Dr. Cain stood sternly over the stationary form of Vile, as he lay unconscious on a small infirmary bed. The former Maverick menace seemed surprisingly peaceful as he rested silently, totally unaware of what was happening around him. Cain had never really had the chance to see Vile in this state - in the past, he had always seen him in ravenous spirits, acting as rude and cocky as possible while causing a great deal of damage along the way. It was calming to see him in this way.
Standing beside him was the head of the infirmary, Jenn. She watched Vile's dormancy as well, while adjusting her rimmed spectacles. "We put him under a mild sedative before we performed tests on him, so he won't be waking up for a little while now," she stated.
Cain nodded slowly. "Yes, that's probably best for him," he replied. "I can tell that he's been under quite a bit of stress over the past few days. And with that little episode he just underwent, I would say that rest is the thing he needs the most right now."
Jenn nodded. "Now that we're on the subject... how did you guys find him in the first place? It's not everyday that a Maverick alumni finds the time to stroll on in here and try to make amends with us."
The doctor chuckled wryly. "Well... you might say it was something like that," he explained. "The story is a very confusing one, and I think that I still might want to have a chat with X after this whole ordeal is taken care of... but from what I've been told, X somehow spotted him in a small shop not too far from here. He apparently was trying to make peaceful means with the residents of the shop... or something to that degree. Anyways, long story short, X bussed his arse back to the headquarters and right to my front door. And lo and behold, here is my burden."
The young woman raised her eyebrows. "Jeez. Just when I thought things around here couldn't get any freakier..."
Cain nodded again and chose to change the subject slightly. "So, Jenn... would the report on Vile happen to be finished yet? I know that my little buddies outside will be ready to tear me to pieces if I don't tell them what's going on soon."
Jenn scratched a spot on the back of her neck. "Well... last I heard, Mick was receiving the test results and analyzing them with a group of other medics. My guess is that he's supposed to show up any minute now..."
Sure enough, the lanky figure of Mick stumbled on in through the side door of the medical room, a folder chock-full of information nestled in his grubby hands. He gave the two figures standing before him sort of a half-hearted salute using his pointer and middle fingers, chuckling a little under his breath. "And God-i-godden to ya both, gentleman and gentlewoman," he greeted. "I hope the day has found both of ya well."
Cain shrugged. "Hard to really say that, Mick," he responded drearily. "The past few days haven't exactly been easy for me, or for many of the other people in this building. I've been under quite a bit off stress lately with this whole Vile thing... and speaking of that, would that folder you're holding happen to be Vile's analyzation?"
Mick smirked. "Yeh, this is it," he said, holding the folder up so the two could see it. "We finished it just a few minutes ago - that is to say, they finished it, since I just sorta watched them. I haven't gotten a good look at it, really, so you'll just have to see it for yerself. A lot of it is just a bunch of indecipherable medical jargon that an average joe like me wouldn't be able to understand. Funny, as I've been around here for a while and I still haven't learned the medical lingo... maybe I should learn..."
Jenn cleared her throat, interrupting Mick in mid-sentence. "Please, Mick, could you just give us the report already?" she said, sounding a little annoyed. "I've been working nonstop for the past six hours, and I think my stomach is gonna end up digesting itself if I don't eat something soon."
"Alright, alright!" an offended Mick exclaimed. "No need to be snippy, Miss Jenn. Patience is a virtue, you know." He offered her the large paper-stuffed folder with an extended arm. "Here ya go. I'll let the two of you explain to me what the hell is going on with this Vile fellah. I think it probably was just a bump on the head somewheres down the road, but what do I know."
In earnest, Jenn snatched the folder from the mechanic's hand and began pawing through its many pages. As she started to carefully read through it, her eyes began to widen and a mixed expression of shock and confusion spread across her face, with her cheeks growing pale. She began double-checking the pages she was reading, as if it were hard to believe if the report was actually truthful. She looked rather unnerved by it.
