NOTE TO READERS – Okay, so I'm stealing characters from people. It's not
like it hasn't been done before, and it adds to the story for them to exist
in this universe.
Chapter XX – Return to Sender
X and Zero were in the control center. Bass was due to send a report today, and the two were restless from waiting there. Zero had taped a documentary: Weaponry Through the Ages: Swords, and X wanted to get back to studying news articles. He'd been collecting anything that mentioned Light, Wily, or the original MegaMan. The console started flashing, and it gave a quick series of beeps. X rushed over to it and opened the file. Quickly scanning the contents, he let Zero take a look.
"So he's building another fortress?" observed Zero.
"Apparently so. He's always so predictable about these things," said X. The console beeped again.
"Another one?"
"What would he have found so quickly that he couldn't have sent it in the last message?"
Zero opened the file. It wasn't from Bass, however, but from someone who claimed to be an ally.
"What is it? What did he find?" asked X.
"He's been found out, and Sigma deleted him," Zero said softly. "They caught him sending that message."
"What!" yelped X. "They couldn't have, we took every precaution!"
"There's another Reploid who's posing as a Maverick to monitor Sigma. He's bringing Bass' body, as well as Treble's," Zero continued. "He says that he cannot leave the ride armor that he pilots for fear that Sigma will know he was seen. He'll drop the cargo pod, then leave."
"What are we going to do now? We don't know what Sigma's capable of!" whined X. He wasn't taking the well at all.
"Treble is still alive, and it might be possible to repair Bass' body. This Reploid said that Sigma is prepping his main attack force right now. It might be a day or two, though, but he doesn't say why."
"How can we rebuild him if he was deleted?" asked X.
Zero turned around to look at X. He was annoyed, and it showed on his face. "I was deleted, X. Remember? And I turned out just fine."
"Yeah, but you're different."
"No I'm not. Both of us are Wily-Bots. Since we don't have to collect Bass' parts, it should be a lot easier for Cain to repair him. And it looks like Treble just needs a new frame."
"X, Zero," said Douglas through a radio. "There a single ride armor unit coming this way, Maverick build. What should we do?"
"Leave it alone, that's an operative who infiltrated Sigma's forces."
"Bass?"
"Not exactly"
The ride armor floated down and hovered about a foot off the ground. The pilot couldn't be seen, but he used his comm. system to tell them what Sigma said, and added that he'd give them updates on what was going on if at all possible. He disconnected the cargo pod, then rose up and flew off into the horizon. Douglas opened the pod, with X and Zero behind him. X gasped, Zero swore, and the repair Reploid simply stared at it. Treble was opening his eyes a little then closing them, his back half crushed. Bass was in two pieces, and the bottom of the pod was covered in coolant fluid. Bass' helmet had fallen off, and his dark red hair was sopping up the coolant.
"Get these two to Doctor Cain!" yelled Zero. A bunch of medical Reploids came over and picked up the damaged robots. X looked back into the cargo pod, reached in, and pulled out Bass' helmet. Glancing at the finned headgear, X noticed that inside of the helmet was carved the letters 'DRLITDOC.MOV'. He showed it to Zero.
"What do you think those are?" asked a perplexed X.
"Well, I can't be sure, but the '.mov' at the end makes me think that it's a file of some sort. It looks a bit like Bass' handwriting, so I'm guessing he put it there."
"Why would he do that?"
"Maybe he found that in his data banks and thought you should see it. His helmet would be the thing least likely to be lost."
"Yeah. I'll check to see if I have that file hidden in my skull somewhere."
"You do that."
X was hooked up to the diagnostic device, and Zero was browsing through various files. Sure enough, the file that Bass had written down was in X's memory banks. Zero copied the file to a disk, and looked at the surrounding files. The one right next to it read 'DRWLYDOC.MOV'. On a hunch, Zero copied that one as well. He shut down the machine and unplugged X. When X woke up, Zero showed him the disk, and they went into the archives to look at the files.
