"I never thought I'd see the day when we'd be playing with a puzzle rather than running out to find Zero." Alia said, as she spread out the pieces down onto X's desk.
"Yeah." X said, picking up a few of the pieces and looking at them closely.
"Where do you suppose Dymano picked up something like this?" Alia asked, trying to latch two pieces together without much success.
"The toy store?"
"I doubt it. There's something wierd about this set. It seems familiar, for some strange reason."
"Whoa!" Alia gasped as the two pieces she had been holding began to glow a painful red. She dropped them onto the desk, where they instantly cooled.
X picked up the two pieces herself, curious. "What happened?"
"I was about to put those two together and they started to burn into my hands." She stared at the gloves, which showed minor burn marks.
X frowned, trying the two pieces herself. The two clicked together smoothly, and after perhaps a few seconds, the metal surface of the two pieces warped, seamlessly linking the two pieces into one.
"How did you do that?" Alia asked.
"I'd like to know that myself."
A quick call to a nearby guard and a few more minutes of testing proved it. Every time someone almost succeeded in placing two pieces together, thier hands would burn as the pieces overheated themselves. On top of that, X learned in annoyance, each time that happened, the previously set pieces would shatter, leaving him to start from the beginning once again. Only X, somehow, could safely piece the puzzle together.
"You know, Alia, I don't think Dynamo found this a a toy store anymore."
"Yeah. Do we have the technology to build something like this?" Alia asked Douglas, who she had called down to analyze and test the puzzle.
"Not here. I don't know about elsewhere, but definitely not here." Douglas replied. "If we did, transfering important documents would be a lot easier."
***
Dynamo smiled, sitting leisurely atop of one of the old, abandoned skyscrapers of the ill-fated Doppler Town. It's economy had weakened horribly after the loss of a respecable leader, the original Doppler going mad under Sigma's control, and after the later damage to the planetary surface from falling debris, the devastated city had all but been abandoned. It made it a great spot for being alone, or if you wanted cheap, affordable real estate, if you could stand the depressing atmosphere.
"Cool view." he said to himself. "X's head would be nice, too. Maybe I'll bring it here. A hallowed gift for this town of the dead."
Dynamo giggled.
A deep, yet faintly wheezy voice wafted out of the skyscraper. Behind it, Isoc's white bulk stepped softly out.
"Interesting thought. I doubt the late Dr. Doppler would much mind." Isoc remarked, a sarcastic laugh on his lips.
"Ah. Isoc. You made it! I was getting bored." Dynamo tapped his foot to illustrate.
"I take it then, by your devil-may-care attitude, that you succeeded in the task." Isoc asked harshly.
"Could you expect anything less from me?" Dynamo's wide smile mirrored the question. "Yep. I gave it to one of the Hunters. Wierd little girl, looked kinda like X herself. A little sweet talking and a heavy hand made it all too easy."
Dynamo laughed. "You should have seen her. Frozen in place like a deer."
"Oh, yeah." He reached behind him, pulled out a small datacard. With a broad sweep of his arm, he tossed the disc towards Isoc, whom snapped out of his usual slow stupor to catch the disc neatly. "There's the virus data you wanted. Didn't have much chance to use it, mind you."
"Not a problem." Isoc said evenly. "I need to know how it reacts to inactivity as well. Don't go using too much of it, Dynamo. I wouldn't want you to end up dead."
"Feh." Dynamo scoffed.
"Now...Zero. Where is he? I need to begin my tests."
"Out cold in an old warehouse. Say...That kid of yours. He did give him the right treatment when he swapped the anti-virus, right?"
"He should have. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing important. I just don't want Zero waking up while I'm not there." Suddenly, he frowned and looked around. "Where's that kid, anyway? We could just ask him."
"Out on assignment. He's surprisingly efficient. An excellent find." Isoc replied.
"Maybe so." Dynamo replied. He cocked his head to the side. "You having him collect data for you, too?"
"No."
"Good." Dynamo said with obvious pleasure. "What's so special about that box anyway? The one you had me deliver?"
"I can't say." Isoc said, his face a mask. "It should be a pleasant surprise for you, though."
Laughing, Isoc turned and walked back inside the skyscraper's stairwell. Dynamo watched as Isoc vanished into the building.
"Heh. Whatever." Dynamo grinned. Violent energy, filled in deep violet and greasy black, seeped from his hands. It landed on the building with a snapping hiss.
"I'll take whatever you throw at me next time, X. This time, this time..." He trailed off, giggling. He took off at a run and leap off of the building.
The future would be interesting indeed.