"D... Doctor?" she stammered awkwardly. "Um... you probably should have... have a look at this... very, very interesting..."
Without hesitation, the elderly doctor took the folder from Jenn and also looked through it. Soon enough, he saw exactly what his colleague had been so shocked about - the report he was holding contained some highly volatile information on the reformed version of Vile, most of which had come as a complete surprise to him. Surely, he knew Vile had undergone some drastic changes, but not this drastic... it was almost completely indetectable from an outside viewpoint...
"Oh... oh my," Cain muttered. "But... how? I thought the program we developed years ago had enough power to prevent this sort of thing... I can't imagine it backfiring on us like this..."
Jenn nodded, in a similar state of shock Cain was in. "I just about as confused as you are, doctor," she stated. "I haven't been around here long enough to know exactly what happened in pre-Maverick War times, so you probably understand what's going on better than I do... but I'm still pretty shocked by it... it really doesn't seem plausible..."
Mick furrowed his brow in confusion. "What're you guys running off about?" he questioned. "Something in that report that I kinda missed out on, or what?"
Cain straightened his expression to its normal, calm look. "Err... nothing for you to worry about now, Mick," he reassured the mechanic. "Listen up, the both of you - I need to take this information with me for a little while, so I can have the time to fully analyze it. I'm fully aware of the gist of it, however. Therefore, I think it needs to be shared with X, Zero, and the others. They certainly have a right to know about it." He motioned towards Mick. "Mick, I want you to take a break for a little while and go meet up with the other mechanics. They or Jenn will fill you in on Vile's situation in due time. And Jenn, I'd like you to keep an eye on Vile for me while I head outside for a little bit. I promise you that I'll let you have a break from work when I'm finished sorting things out."
Jenn nodded eagerly. "Shouldn't be a problem."
Mick shrugged. "Fine with me," he replied.
"Good, good," Cain finalized. "If the two of you need me, I'll be outside telling some of our commanding officers the dirt... and hopefully, they'll take it lightly."
Cain paused for a moment, noticing that Mick and Jenn were giving him awkward glances.
"Oh, who am I kidding?" Cain muttered, turning towards the door. "X'll probably throw a fit over it, Zero'll make some snide remarks, and Wiedl... Lord knows what he'll have to say about the whole thing. But I reckon that can't be helped, eh?"
"Hey, anybody got a breath mint or something? Maybe a Tic-Tac or two...?"
Zero surveyed the parrameter of the small medical waiting room he and his comrades were lazing in, and saw that X, Glacier, and Wiedl were all completely uninterested in what Zero had to say. Realizing this, he decided to give it another shot.
"Alrighty then," he reasoned. "How about some gum? Huh? Anybody got one measly stick of gum?"
No response.
"Anybody? Anybody at all?"
Again, nothing.
"Well, then screw the whole lot of you," he snapped, frowning in dismay. He turned to a silent Wiedl, who was calmly seated next to him. "Wieeeedl..." he coaxed. "You'll let me have a stick of gum, right? You're a generous fellah, right? You'd spare me some gum, or at the very least, a breath mint. Right, Wiedl? It's a simple request, really."
The ex-general scoffed and chuckled to himself. "Now, c'mon now, Zero! What do I look like, your grandmother? I don't just give you things just because you ask for them, or because you've been a 'good little boy'. You've gotta apply yourself, Zero! Can't live your whole life asking people for things all the time, having them do all the work for you! You're old enough to take care of yourself. You're responsible. Isn't that right, Zero?"
Zero shot a baffled glance at the massive nutcase. "Well, first off, if I had a grandmother, you probably would look like her," he mused. "And secondly, I'm perfectly responsible for my own actions, and I don't think requesting a piece of gum from a colleague is really justified as being 'irresponsible'."
