=====Chapter 2: Return of the Scientist=====
Dateline: May 28, 2147 -- UWN Private Passenger Jet
Alia yawned and stretched, awakening from her recharge sequence--or, in more human terms, 'sleep'. She glanced over to the clock on the plane's wall, not bothering to check her internal chronometer; the bright red numbers read 3:47.
"You're awake," came a voice from the couch across from her.
Alia looked over at the other passenger in the lounge-like room of the plane. "Yeah. You still here?"
A nod. "There isn't much interesting to do on this plane; I prefer a laboratory myself, and the computers here don't have uplinks to any information networks... if there are any functioning. Douglas--that's his name, right?--is off looking at the engine. Signas, I think he's in the cockpit."
"Correction," said a voice from the doorway, "I WAS looking at the engine." Douglas strolled into the room and sat down on one of the unoccupied couches--a normal couch to never hope to support a mechanical Reploid, but these weren't precisely normal couches. Although they appeared normal to the naked eye, they were actually very strong and heavily reinforced on the inside. The cushioning was so that humans using the couches would feel comfortable. "Quite frankly, I'm surprised this thing is actually flying. That engine looks like it's about to fall apart."
Alia frowned a bit; she'd been looking forwards to having an extended talk with the plane's fourth passenger in private. She reminded herself that Douglas hadn't planned on his entrance being inconvenient, and tried to hide her disappointment. "You know," she said, "I think I saw a repair kit somewhere near the back of the plane when we got on. You might be able to fix up the engine with that."
Douglas reacted almost exactly as Alia predicted; he couldn't resist the idea of fixing a machine. "Really?" he asked, "I think I'll go see about that. Thanks for the tip!" He rose from the couch, the foam-like cushions gradually re-shaping themselves as the massive weight was removed from them.
"So..." said Alia, once Douglas had left.
"So," responded the Reploid across from her.
The room was filled for a few moments with an awkward silence, which was broken as the door to the cockpit swung open, heralding Signas' entry. "The pilot says we should be arriving within the hour."
"Good," murmured the fourth passenger. "It will be interesting to meet X and Zero under better terms..."
---------------
Dateline: May 28, 2147 -- Tokyo City Ruins, 4:53 PM
X leaned against a nearby mostly-intact building, surveying the state of repairs around him. This was the last section of the city to actually be cleared of rubble; after that, the rebuilding could begin in earnest. Fortunately, Alia would be arriving any day now, and according to her letter there would also be help from the UWN with rebuilding. The overall morale of both Hunters and Refugees had been steadily rising since it was announced that help would be arriving, and the miasma of depression that had plagued them all was slowly but surely lifting.
X's musings were rudely interrupted by a yell of "Hey, X!" X turned around to see his friend Zero dashing towards him.
"So," X said when Zero arrived, "What's the occasion? Or have you finally decided to help us with rebuilding your city."
"You wish," Zero chuckled. "Look up there!" he pointed upwards in a generally northeastern direction. Surely enough, there was a grayish dot in the sky, quickly getting larger.
"Is that...?" X left the question hanging.
"I'd be willing to bet that it is," Zero said. "Looks like they're finally going to be here."
The two stood there, watching and waiting; the plane had apparently been mostly unnoticed, since there was no throng gathering to watch it. The two proved to be very fortuitously positioned, as the plane slowly came to a standstill above the ground not fifty feet away.
"Must be one of those fancy new hoverjet things," Zero murmured as he ran off to meet the plane.
Signas was the first to exit the plane when it landed on the ground and the exit hatch opened. X and Zero crisply saluted, and Signas returned their salute, accompanied with a grin.
"Good to have you back, sir," X said, a wide smile running across his face.
"Good to BE back," Signas added, walking down the ramp, briefly shaking hands with the two as he arrived on the ground.
"So, where are the others?" asked Zero.
"They'll be here in a--ah, there's Douglas right now!" And sure enough, Douglas was in the process of disembarking, muttering something about a 'stupid engine' and 'low-quality tools'.
He looked up from his grumblings to see the three Reploids waiting for him. "Ah! There you are! We would've been here quicker if that darned engine actually WORKED! I'm surprised we didn't blow up in mid-flight."
"Well hello to you too," X said with a slight chuckle.
And finally, Alia disembarked. "Hi X! Hi Zero!" she called, running down the ramp to meet them and exchange cordial handshakes with each.