The first one was a documentary on Doctor Light. It showed his lab, his history, and last of all, his robots. X was mesmerized by the computer generated replays of various maneuvers that MegaMan used, as well as the detailed history of his battles against Wily. He also found out about ProtoMan and Roll, his brother and sister. When he saw the two of them, X glanced at Zero and thought that maybe ProtoMan wasn't the only robot he was based on. There were mentions of various lesser robots, Auto, beat, and some prototype robot called 'Abba'.
The other file, as Zero expected, was about Wily. The information on this one was more vague, as there were no real records of what Wily did in his spare time, and nobody knew where his permanent lab was. There was a history of what he did up until he stole Light's first few robots, and after that the only information was about the various other battles. The video mentioned that Wily also experimented in making female robots, and ended up with one that looked like Roll, named Techno, and another that looked more like a girl in Bass' armor. There was no name given for the second one, though X was sure he'd seen that purple armor somewhere before . . .
"How can I have so much stuff crammed into my noggin?" asked X.
Doppler, who had finished uploading into his new body earlier that week, replied, "They say that the average human only uses ten percent of their brain. In your case, that other ninety percent seems to be used for file storage. Light was smart to put records of our past into you. Bass probably has the same files and programs because Wily wanted to make an even match for you, and he didn't know if any of those files had a real purpose other than reference material."
"Okay, so I'm a living encyclopedia. What does that mean for the rest of you?"
"It means absolutely nothing. We just know now that Light entrusted you with the memories of the past."
"Um, okay," X said. He was more concerned about Bass than what in his head. "So how are Bass and Treble doing?"
"After what happened the last time Gate got a hold of Treble, Cain decided it would be best if he repaired the wolf himself. Since he just needed to replace solid parts, Treble was finished in relatively short time. I've been working on Bass, but turned him over to Cain when he finished with Treble. When I gave him up, I had finished repairing his upper torso and fusion generator, and he had regained consciousness. In fact, we had to shut him down to keep him from trying to get up."
"I want to see how he's doing," X declared.
"That may be a problem. I doubt that Cain would want people watching him as he works. Why don't you go play with Treble instead? Since he's already recognized you as a friend, he shouldn't be violent. Though I doubt he'll be as affectionate to you as he is to Bass."
"Okay. Where is Treble?"
"I think that he's on the roof."
"Thanks. Bye Doc!"
Doppler sighed.
Chapter XX – Return to Sender
X and Zero were in the control center. Bass was due to send a report today, and the two were restless from waiting there. Zero had taped a documentary: Weaponry Through the Ages: Swords, and X wanted to get back to studying news articles. He'd been collecting anything that mentioned Light, Wily, or the original MegaMan. The console started flashing, and it gave a quick series of beeps. X rushed over to it and opened the file. Quickly scanning the contents, he let Zero take a look.
"So he's building another fortress?" observed Zero.
"Apparently so. He's always so predictable about these things," said X. The console beeped again.
"Another one?"
"What would he have found so quickly that he couldn't have sent it in the last message?"
Zero opened the file. It wasn't from Bass, however, but from someone who claimed to be an ally.
"What is it? What did he find?" asked X.
"He's been found out, and Sigma deleted him," Zero said softly. "They caught him sending that message."
"What!" yelped X. "They couldn't have, we took every precaution!"
"There's another Reploid who's posing as a Maverick to monitor Sigma. He's bringing Bass' body, as well as Treble's," Zero continued. "He says that he cannot leave the ride armor that he pilots for fear that Sigma will know he was seen. He'll drop the cargo pod, then leave."
"What are we going to do now? We don't know what Sigma's capable of!" whined X. He wasn't taking the well at all.
"Treble is still alive, and it might be possible to repair Bass' body. This Reploid said that Sigma is prepping his main attack force right now. It might be a day or two, though, but he doesn't say why."
"How can we rebuild him if he was deleted?" asked X.
Zero turned around to look at X. He was annoyed, and it showed on his face. "I was deleted, X. Remember? And I turned out just fine."
"Yeah, but you're different."
"No I'm not. Both of us are Wily-Bots. Since we don't have to collect Bass' parts, it should be a lot easier for Cain to repair him. And it looks like Treble just needs a new frame."
"X, Zero," said Douglas through a radio. "There a single ride armor unit coming this way, Maverick build. What should we do?"
"Leave it alone, that's an operative who infiltrated Sigma's forces."