"Well, you have to think about that, Zero!" Wiedl began again. "From what I know, you've been taught your whole life to just depend on others! That's what a lot of recruits do around here, if I'm not mistaken. Just look at your friend, X. He got his bee-hind whooped quite a bit during the last three wars, and as I understand, you were forced to either blow yourself into tiny, charred atoms, or suffer from a fatal wound. And the way I see it, he's still like that. If you ask me, that's just pure incompetence on Mr. Mega's part, not considering the feelings of his friends."
An angered grunt was heard from the opposite side of the room. "Hey, Captain Intellegence!" cried X, who had been sitting on the floor against the wall quietly before hearing Wiedl's sly remarks. "Just in case you're totally blind or you have an IQ of five (or both...), I happen to be sitting right over here! As in right near you...!"
Before the raged warrior could continue, Zero raised a yielding hand which seemed to signal 'let-me-handle-this'. He grinned smugly. "Well, Mister Wiedl..." he began, the ridicule rising in his voice. "I understand how wonderfully 'golden' your sage advice is. In fact, me, X, and the rest of the entire building would like to take you up on your advisement. It would ensure our future... our fate would be sealed, in fact. We'd all end up in the same glorious state as you. We'd be heading towards the golden age, my friend! We'd all be a bunch of irritating, unintellegent hicks with absolutely no friggin' lifestyle at all besides sitting in our tiny little offices buried deep underneath the earth's crust, with a robotic pet spider as our only companions. And, when in contact with the outside world, we'll spend our time belittling almost anybody we view as younger and vulnerable, just to give a good 'ol fashioned Viagra-style boost to our self-esteem. Finally, the birth of a new age of braindead slobs! That'll just be fan-diddly-tastic, now won't it, Mister Peedl, sir?"
Zero inhaled a bit of fresh air into his artifical lungs and cracked his knuckles in finality. Wiedl, after a brief hesitation to register every little insult Zero had forcefully tossed at him, his only real response was a small giggle. "Yeah, Zero..." he muttered. "You're... you're quite funny, my friend. A good sense of humor..."
Zero grunted. "Yeah, Wiedl. I'm funny. Funny like a clown, even," he snapped sarcastically. "Jebus Jahosophat, how much longer is it gonna take for Cainey to get his sorry hide out here? X, you've got watch on, right? Tell us how long it's been, good buddy."
X nonchalantly shook his head. "No luck. Chances are left it back in the room. I think it might be cluttered with all of the other crap that haunts the unlurkable hell which resides under my bed. But out of estimation... I'd say that we've been scraping our butts with cold steel for about... oh, say 2 n' a half to 3 hours, at the least. And if you count the time we waited during the conference with Vile, I'd say it could probably shoot up to four and a half, tops. But then again, it's just an estimate."
The scarlet Hunter glanced over to Glacier Dragoon, who was resting silently on a small bench across from him. He hadn't spoken a word since they had moved from the interrogation room to the medical ward, and he currently hadn't voiced any response to Zero's anti-Wiedl rant.
"Hey, X," Zero said. "Err... what's with Glaish over there? He dead or something?"
X glanced over to the slumbering reploid. "I reckon he's sleeping," he commented. "Hasn't made a peep since we got here. Dunno what he's so tired about, though. Just a few hours ago, he was piping with energy."
Zero looked stern. "You think he can hear us?"
X shrugged. "Don't think so."
Zero glanced at Wiedl, who currently had his back turned to the other wall and was resting his chin in his hand, looking a little defeated. In this state, he obviously wouldn't give a whoop in hell about what X and Zero were conversing.
Zero started. "X, have you happened to see Magma around lately? Out of curiosity?"
X scratched his head. "Err... no, not lately. Last I saw him, it was when he was doing light training with his squad. He was acting a little pissy, though. There was some human in his unit he wouldn't stop pestering, and eventually the poor kid stormed out in anger tearfully. It was kinda disturbing to watch, but I chose not to say anything about it."
Zero nodded. "Honestly, that guy is really starting to give me the creeps."
"Why so?"