"So," X said, "Where's that big surprise you promised us?"
"Oh yeah," Alia said. "I believe you've all met," she gestured towards the entrance hatch of the plane.
Zero nearly choked. "Gate?!"
---------------
"So," Zero said, "You're back from the dead," his hand instinctively drifted to the hilt of his beam saber.
"Please," Gate said, his voice calm, "I'm unarmed, and I assure you that I am in full possession of my faculties, unlike last time we met."
"Wait a minute," X said, looking questioningly at Alia, "I thought you said he was damaged beyond repair?"
"Well," said Alia, "It actually looks like I was wrong about that. He had a backup to all his programming that was more or less undamaged."
"Indeed," murmured Gate, walking down off the ramp. "Don't worry," he added, noting the hostile looks he was receiving from his former adversaries, "As I said, I'm unarmed, and considerably less insane. It seems that the virus was purged from my systems when you defeated me."
"Whatever," muttered Zero, "but if it you try some stupid stunt like your Nightmare again..." he left the threat hanging ominously.
Gate chuckled lightly, "Don't worry, don't worry. I'm a pacifist now, and I'd like to remind you that I had no control over my actions while the virus had control of my systems... you should know all about that, Zero."
Zero's eyes narrow for a moment; he then turned and walked off without a word.
"That was uncalled for," X said, glaring at Gate.
Gate shrugged, "Perhaps, perhaps not. However, it is foolish to accuse others of crimes which you are not innocent of."
X grunted, and then turned to follow his friend Zero. Douglas cleared his throat nervously. "Well, um, I'll just go check out the gadgets around here, or something...Coming, Signas?" His commander nodded, and the two also headed off.
"Y'know," Alia said, frowning, "You should really be more polite. I mean, they DID save you afterwards."
Gate nodded. "You have a point..."
Alia nodded. "Okay, so just try and get along with them... for me?"
Gate looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "An odd request...but alright. For your sake, I'll try to stay out of trouble."
========================================
And now, chapter 2 is over. Yeah. Over, as in, finished, as in, not still going on, as in, you'll have to wait until chapter 3 for anything more. Ph33r.
Well, that's all I've got to say for now...
So, this is the Met of Mega, signing out.
Dateline: May 28, 2147 -- UWN Private Passenger Jet
Alia yawned and stretched, awakening from her recharge sequence--or, in more human terms, 'sleep'. She glanced over to the clock on the plane's wall, not bothering to check her internal chronometer; the bright red numbers read 3:47.
"You're awake," came a voice from the couch across from her.
Alia looked over at the other passenger in the lounge-like room of the plane. "Yeah. You still here?"
A nod. "There isn't much interesting to do on this plane; I prefer a laboratory myself, and the computers here don't have uplinks to any information networks... if there are any functioning. Douglas--that's his name, right?--is off looking at the engine. Signas, I think he's in the cockpit."
"Correction," said a voice from the doorway, "I WAS looking at the engine." Douglas strolled into the room and sat down on one of the unoccupied couches--a normal couch to never hope to support a mechanical Reploid, but these weren't precisely normal couches. Although they appeared normal to the naked eye, they were actually very strong and heavily reinforced on the inside. The cushioning was so that humans using the couches would feel comfortable. "Quite frankly, I'm surprised this thing is actually flying. That engine looks like it's about to fall apart."
Alia frowned a bit; she'd been looking forwards to having an extended talk with the plane's fourth passenger in private. She reminded herself that Douglas hadn't planned on his entrance being inconvenient, and tried to hide her disappointment. "You know," she said, "I think I saw a repair kit somewhere near the back of the plane when we got on. You might be able to fix up the engine with that."
Douglas reacted almost exactly as Alia predicted; he couldn't resist the idea of fixing a machine. "Really?" he asked, "I think I'll go see about that. Thanks for the tip!" He rose from the couch, the foam-like cushions gradually re-shaping themselves as the massive weight was removed from them.
"So..." said Alia, once Douglas had left.
"So," responded the Reploid across from her.
The room was filled for a few moments with an awkward silence, which was broken as the door to the cockpit swung open, heralding Signas' entry. "The pilot says we should be arriving within the hour."
"Good," murmured the fourth passenger. "It will be interesting to meet X and Zero under better terms..."