***
Back in her room, X's circuitry was in overdrive, trying to figure out how to piece together the puzzle. So far, she had made some progress - perhaps a quarter of the pieces were now joined - but it seemed that whomever had created the puzzle had intended for it to stay unsolved for a long time. Several times, X had placed in pieces, only to watch as the entire puzzle changed before her eyes. Then she would put in another piece, and another, only find out doing so that one of the older pieces had somehow broken loose from the main puzzle. Trying to fit them back in, it seemed impossible that they had ever fit at all.
"Gah...." X groaned. "This is taking forever. Any luck finding Zero, Alia?"
"No sign so far. The only thing unusual we've heard..." Alia paused. "...involves the vigilante group Red Alert."
"What did they do this time?" X asked, rolling her eyes.
"They're dead. The whole group. Someone ambushed them as they were traveling. The whole group's been decimated." Alia replied. "Red himself amung them."
X looked crestfallen. "Why..."
"I don't know. The evidence there is so confusing."
"No...why is it, that they died, just like that? Vigilante or no...violent or no...our goals were still the same. They did not deserve that."
"Darn it all!" X screamed. "I never even met the group, and they're already dead! I wanted...I wanted to meet them...to ask them..." She collapsed on the desk.
"I wanted to see whether they really...hated...us..." X trailed off, holding back tears that were more than just for the fallen vigilantes.
The room was silent. X lay half-weeping on the desk. "Why...what has happened to me? Why...why can't I keep my emotions in? Something help me!"
Lying off to the side, the scattered silver puzzle responded. Niether Alia nor X could see anything different with the puzzle. Yet, this time, X picked up a single piece, and placed in against the puzzle. In snapped and fused into place with a quiet click.
Another piece followed that one, and another one after that. X stared at the puzzle, astonished. "What's going on? All of the sudden, this puzzle seems so obvious."
Alia turned her sharp eye towards the remaining pieces, which were beginning to drop in number. "It's almost as if the puzzle suddenly wants to be solved."
She gazed at X, whom suddenly seemed transformed, filled with renewed belief. The puzzle had changed from a useless trinket into something completely different. With each piece, X seemed to calm. It was as if X was piecing together hope itself.
Then, finally, X held the final piece. She held the two parts of the puzzle, which now appeared as an 6-sided double pyramid, and closed her eyes.
"Please, help me find Zero! Please!" She asked, and there was one final click.
***
"Yeah." X said, picking up a few of the pieces and looking at them closely.
"Where do you suppose Dymano picked up something like this?" Alia asked, trying to latch two pieces together without much success.
"The toy store?"
"I doubt it. There's something wierd about this set. It seems familiar, for some strange reason."
"Whoa!" Alia gasped as the two pieces she had been holding began to glow a painful red. She dropped them onto the desk, where they instantly cooled.
X picked up the two pieces herself, curious. "What happened?"
"I was about to put those two together and they started to burn into my hands." She stared at the gloves, which showed minor burn marks.
X frowned, trying the two pieces herself. The two clicked together smoothly, and after perhaps a few seconds, the metal surface of the two pieces warped, seamlessly linking the two pieces into one.
"How did you do that?" Alia asked.
"I'd like to know that myself."
A quick call to a nearby guard and a few more minutes of testing proved it. Every time someone almost succeeded in placing two pieces together, thier hands would burn as the pieces overheated themselves. On top of that, X learned in annoyance, each time that happened, the previously set pieces would shatter, leaving him to start from the beginning once again. Only X, somehow, could safely piece the puzzle together.
"You know, Alia, I don't think Dynamo found this a a toy store anymore."
"Yeah. Do we have the technology to build something like this?" Alia asked Douglas, who she had called down to analyze and test the puzzle.
"Not here. I don't know about elsewhere, but definitely not here." Douglas replied. "If we did, transfering important documents would be a lot easier."
***
Dynamo smiled, sitting leisurely atop of one of the old, abandoned skyscrapers of the ill-fated Doppler Town. It's economy had weakened horribly after the loss of a respecable leader, the original Doppler going mad under Sigma's control, and after the later damage to the planetary surface from falling debris, the devastated city had all but been abandoned. It made it a great spot for being alone, or if you wanted cheap, affordable real estate, if you could stand the depressing atmosphere.
"Cool view." he said to himself. "X's head would be nice, too. Maybe I'll bring it here. A hallowed gift for this town of the dead."
Dynamo giggled.
A deep, yet faintly wheezy voice wafted out of the skyscraper. Behind it, Isoc's white bulk stepped softly out.
