. We need to scan X for possible damage to his circuitry."
"Yes, sir," replied Doppler.
About a half-hour later, X was on the scanner, still out cold. Cain had removed X's helmet and artificial skin, and was attaching numerous wires to ports in X's plate metal skull. Doppler was on a nearby computer screen going over X's schematics.
"This doesn't make any sense. It seems that X's logic circuits blew out," muttered Doppler, "but there's no explanation why."
"When did X enter the room?" asked Cain.
"When we were talking about the antidote. Why do you ask?" replied Zero.
"So he heard us saying we could reprogram Sigma?"
"It would seem so."
"That would explain it. X didn't hear the whole conversation, just the bit about Sigma returning to the Hunters. It made no sense what-so-ever to him, so his circuits blew."
"Yes, that would make sense."
"It depends whose perspective your taking. Dang!"
At that moment Cain hadn't been paying attention to what he was doing and got a zap from X's generator. Luckily, he hit a part of X that needed very little energy, so he didn't much of a shock.
"There, he's hooked up. Run the diagnostic, Dr. Doppler," ordered Cain as he sucked on his now bright red finger.
"Okay," said Doppler.
The wires started to glow brightly as energy was transferred from X to the computer. Copies of self-diagnostics appeared on some monitors while scans of programs began to glow on others. Cain looked at all of the screens until he suddenly let out a brief yelp of surprise.
"Doppler," Dr. Cain yelled, "Get Zero and Bass in here at once."
"What is that?"
"How should I know?"
"Maybe it's a virus."
"No, it can't be."
"Not one that we know of, at least."
"SHUT UP!"
Dr. Cain was showing the others what he found in X's program. Unfortunately, they were all jumping to conclusions and making up theories about what the defect could be. After trying to get a word in edgewise multiple times, Cain had gotten very upset and started shouting.
"Listen up, already," said the doctor as he glared at everyone to maintain silence. "I've figured out what this is, and I would gladly tell you if only you could stay quiet for a moment."
By now Zero, Bass, and Doppler were all paying attention to Cain.
"This odd formation is not a virus. It appears to be the antidote."
"What!?!" yelled the three Reploids.
"It's true. I copied the program and inserted it into a Maverick that we have in custody. Within minutes he regained his composure and was willing to talk to us, and there was no trace of any viruses."
"How did that happen?" asked Bass.
"Well, Bass, it seems that upon meeting you, X's system recognized an enemy and started producing antibodies to protect itself. That's why X never trusted you as much as even Doppler. He somehow knew that you were dangerous to him in some way. My guess would be possible transference of the virus."
"Yeah, I guess," said Bass as he sat down at one of the terminals. "But I was never going to hurt him, so why did he start producing the antidote. I'm sure that Doctor Light didn't know that Wily was creating me."
"I might know. When I've run diagnostics in the past, I sometimes found memory files that were decades old, ones that could never have occured because of how little time has passed since he came out of the capsule. This leads me to believe that X is not just built to resemble the original MegaMan, but is the actual unit himself. It would explain how he reacted to you. When Zero attacked Light's lab X was already in stasis, which is why he trusted him more than you. He'd never seen Zero even though they were in the same room."
Bass was typing quickly at his console. The words were passing on the screen too fast for anyone to catch. After a few minutes Bass stopped at a file that had been passed over by the diagnostic program. "Is this what you meant when you said old memory files?" asked Bass as he opened the file. A movie played on the screen. There was a lot of static, but Bass could clearly be seen next to some sort of robotic wolf. Bass and the wolf started to glow brightly then merge together. When the light subsided, Bass had wings and took off into the air. The video cut off.
"Odd, I've never seen that one," said Cain.
"That's because it's one of my own. I altered it to show from a third-person perspective. This is from a diagnostic that I went through right before I was shipped here. I can show you the original, if you want."
"Yes, I think that would help," Doppler said from one of the other moniters.
"Okay, but this is going to be from my eyes picturing MegaMan," Bass stated as he typed some more on the console. A new movie opened, with just as much static as the last one. The original MegaMan was shooting at the camera. The camera shifted down to look at the robot wolf, then looked back at MegaMan. The screen went white for a moment and the view shot up into the air. Looking from above, MegaMan was talking into his wrist. A red dog teleported in and a similar sequence as with the last movie occured, ending with a MegaMan with wings taking flight.
"That's least fifty years old, the end of the Wily Wars to be specific," said Bass.
"So he is the original MegaMan. That's why there are hookups on his back for some upgrade we've never found."
"There are?" asked Zero.
"Yes, take a look at this," said Cain as he removed a plate of metal from X's back. There were multiple ports there and a direct connection to the fusion generator. "Bass has a similar port on his back, but it seems designed for something bigger. Doppler, can you design jetpacks or something similar that can be hooked up to these ports?"
"I believe so, but it would be easier with the original schematics."
"I'll go back to Wily's lab to look for them," offered Bass.
"I'll go too, we don't want him to freak out again."
"Just a moment, I want to give Zero the vaccine," said Cain.
"What about me?" asked Bass
"We're going to need you when we give Sigma the antidote."
"Wait," said Zero, "how are we going to get Sigma injected with the Vaccine?"
"We will need someone who Sigma doesn't know, but feels he can trust," answered Cain, as he turned to look at Bass again. "Someone who has the Virus."
"Maybe X is the one who needs to be released from the Hunters," said Zero as he rushed over to the blue robot who was no unconscious on the ground.