He pushed part of his blonde ponytail off of his shouldler. "Well... it's just that since the last war, he's been acting really awkward. I mean, he hasn't exactly been your average Johnny Normal since he's been here, but lately he's been acting even more irritated and moody than before. He hasn't left his quarters for anything other than routine training sessions, and even then his communication is limited to cursing at his recruits. And he's gotten more malicious, too, and I don't even wanna know where that's happily gonna lead. I saw him knock Glaish to the ground and ready another attack. Thank Zeus I walked in there just in time... I didn't like that look on his face."
X began to understand Zero's point. "So... what you're hinting at is that he may end up hurting somebody sometime soon?"
"He already has hurt somebody. Glaish," he stated. "What I'm really worried about is that he might end up seriously hurting somebody. Y'know, killin' em."
The blue-hued Hunter had to think about this for a moment. He hadn't been in the room to see exactly what happened during the conflict with the Dragoons, but Zero's story sounded convincing enough. X had never really viewed Magma as an extremely violent person when he had first arrived with Glacier a year before the third Maverick War, when they were just rookie Hunters. But over the years, he gained something of an ego along the way, winning some extrordinary battles during the third war and eventually taking the helm of the Hunters' 14th Grapple Combat Unit. The more timid and peaceful Glacier, however, hadn't managed to keep up with his brother's pace and ended up becoming much more separated from him than before. He proved to have rather excellent combat skills in the long run, however, and Cain managed to land him a spot as Commander of the Hunters' 12th Stealth Combat Unit. And now, it seemed as if Magma had somehow conjured up the illusion that those who don't measure up to his standards are worthless. But would he really turn on his own brother like that? Was he that egotistical?
"Yeah... I kinda see what you're getting at," he commented.
Zero nodded. "I'm also worried about Glacier. The kid's kinda naive... I'm afraid he might get himself into some kind of lousy situation with a slim chance of escape. Not to talk sourly of him or anything... but I just think me might be stressed 'bout something. I dunno if it's about his brother or anything..."
Before either could really say anymore, the creaky door of Vile's small medical room opened up. The small figure of Dr. Cain finally walked out into the tiny waiting room, with a large folder nestled in his hands. An earnest grin came across his face when he saw the four watching him intently from their seats. "Well... nice to see you four again. How're things?" he asked softly.
"Pretty friggin' boring, mein friend," Zero snapped. "About damn time you showed your face. We've been waiting here for quite a while."
Cain nodded. "Yes... well, it's been quite a long procedure." He pulled up a chair from the side of the room and took a seat next to X. "I believe Vile is looking much better since he came here, and we're finally getting some kind of understanding as to why Vile seeks redemption in the first place. He's resting very peacefully now... I don't want to put him into contact with the rest of the building until we get a better understanding of him."
"Alright, alright..." X replied impatiently. "Let's get to the report already, Cainey. What's really happening with Vile? Is he loused up, or did he get a dent in his head somehow, or what?"
The elderly doctor raised his eyebrows. "Erm, well... I guess I shouldn't shield you guys from the real information any longer, should I? N'kay, lesse here... now, this has to do with something I haven't really told anybody about, so it would be wise for you all to keep your mouths shut about it. It has to do with Vile... Vile's power."
