Chapter XII – Support Units For Dummies
Bass was in the simulator, with his wings. Doppler had figured out that if the body schematics of Bass with the boost activated were uploaded into the simulator, then he would be able to access it without merging with Treble. Of course, this worked only in the simulator, but it was a good way to practice. Right now, he was having trouble aiming his buster, as it kept shooting in three directions at once. A voice started coming into the simulator. It was Doctor Cain's.
"Bass, can you come to the Advanced Reploid Research wing? And bring Treble with you."
Bass sighed. The ARR was notorious for almost always creating Hunters that go Maverick. In fact, the head of that wing, Gate, had diagnostics run on him on a regular basis to make sure that he didn't have the Virus. Despite its poor reputation in Reploid production, though, Cain often used the technology that they came up with to create less aggressive, more stable Reploids. He reached the wing in a rather short time, but Cain was agitated nonetheless. Gate was standing next to him, looking somewhat uninterested, but turned when he heard Bass come in.
"Ah, so you must be Bass," said Gate, "Cain just told me about you. Very little is known about you here. You wouldn't mind telling us a bit about your history, would you?"
"You'll have to excuse my friend Gate," interrupted Cain, "He's usually very quiet. I don't know why he's so talkative all of a sudden."
"Hush up, old man."
"He also treats everyone but his closest friends like dirt."
"Now that's not true. I just treat you like that," Gate said with a laugh. "Anyway, we've been examining your schematics and X's to try and figure out how to make a jetpack. Unfortunately, we can't get enough information from them to make a jetpack that can hook up to X's systems."
"Why don't you just check Light's lab for that little red mutt?" said Bass.
"We did that. The only thing to be found was a twisted lump of red metal. My guess is that Rush didn't survive the attack"
"Ick. So am I right in guessing that you want to start tinkering with Treble here?" the wolf raised his head at the mention of his name.
"Just to get a basic idea of how he hooks up to your system," said Gate, eyeing the now cautious wolf. "Besides, this could revive the technology of support units."
"What do you mean by revive? Sigma had a support unit, Velgauder."
"That wasn't a true support unit. Velgauder was just a dog-shaped Reploid with limited intelligence. More like a pet."
"It's up to Treble whether of not he's willing to be tinkered with." The wolf looked up again at Bass, and after standing still for a moment he walked over to Gate and sniffed at his hand. He then turned around and barked at Bass,
"Odd," said Bass, "he doesn't walk over to anyone like that unless I tell him to."
"I guess he's willing to have the tests done," said gate, patting Treble on the head
"Okay, I guess. Call me when you're done," Bass said, not taking his eyes off of Treble.
"Come on Bass," said Cain, "You have other matters to attend to."
"Yes, sir."
Zero said that Bass would need training against an opponent armed with a plasma sword, though so far Sigma has used a different weapon at each battle. So far, he had used a sword, claws, a shield, and a scythe. So Bass spent the next few hours training against Zero. However, hose few hours were all in a single battle, and a crowd was drawing at the viewscreen of the simulator. Douglas was taking bets on who would win, while the leaders of the various units were thinking of asking Cain to have Bass transferred from the 17th.
"Hell," said one of the leaders, "Anybody who can last this long against Zero might as well have a unit himself."
"Yeah," said another, "But isn't that the guy going solo in the next mission?"
"I think so. Hey, look!"
They turned back to the viewscreen and saw Zero on the ground. Bass was standing over him, and had the Z-Sabre pointed at Zero's throat.
"Do you yield?" asked Bass.
"Yeah, sure, just point that somewhere else!"
The viewscreen turned off and Bass and Zero opened their eyes. Douglas and the people who bet on the match were in disagreement over who won. Those who sided with Bass said that the black Reploid had won, while those who bet on Zero said that it ended in a draw. Douglas, who couldn't stand being in the middle of the argument, gave everyone their money back and scuttled off to the hanger.
"What was that about?" wondered Zero.
"No idea," said Bass.
"Bass," said a transmitter on his wrist. "We're done with Treble. Come to the ARR wing."
"The ARR? What does Gate want with you?" asked Zero
"He wants to design X's jetpack using Treble's schematics."
"Oh, okay. So long as he's not designing Reploids, then its probably fine."
"Hey, boy!" cooed Bass as Treble trotted over to him. "Are you done with him?" he asked as he stood up to face Gate.
"Yes, I think we have everything that we'll need. If we need Treble again, we'll tell you."
"Good. Wait, what's that?" Bass asked as he pointed at a lump under a sheet with a paw sticking out.
Gate stepped to the side to block the paw from view. "Um, remember how I said I wanted to have Reploids use support units again?"
"You didn't . . ."
"We're trying to duplicate the technology, and we needed a basic design. Since we had Treble's schematics, we decided to make the first one in his image."
"God damn it! Who gave you the right to clone my damn dog!"
"As a scientist, I had every right to reproduce technology that can be used for the good of the people."
"How do you know that Wily didn't have a patent?"
"If he did, it would have expired years ago. Besides, that mutt of yours is based on stolen designs, like everything else that Wily built."
"Argh!" Bass yelled, and he fired a volley of plasma at Gate. He dodged out of the way, the F-Buster shots hit the Treble clone. Bass turned and walked out of the room with Treble at his heels. Gate yelled after him.