"Interesting thought. I doubt the late Dr. Doppler would much mind." Isoc remarked, a sarcastic laugh on his lips.
"Ah. Isoc. You made it! I was getting bored." Dynamo tapped his foot to illustrate.
"I take it then, by your devil-may-care attitude, that you succeeded in the task." Isoc asked harshly.
"Could you expect anything less from me?" Dynamo's wide smile mirrored the question. "Yep. I gave it to one of the Hunters. Wierd little girl, looked kinda like X herself. A little sweet talking and a heavy hand made it all too easy."
Dynamo laughed. "You should have seen her. Frozen in place like a deer."
"Oh, yeah." He reached behind him, pulled out a small datacard. With a broad sweep of his arm, he tossed the disc towards Isoc, whom snapped out of his usual slow stupor to catch the disc neatly. "There's the virus data you wanted. Didn't have much chance to use it, mind you."
"Not a problem." Isoc said evenly. "I need to know how it reacts to inactivity as well. Don't go using too much of it, Dynamo. I wouldn't want you to end up dead."
"Feh." Dynamo scoffed.
"Now...Zero. Where is he? I need to begin my tests."
"Out cold in an old warehouse. Say...That kid of yours. He did give him the right treatment when he swapped the anti-virus, right?"
"He should have. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing important. I just don't want Zero waking up while I'm not there." Suddenly, he frowned and looked around. "Where's that kid, anyway? We could just ask him."
"Out on assignment. He's surprisingly efficient. An excellent find." Isoc replied.
"Maybe so." Dynamo replied. He cocked his head to the side. "You having him collect data for you, too?"
"No."
"Good." Dynamo said with obvious pleasure. "What's so special about that box anyway? The one you had me deliver?"
"I can't say." Isoc said, his face a mask. "It should be a pleasant surprise for you, though."
Laughing, Isoc turned and walked back inside the skyscraper's stairwell. Dynamo watched as Isoc vanished into the building.
"Heh. Whatever." Dynamo grinned. Violent energy, filled in deep violet and greasy black, seeped from his hands. It landed on the building with a snapping hiss.
"I'll take whatever you throw at me next time, X. This time, this time..." He trailed off, giggling. He took off at a run and leap off of the building.
The future would be interesting indeed.
***
Back in her room, X's circuitry was in overdrive, trying to figure out how to piece together the puzzle. So far, she had made some progress - perhaps a quarter of the pieces were now joined - but it seemed that whomever had created the puzzle had intended for it to stay unsolved for a long time. Several times, X had placed in pieces, only to watch as the entire puzzle changed before her eyes. Then she would put in another piece, and another, only find out doing so that one of the older pieces had somehow broken loose from the main puzzle. Trying to fit them back in, it seemed impossible that they had ever fit at all.
"Gah...." X groaned. "This is taking forever. Any luck finding Zero, Alia?"
"No sign so far. The only thing unusual we've heard..." Alia paused. "...involves the vigilante group Red Alert."
"What did they do this time?" X asked, rolling her eyes.
"They're dead. The whole group. Someone ambushed them as they were traveling. The whole group's been decimated." Alia replied. "Red himself amung them."
X looked crestfallen. "Why..."
"I don't know. The evidence there is so confusing."
"No...why is it, that they died, just like that? Vigilante or no...violent or no...our goals were still the same. They did not deserve that."
"Darn it all!" X screamed. "I never even met the group, and they're already dead! I wanted...I wanted to meet them...to ask them..." She collapsed on the desk.
"I wanted to see whether they really...hated...us..." X trailed off, holding back tears that were more than just for the fallen vigilantes.
The room was silent. X lay half-weeping on the desk. "Why...what has happened to me? Why...why can't I keep my emotions in? Something help me!"
Lying off to the side, the scattered silver puzzle responded. Niether Alia nor X could see anything different with the puzzle. Yet, this time, X picked up a single piece, and placed in against the puzzle. In snapped and fused into place with a quiet click.
Another piece followed that one, and another one after that. X stared at the puzzle, astonished. "What's going on? All of the sudden, this puzzle seems so obvious."
Alia turned her sharp eye towards the remaining pieces, which were beginning to drop in number. "It's almost as if the puzzle suddenly wants to be solved."
She gazed at X, whom suddenly seemed transformed, filled with renewed belief. The puzzle had changed from a useless trinket into something completely different. With each piece, X seemed to calm. It was as if X was piecing together hope itself.
Then, finally, X held the final piece. She held the two parts of the puzzle, which now appeared as an 6-sided double pyramid, and closed her eyes.
"Please, help me find Zero! Please!" She asked, and there was one final click.
***