He opened up the large folder and began flipping through the pages, while X and Zero watched on intently (for some reason, Wiedl was directing his attention mostly to a small yo-yo he had found in the city dump earlier on). "Alright, now... as you know, Vile was not created for the purpose of destruction; when I designed him, he was meant to uphold peace as much as he possibly could, for the sake of reploid and humankind, though not so much as to convert to pacifism. He would still be our ally, and an integral one at that, and he would be one of our masterful Hunter elites in the 17th Elite Unit. When I developed his skills, I gave him a great knack for Ride Armors, and excellent precision with his shoulder-mounted cannon that would ultimately serve as his prime and most essential weapon. His helmet, durable and impenetrable, would serve as his only real face but would provide the upmost protection. At first glance, it seemed impossible that a soldier of his caliber would ever become a failed experiment." He let out a longing sigh. "But alas, things went haywire the moment he was first activated. Havoc ensued - he became a killing machine, a destroyer of both human and machine life. At first, this seemed improbable, until I finally discovered the meat of my mistake; a glitch, a horrific glitch that swallowed all of the goodness Vile could ever possibly possess and turned him to the life devouring monster he had become. With that evil came a power - a terribly large power, one that could've even managed to fall Sigma if given the chance. I knew that he had to be subdued somehow, and luckily for me, the cleverness of one of own young Hunters managed to drug him with an extremely powerful serum (no matter powerful he was, he could easily succumb to it). Vile, or "Vava" as I previously called him, was marked forever as an total failure on my part, as was deactivated in his sleep. I then was able to create a neutralization program - one part of it would lower his power to a much more reasonable level, and the other would keep his neural systems, such as his brain, under complete control. After installing the program into his systems, we finally sealed him in an isolated chamber, never to be used again unless for total emergency purposes. I thought that it would remain that way, but as you obviously all know, I was very wrong indeed."
He shuffled through some more pages of his folder, skipping the tiny details. X and Zero were very intrigued about Vile's origin, since they had not heard much about it when they were rookies.
"Of course, you should know the next part of the story," Cain continued. "When Sigma finally turned to the Dark Side, he remembered Vile's quarry and found a way to break him out of confinement and rerelease him into the world once again - though he would still remain a posable threat, the program kept him under control, and he never was able to cause too much damage. He also had no real memory left of his chaotic past, so he never seeked any kind of restoration in terms of power. So we were cautious with him, and managed to destroy him. Then came along Doppler during the third war... he was extremely ambitious with Vile's power, but he didn't dare release all of his potential, for fear that the Maverick's hateful nature would eventually lead to his downfall. So he kept the program intact, but not before making some minor upgrades to Vile's weapons, defense, and Ride Armor. Eventually, Vile abandoned Doppler's laboratory and went searching for you two, but soon returned after causing quite a bit of damage in the city during his watch. Then came his second downfall, the one we thought would be his last. But now, apparently, his body has managed to stay intact throughout this entire ordeal, and somebody found him, tinkered with him, and released him once again... and somehow, that power he once had is finally awakened again."
X, though obviously shocked, still seemed a bit puzzled. "But... who would turn Vile into this 'Sunshine' character, release all his power, and then shove him out the door to live on his own? Ain't that just a little odd...?"
Cain nodded in agreement. "Yes... I had asked myself the same thing. But there's only one really logical explanation for it... whoever revived him obviously didn't intend on him turning out this way. Now, let me explain. Vile was under the control of a program which prevented him from reaching any kind of dangerous amount of energy. Before he was recently reactivated, the people who were responsible for it decided to tinker with this program, their main objective being to remove it from his central power source. And they succeded in doing so. However, they didn't cover all their tracks - half of the program regulated Vile's neural systems, which remained untouched. So the big twist to the story is this - somehow, the half that was meant to regulate his awesome power migrated to his neural systems. Combine that with the neutralization the other half, and you have the full program limiting his brain power, and absolutely nothing limiting his physical abilities. Because of his cranial limit, he can no longer entertain ideas of pain, suffering, hatred, et cetera et cetera. It's all just forgotten memories to him, and they mean nothing now. Thus his new pacifistic, happy-go-lucky mood."
X and Zero's eyes widened. This was really something to take in. For all they knew, Vile could've been completely dominant over them in terms of power, from the description given by Cain. It was extremely interesting to hear.
"Now, I bet you're wondering about Vile's little episode in the interrogation room. Well, the program isn't exactly a happy one at the moment - half is stuck up in the brain, and is trying desperately to return home to Vile's central nerve center. So as it attempts to turn back, memories seem to flood Mr. Sunshine's mind, and eventually the feelings of hatred and woe begin to seep slowly back in, though not quite enough to convert him back to his previous ways. So in short, though Vile is currently harmless due to his docile nature, he's extremely unbalanced and glooped up in the head, and I fear that any more tinkering with him could accidentally remove the program completely. And from then on, things would really not be good for us. So it's best to keep him as he is, at least for the time being."