---------------
Dateline: May 28, 2147 -- Tokyo City Ruins, 4:53 PM
X leaned against a nearby mostly-intact building, surveying the state of repairs around him. This was the last section of the city to actually be cleared of rubble; after that, the rebuilding could begin in earnest. Fortunately, Alia would be arriving any day now, and according to her letter there would also be help from the UWN with rebuilding. The overall morale of both Hunters and Refugees had been steadily rising since it was announced that help would be arriving, and the miasma of depression that had plagued them all was slowly but surely lifting.
X's musings were rudely interrupted by a yell of "Hey, X!" X turned around to see his friend Zero dashing towards him.
"So," X said when Zero arrived, "What's the occasion? Or have you finally decided to help us with rebuilding your city."
"You wish," Zero chuckled. "Look up there!" he pointed upwards in a generally northeastern direction. Surely enough, there was a grayish dot in the sky, quickly getting larger.
"Is that...?" X left the question hanging.
"I'd be willing to bet that it is," Zero said. "Looks like they're finally going to be here."
The two stood there, watching and waiting; the plane had apparently been mostly unnoticed, since there was no throng gathering to watch it. The two proved to be very fortuitously positioned, as the plane slowly came to a standstill above the ground not fifty feet away.
"Must be one of those fancy new hoverjet things," Zero murmured as he ran off to meet the plane.
Signas was the first to exit the plane when it landed on the ground and the exit hatch opened. X and Zero crisply saluted, and Signas returned their salute, accompanied with a grin.
"Good to have you back, sir," X said, a wide smile running across his face.
"Good to BE back," Signas added, walking down the ramp, briefly shaking hands with the two as he arrived on the ground.
"So, where are the others?" asked Zero.
"They'll be here in a--ah, there's Douglas right now!" And sure enough, Douglas was in the process of disembarking, muttering something about a 'stupid engine' and 'low-quality tools'.
He looked up from his grumblings to see the three Reploids waiting for him. "Ah! There you are! We would've been here quicker if that darned engine actually WORKED! I'm surprised we didn't blow up in mid-flight."
"Well hello to you too," X said with a slight chuckle.
And finally, Alia disembarked. "Hi X! Hi Zero!" she called, running down the ramp to meet them and exchange cordial handshakes with each.
"So," X said, "Where's that big surprise you promised us?"
"Oh yeah," Alia said. "I believe you've all met," she gestured towards the entrance hatch of the plane.
Zero nearly choked. "Gate?!"
---------------
"So," Zero said, "You're back from the dead," his hand instinctively drifted to the hilt of his beam saber.
"Please," Gate said, his voice calm, "I'm unarmed, and I assure you that I am in full possession of my faculties, unlike last time we met."
"Wait a minute," X said, looking questioningly at Alia, "I thought you said he was damaged beyond repair?"
"Well," said Alia, "It actually looks like I was wrong about that. He had a backup to all his programming that was more or less undamaged."
"Indeed," murmured Gate, walking down off the ramp. "Don't worry," he added, noting the hostile looks he was receiving from his former adversaries, "As I said, I'm unarmed, and considerably less insane. It seems that the virus was purged from my systems when you defeated me."
"Whatever," muttered Zero, "but if it you try some stupid stunt like your Nightmare again..." he left the threat hanging ominously.
Gate chuckled lightly, "Don't worry, don't worry. I'm a pacifist now, and I'd like to remind you that I had no control over my actions while the virus had control of my systems... you should know all about that, Zero."
Zero's eyes narrow for a moment; he then turned and walked off without a word.
"That was uncalled for," X said, glaring at Gate.
Gate shrugged, "Perhaps, perhaps not. However, it is foolish to accuse others of crimes which you are not innocent of."
X grunted, and then turned to follow his friend Zero. Douglas cleared his throat nervously. "Well, um, I'll just go check out the gadgets around here, or something...Coming, Signas?" His commander nodded, and the two also headed off.
"Y'know," Alia said, frowning, "You should really be more polite. I mean, they DID save you afterwards."
Gate nodded. "You have a point..."
Alia nodded. "Okay, so just try and get along with them... for me?"
Gate looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "An odd request...but alright. For your sake, I'll try to stay out of trouble."
========================================
And now, chapter 2 is over. Yeah. Over, as in, finished, as in, not still going on, as in, you'll have to wait until chapter 3 for anything more. Ph33r.
Well, that's all I've got to say for now...
So, this is the Met of Mega, signing out.