"No, that won't help, Zero. The last thing we need is to discharge one of our best," said Cain as he hurried after Zero. "Dr. Doppler, could you re-activate the diagnostic program. We need to scan X for possible damage to his circuitry."
"Yes, sir," replied Doppler.
About a half-hour later, X was on the scanner, still out cold. Cain had removed X's helmet and artificial skin, and was attaching numerous wires to ports in X's plate metal skull. Doppler was on a nearby computer screen going over X's schematics.
"This doesn't make any sense. It seems that X's logic circuits blew out," muttered Doppler, "but there's no explanation why."
"When did X enter the room?" asked Cain.
"When we were talking about the antidote. Why do you ask?" replied Zero.
"So he heard us saying we could reprogram Sigma?"
"It would seem so."
"That would explain it. X didn't hear the whole conversation, just the bit about Sigma returning to the Hunters. It made no sense what-so-ever to him, so his circuits blew."
"Yes, that would make sense."
"It depends whose perspective your taking. Dang!"
At that moment Cain hadn't been paying attention to what he was doing and got a zap from X's generator. Luckily, he hit a part of X that needed very little energy, so he didn't much of a shock.
"There, he's hooked up. Run the diagnostic, Dr. Doppler," ordered Cain as he sucked on his now bright red finger.
"Okay," said Doppler.
The wires started to glow brightly as energy was transferred from X to the computer. Copies of self-diagnostics appeared on some monitors while scans of programs began to glow on others. Cain looked at all of the screens until he suddenly let out a brief yelp of surprise.
"Doppler," Dr. Cain yelled, "Get Zero and Bass in here at once."
"What is that?"
"How should I know?"
"Maybe it's a virus."
"No, it can't be."
"Not one that we know of, at least."
"SHUT UP!"
Dr. Cain was showing the others what he found in X's program. Unfortunately, they were all jumping to conclusions and making up theories about what the defect could be. After trying to get a word in edgewise multiple times, Cain had gotten very upset and started shouting.
"Listen up, already," said the doctor as he glared at everyone to maintain silence. "I've figured out what this is, and I would gladly tell you if only you could stay quiet for a moment."
By now Zero, Bass, and Doppler were all paying attention to Cain.
"This odd formation is not a virus. It appears to be the antidote."
"What!?!" yelled the three Reploids.
"It's true. I copied the program and inserted it into a Maverick that we have in custody. Within minutes he regained his composure and was willing to talk to us, and there was no trace of any viruses."
"How did that happen?" asked Bass.
"Well, Bass, it seems that upon meeting you, X's system recognized an enemy and started producing antibodies to protect itself. That's why X never trusted you as much as even Doppler. He somehow knew that you were dangerous to him in some way. My guess would be possible transference of the virus."
"Yeah, I guess," said Bass as he sat down at one of the terminals. "But I was never going to hurt him, so why did he start producing the antidote. I'm sure that Doctor Light didn't know that Wily was creating me."
"I might know. When I've run diagnostics in the past, I sometimes found memory files that were decades old, ones that could never have occured because of how little time has passed since he came out of the capsule. This leads me to believe that X is not just built to resemble the original MegaMan, but is the actual unit himself. It would explain how he reacted to you. When Zero attacked Light's lab X was already in stasis, which is why he trusted him more than you. He'd never seen Zero even though they were in the same room."
Bass was typing quickly at his console. The words were passing on the screen too fast for anyone to catch. After a few minutes Bass stopped at a file that had been passed over by the diagnostic program. "Is this what you meant when you said old memory files?" asked Bass as he opened the file. A movie played on the screen. There was a lot of static, but Bass could clearly be seen next to some sort of robotic wolf. Bass and the wolf started to glow brightly then merge together. When the light subsided, Bass had wings and took off into the air. The video cut off.
"Odd, I've never seen that one," said Cain.
"That's because it's one of my own. I altered it to show from a third-person perspective. This is from a diagnostic that I went through right before I was shipped here. I can show you the original, if you want."
"Yes, I think that would help," Doppler said from one of the other moniters.
"Okay, but this is going to be from my eyes picturing MegaMan," Bass stated as he typed some more on the console. A new movie opened, with just as much static as the last one. The original MegaMan was shooting at the camera. The camera shifted down to look at the robot wolf, then looked back at MegaMan. The screen went white for a moment and the view shot up into the air. Looking from above, MegaMan was talking into his wrist. A red dog teleported in and a similar sequence as with the last movie occured, ending with a MegaMan with wings taking flight.
"That's least fifty years old, the end of the Wily Wars to be specific," said Bass.
"So he is the original MegaMan. That's why there are hookups on his back for some upgrade we've never found."
"There are?" asked Zero.
"Yes, take a look at this," said Cain as he removed a plate of metal from X's back. There were multiple ports there and a direct connection to the fusion generator. "Bass has a similar port on his back, but it seems designed for something bigger. Doppler, can you design jetpacks or something similar that can be hooked up to these ports?"
"I believe so, but it would be easier with the original schematics."
"I'll go back to Wily's lab to look for them," offered Bass.
"I'll go too, we don't want him to freak out again."
"Just a moment, I want to give Zero the vaccine," said Cain.
"What about me?" asked Bass
"We're going to need you when we give Sigma the antidote."
"Wait," said Zero, "how are we going to get Sigma injected with the Vaccine?"
"We will need someone who Sigma doesn't know, but feels he can trust," answered Cain, as he turned to look at Bass again. "Someone who has the Virus."