"Bass?"
"Not exactly"
The ride armor floated down and hovered about a foot off the ground. The pilot couldn't be seen, but he used his comm. system to tell them what Sigma said, and added that he'd give them updates on what was going on if at all possible. He disconnected the cargo pod, then rose up and flew off into the horizon. Douglas opened the pod, with X and Zero behind him. X gasped, Zero swore, and the repair Reploid simply stared at it. Treble was opening his eyes a little then closing them, his back half crushed. Bass was in two pieces, and the bottom of the pod was covered in coolant fluid. Bass' helmet had fallen off, and his dark red hair was sopping up the coolant.
"Get these two to Doctor Cain!" yelled Zero. A bunch of medical Reploids came over and picked up the damaged robots. X looked back into the cargo pod, reached in, and pulled out Bass' helmet. Glancing at the finned headgear, X noticed that inside of the helmet was carved the letters 'DRLITDOC.MOV'. He showed it to Zero.
"What do you think those are?" asked a perplexed X.
"Well, I can't be sure, but the '.mov' at the end makes me think that it's a file of some sort. It looks a bit like Bass' handwriting, so I'm guessing he put it there."
"Why would he do that?"
"Maybe he found that in his data banks and thought you should see it. His helmet would be the thing least likely to be lost."
"Yeah. I'll check to see if I have that file hidden in my skull somewhere."
"You do that."
X was hooked up to the diagnostic device, and Zero was browsing through various files. Sure enough, the file that Bass had written down was in X's memory banks. Zero copied the file to a disk, and looked at the surrounding files. The one right next to it read 'DRWLYDOC.MOV'. On a hunch, Zero copied that one as well. He shut down the machine and unplugged X. When X woke up, Zero showed him the disk, and they went into the archives to look at the files.
The first one was a documentary on Doctor Light. It showed his lab, his history, and last of all, his robots. X was mesmerized by the computer generated replays of various maneuvers that MegaMan used, as well as the detailed history of his battles against Wily. He also found out about ProtoMan and Roll, his brother and sister. When he saw the two of them, X glanced at Zero and thought that maybe ProtoMan wasn't the only robot he was based on. There were mentions of various lesser robots, Auto, beat, and some prototype robot called 'Abba'.
The other file, as Zero expected, was about Wily. The information on this one was more vague, as there were no real records of what Wily did in his spare time, and nobody knew where his permanent lab was. There was a history of what he did up until he stole Light's first few robots, and after that the only information was about the various other battles. The video mentioned that Wily also experimented in making female robots, and ended up with one that looked like Roll, named Techno, and another that looked more like a girl in Bass' armor. There was no name given for the second one, though X was sure he'd seen that purple armor somewhere before . . .
"How can I have so much stuff crammed into my noggin?" asked X.
Doppler, who had finished uploading into his new body earlier that week, replied, "They say that the average human only uses ten percent of their brain. In your case, that other ninety percent seems to be used for file storage. Light was smart to put records of our past into you. Bass probably has the same files and programs because Wily wanted to make an even match for you, and he didn't know if any of those files had a real purpose other than reference material."
"Okay, so I'm a living encyclopedia. What does that mean for the rest of you?"
"It means absolutely nothing. We just know now that Light entrusted you with the memories of the past."
"Um, okay," X said. He was more concerned about Bass than what in his head. "So how are Bass and Treble doing?"
"After what happened the last time Gate got a hold of Treble, Cain decided it would be best if he repaired the wolf himself. Since he just needed to replace solid parts, Treble was finished in relatively short time. I've been working on Bass, but turned him over to Cain when he finished with Treble. When I gave him up, I had finished repairing his upper torso and fusion generator, and he had regained consciousness. In fact, we had to shut him down to keep him from trying to get up."
"I want to see how he's doing," X declared.
"That may be a problem. I doubt that Cain would want people watching him as he works. Why don't you go play with Treble instead? Since he's already recognized you as a friend, he shouldn't be violent. Though I doubt he'll be as affectionate to you as he is to Bass."
"Okay. Where is Treble?"
"I think that he's on the roof."
"Thanks. Bye Doc!"
Doppler sighed.