"You've just set back Reploid technology by at least thirty years! I hope you're happy!" He turned back the ruined wolf on the table. "Well, maybe I can try to recreate the parts without Treble,"
Bass was in the simulator, with his wings. Doppler had figured out that if the body schematics of Bass with the boost activated were uploaded into the simulator, then he would be able to access it without merging with Treble. Of course, this worked only in the simulator, but it was a good way to practice. Right now, he was having trouble aiming his buster, as it kept shooting in three directions at once. A voice started coming into the simulator. It was Doctor Cain's.
"Bass, can you come to the Advanced Reploid Research wing? And bring Treble with you."
Bass sighed. The ARR was notorious for almost always creating Hunters that go Maverick. In fact, the head of that wing, Gate, had diagnostics run on him on a regular basis to make sure that he didn't have the Virus. Despite its poor reputation in Reploid production, though, Cain often used the technology that they came up with to create less aggressive, more stable Reploids. He reached the wing in a rather short time, but Cain was agitated nonetheless. Gate was standing next to him, looking somewhat uninterested, but turned when he heard Bass come in.
"Ah, so you must be Bass," said Gate, "Cain just told me about you. Very little is known about you here. You wouldn't mind telling us a bit about your history, would you?"
"You'll have to excuse my friend Gate," interrupted Cain, "He's usually very quiet. I don't know why he's so talkative all of a sudden."
"Hush up, old man."
"He also treats everyone but his closest friends like dirt."
"Now that's not true. I just treat you like that," Gate said with a laugh. "Anyway, we've been examining your schematics and X's to try and figure out how to make a jetpack. Unfortunately, we can't get enough information from them to make a jetpack that can hook up to X's systems."
"Why don't you just check Light's lab for that little red mutt?" said Bass.
"We did that. The only thing to be found was a twisted lump of red metal. My guess is that Rush didn't survive the attack"
"Ick. So am I right in guessing that you want to start tinkering with Treble here?" the wolf raised his head at the mention of his name.
"Just to get a basic idea of how he hooks up to your system," said Gate, eyeing the now cautious wolf. "Besides, this could revive the technology of support units."
"What do you mean by revive? Sigma had a support unit, Velgauder."
"That wasn't a true support unit. Velgauder was just a dog-shaped Reploid with limited intelligence. More like a pet."
"It's up to Treble whether of not he's willing to be tinkered with." The wolf looked up again at Bass, and after standing still for a moment he walked over to Gate and sniffed at his hand. He then turned around and barked at Bass,
"Odd," said Bass, "he doesn't walk over to anyone like that unless I tell him to."
"I guess he's willing to have the tests done," said gate, patting Treble on the head
"Okay, I guess. Call me when you're done," Bass said, not taking his eyes off of Treble.
"Come on Bass," said Cain, "You have other matters to attend to."
"Yes, sir."
Zero said that Bass would need training against an opponent armed with a plasma sword, though so far Sigma has used a different weapon at each battle. So far, he had used a sword, claws, a shield, and a scythe. So Bass spent the next few hours training against Zero. However, hose few hours were all in a single battle, and a crowd was drawing at the viewscreen of the simulator. Douglas was taking bets on who would win, while the leaders of the various units were thinking of asking Cain to have Bass transferred from the 17th.
"Hell," said one of the leaders, "Anybody who can last this long against Zero might as well have a unit himself."
"Yeah," said another, "But isn't that the guy going solo in the next mission?"
"I think so. Hey, look!"
They turned back to the viewscreen and saw Zero on the ground. Bass was standing over him, and had the Z-Sabre pointed at Zero's throat.
"Do you yield?" asked Bass.
"Yeah, sure, just point that somewhere else!"
The viewscreen turned off and Bass and Zero opened their eyes. Douglas and the people who bet on the match were in disagreement over who won. Those who sided with Bass said that the black Reploid had won, while those who bet on Zero said that it ended in a draw. Douglas, who couldn't stand being in the middle of the argument, gave everyone their money back and scuttled off to the hanger.
"What was that about?" wondered Zero.
"No idea," said Bass.
"Bass," said a transmitter on his wrist. "We're done with Treble. Come to the ARR wing."
"The ARR? What does Gate want with you?" asked Zero
"He wants to design X's jetpack using Treble's schematics."
"Oh, okay. So long as he's not designing Reploids, then its probably fine."
"Hey, boy!" cooed Bass as Treble trotted over to him. "Are you done with him?" he asked as he stood up to face Gate.
"Yes, I think we have everything that we'll need. If we need Treble again, we'll tell you."
"Good. Wait, what's that?" Bass asked as he pointed at a lump under a sheet with a paw sticking out.
Gate stepped to the side to block the paw from view. "Um, remember how I said I wanted to have Reploids use support units again?"
"You didn't . . ."
"We're trying to duplicate the technology, and we needed a basic design. Since we had Treble's schematics, we decided to make the first one in his image."
"God damn it! Who gave you the right to clone my damn dog!"
"As a scientist, I had every right to reproduce technology that can be used for the good of the people."
"How do you know that Wily didn't have a patent?"
"If he did, it would have expired years ago. Besides, that mutt of yours is based on stolen designs, like everything else that Wily built."
"Argh!" Bass yelled, and he fired a volley of plasma at Gate. He dodged out of the way, the F-Buster shots hit the Treble clone. Bass turned and walked out of the room with Treble at his heels. Gate yelled after him.
"You've just set back Reploid technology by at least thirty years! I hope you're happy!" He turned back the ruined wolf on the table. "Well, maybe I can try to recreate the parts without Treble,"