Part VII: No Disassemble!
Dr. Cain looked in on the mysterious red robot in the repair center's response monitoring room. The circumstances were much worse now than when he was brought in. Sigma had gone Maverick, and left the Hunters defenseless. X still refused to fight, but seemed to be somewhat drawn to looking over the repairs to this former Maverick. A cerebral scan had revealed that the robot had a program injected into him by someone that Dr. Cain had no knowledge of, and that it had malfunctioned, fusing with his brain and making him highly dangerous. The program's purpose was unknown to Dr. Cain, but he had used a reverse engineering technique to remove it from the cortex. He didn't know whether the robot was still operable without it.
"What do you think, Gate?" Cain asked, looking to the sixth-level reploid scientist.
The purple robot shook his head. "I don't think he'll wake up. We should just use his parts for repairing other reploids."
"You will not!"
Looking back, Gate and Cain found X, arms crossed, glaring at the robot scientist. Gate had developed quite a distaste for X, a distaste that had grown into near hatred. The blue robot was just too naïve for his own good, and Gate knew that eventually it would lead to problems, but Light's 'magnificent creation' would never hear of it, due in part to Dr. Cain's urging, and the constant conflicts to his scientific theories on Maverick treatment were trying, at least.
"X, he is braindead. There is no way that he can recover from this. We're doing what's best?"
"How would you feel if you were in that position?" X retorted, having walked up to the two of them and looking out onto the red robot below.
Gate's eyes rolled around. "That's insane, X. Reploid brains are designed to deactivate and acquire inbuilt programming from all remaining operating portions to allow enough strength and consciousness to be repaired. This never would happen."
Cain stepped forward. "X doesn't want him cannibalized. The results will come back soon, and we can see whether his memory was completely erased."
Gate stormed from the room, coat flying. One more loss at X's hands, and one more minute till I can exact revenge.
Zero couldn't concentrate. He was lost in a maze of colors and circuitry that looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't tell where he'd seen it before. Looking around didn't help, since it was the same no matter which direction he turned.
"Now how did I get here? Last thing I knew, that doctor with the weird hair was holding some sort of device at me, and now I'm here. Why?" he said to himself, trying to gain his senses. All of a sudden, there was a bright flash of light, and he was in a laboratory again.
Dr. Cain and X were looking down on the robot when it opened its eyes. X jumped back, not expecting such a response, but quickly came back to continue the examination.
The robot turned its head from side to side, then sat up, wires stringing from his chest and head. He pulled them off and looked at the scientist and robot in front of him. The blue one looked familiar.
"Have I met you before?" he asked the robot, putting his helmet on. It was lying nearby.
"No, not that I can remember," he said, holding his hand out. "I'm X."
"Zero," the red robot replied, using X's handshake to pull himself off the exam table. "Where am I?"
Dr. Cain stepped forward now. "You're inside Maverick Hunter Headquarters. My name is Dr. Cain."
Zero put a hand to his chest, breathing a sigh of relief. "For a second there, I thought you were another doctor I knew, and that you'd just cut the wild hair off."
Dr. Cain shook his head. "I'm sorry, Zero, I'm not. And I've always had short hair like this."
Zero reached around his back for his saber, only to find it gone. "What..?"
Cain and X's expressions turned quizzical. "What are you looking for?"
"I had a sword. Where is it?"
Cain shrugged. "We didn't find any saber when you were brought here. Maybe it's somewhere that you forgot it."
"I wouldn't forget something like that. At least, I wouldn't think I would," Zero said, putting a hand to his forehead.
"X, why don't you introduce the new leader of the Maverick Hunters to the rest of them."
"Yes, Dr. Cain. This way, Zero."
Following X out into the lobby, he began the life he was supposed to lead.
Dr. Cain looked in on the mysterious red robot in the repair center's response monitoring room. The circumstances were much worse now than when he was brought in. Sigma had gone Maverick, and left the Hunters defenseless. X still refused to fight, but seemed to be somewhat drawn to looking over the repairs to this former Maverick. A cerebral scan had revealed that the robot had a program injected into him by someone that Dr. Cain had no knowledge of, and that it had malfunctioned, fusing with his brain and making him highly dangerous. The program's purpose was unknown to Dr. Cain, but he had used a reverse engineering technique to remove it from the cortex. He didn't know whether the robot was still operable without it.
"What do you think, Gate?" Cain asked, looking to the sixth-level reploid scientist.
The purple robot shook his head. "I don't think he'll wake up. We should just use his parts for repairing other reploids."
"You will not!"
Looking back, Gate and Cain found X, arms crossed, glaring at the robot scientist. Gate had developed quite a distaste for X, a distaste that had grown into near hatred. The blue robot was just too naïve for his own good, and Gate knew that eventually it would lead to problems, but Light's 'magnificent creation' would never hear of it, due in part to Dr. Cain's urging, and the constant conflicts to his scientific theories on Maverick treatment were trying, at least.
"X, he is braindead. There is no way that he can recover from this. We're doing what's best?"
"How would you feel if you were in that position?" X retorted, having walked up to the two of them and looking out onto the red robot below.
Gate's eyes rolled around. "That's insane, X. Reploid brains are designed to deactivate and acquire inbuilt programming from all remaining operating portions to allow enough strength and consciousness to be repaired. This never would happen."
Cain stepped forward. "X doesn't want him cannibalized. The results will come back soon, and we can see whether his memory was completely erased."
Gate stormed from the room, coat flying. One more loss at X's hands, and one more minute till I can exact revenge.
Zero couldn't concentrate. He was lost in a maze of colors and circuitry that looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't tell where he'd seen it before. Looking around didn't help, since it was the same no matter which direction he turned.
"Now how did I get here? Last thing I knew, that doctor with the weird hair was holding some sort of device at me, and now I'm here. Why?" he said to himself, trying to gain his senses. All of a sudden, there was a bright flash of light, and he was in a laboratory again.
Dr. Cain and X were looking down on the robot when it opened its eyes. X jumped back, not expecting such a response, but quickly came back to continue the examination.
The robot turned its head from side to side, then sat up, wires stringing from his chest and head. He pulled them off and looked at the scientist and robot in front of him. The blue one looked familiar.
"Have I met you before?" he asked the robot, putting his helmet on. It was lying nearby.
"No, not that I can remember," he said, holding his hand out. "I'm X."
"Zero," the red robot replied, using X's handshake to pull himself off the exam table. "Where am I?"
Dr. Cain stepped forward now. "You're inside Maverick Hunter Headquarters. My name is Dr. Cain."
Zero put a hand to his chest, breathing a sigh of relief. "For a second there, I thought you were another doctor I knew, and that you'd just cut the wild hair off."
Dr. Cain shook his head. "I'm sorry, Zero, I'm not. And I've always had short hair like this."
Zero reached around his back for his saber, only to find it gone. "What..?"
Cain and X's expressions turned quizzical. "What are you looking for?"
"I had a sword. Where is it?"
Cain shrugged. "We didn't find any saber when you were brought here. Maybe it's somewhere that you forgot it."
"I wouldn't forget something like that. At least, I wouldn't think I would," Zero said, putting a hand to his forehead.
"X, why don't you introduce the new leader of the Maverick Hunters to the rest of them."
"Yes, Dr. Cain. This way, Zero."
Following X out into the lobby, he began the life he was supposed to lead.