Zero gave him an odd look. "Well, sir? You done?"
Cain rubbed his chin. "Yes, that's pretty much it."
X nodded, awestruck. "Wow. That was one hell of a little speech."
"Well, it's just a composition of all of the information we have now," he finalized. "I'm sure that, in due time, we'll find out more information about this mystery. We just need to be patient. But for now, I'd like all of you to promise that you don't leak this information to any other Hunters, no matter how tempted you are. They'll learn about it in time, I assure you. Agreed?"
The two nodded, and Cain glanced over to Wiedl. "Wiedl?" Cain questioned. "Do you agree as well?"
A half-occupied Wiedl turned to face Cain. "Whuh...? Oh, the Vile thingy... sure, sure. Lips zipped, doctor."
The doctor nodded. "Good. Now, I'm going to dismiss all of you for the time being... Vile's going to get some rests for a little longer, and then we're going to get to a fun part of our little fiasco - combat testing. I know Vile's not really into violent combat anymore, but I think he'll agree to some basic training runs. So I'll see the rest of you later, you may return to your quarters and do as you wish. You can explain it to Glacier later on, since he obviously was taking a small nap during my talk." He lifted himself up from the chair and headed for the medical room door. "I'll see all of you later. Have a nice rest of the day."
With that, the elderly man exited through the medical door and shut it tightly behind him.
"Hey, Glaish. Wake up there, buddy."
Glaicer Dragoon looked up hazily from the cold bench he was silently resting on. There was X, his hand on his shoulder, gently shaking Glacier's body. The Dragoon uncurled his body and sat up to almost meet X at eye level. "What... what happened?" he muttered.
"Cain came out," X explained. "He told us everything about Vile and how his report came out... very interesting, indeed. Anyways, he dismissed us a few minutes ago, and Zero left with Wiedl already. I think you missed the entire conversation, no?"
Glacier sighed. "Yeah... I did, I guess."
X shrugged. "Meh, don't worry about it. How 'bout this... meet me in the lobby in about fifteen minutes, and I promise I'll explain everything to ya there. That alright with you, buddy?"
The Dragoon stared to the floor. "Yeah... yeah, I guess so."
"Alrighty then. I'll just be off." He advanced towards the exit on the opposite side of the room. "Don't be late, n'kay? I'll meet ya then." With that, he exited.
Glaicer stared blankly at the wall for a little while, in sort of a meaningless gaze. Though he had been in a deep state of sleep most of the time, he had heard little tidbits of random conversations - more importantly, he heard a great deal of the conversation Zero had started with X moments before Cain had entered the room. It was the conversation that finally sealed his fear; they obviously had noticed the same thing that he had a few weeks back.
Of course... it made sense. Zero must have noticed that same look of threatening malicious intent that he himself had seen in his brother while he was helplessly wounded on the ground. At least now, he was certain that he wasn't just seeing things - that was a killer instinct that had invaded his brother's eyes, no doubt in his mind, and he could've easily carried out a fatal task if he so desired. Did Magma Dragoon, his brother and companion for many years, have been corrupted by an unyielding ego and lust for power? And would he really view Glacier as worthless, and eventually dispose of him...?
No... no, he didn't want to think about it. He already was plauged with the enitre Vile ordeal, and he certainly didn't want this torturing him during his free time. No, he would take his free time to relax with some of his comrades, and try to straighten his life out a little bit. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he would work things out, somehow. Who knew? Maybe things would turn out okay for him in the long run after all...
...only time will tell, I guess, he thought. But I just need to get it off my mind, let time take its course, go and have a small talk with X and Zero... and things'll be alright.