Between Friends
By Simon Woodington
Previously: Zero, Doctor Ruth Silvane, and the rest of Unity are introduced to Roll, Doctor Light's 'gift to the future'...
Episode Three
"The wiles of old men are not to be trusted," Light once told Rock. "We have too many long unfed desires, and a scant regard of moral boundary."
"Doctor Light, what do you mean?" Rock had asked with a curious twist in his brow. Light merely smiled, ashamed.
"I have never married, Rock. Blues, Rush, Roll, and you are my children. My family, and yet I desire to ensure your prosperity – your lineage," he half frowned. Rock had only replied silent agreement, taking his statement as purposeful but essentially meaningless to him. A minor spark of guilt was extinguished when he recalled the Doctor's advice to ignore that which he could not reason out at times like these.
Like these, he mused, when the Doctor looks so alone, so very desolate. He has it right, of course. No family, no one to care for except us. His statement indicates that we matter to him, however.
He looked lonely and fatigued beyond the restorative power of sleep to repair. Roll had talked to him, but ever since that night… he seemed so distant, so very quiet. X let Rock's memory chip 'gift' him these special moments of his life when he slept. He could not tap the encrypted time-keyed index directly, and supposed it was possible that there was none.
Rock had hoped to share the experiences of his life with his progenitor, and had secreted away the last copy of his memory with the dedication to Rush, before he was finally 'laid to rest'. There was no personal message from Rock, but X saw the logic of that, and respected the motivation. The hope perhaps, he might have endured to fight alongside X… or perhaps something he could not understand.
"X," declared a voice.
An electrical signal rippled through his systems, awakening his dormant systems and drawing him from the thick, vivid reality the 'dreams' cast about his consciousness. The diagnostics scans and auto-repair assistants powered down while his sealed capsule opened with a hydraulic hiss. Alia's red helmeted head, angled downward, bore an uncommonly joyous face.
There must be peace, or she has been infected, he surmised humorlessly, watching the clear door swing open slowly. Alia never smiles.
"Come out, there is someone for you to meet!"
"It's not High Max, is it?" X suggested morbidly, still adrift as to the source of her pleasant manner. Alia was sleek and appealing, but often far too serious and diffident. As if to confirm his assessment of her personality, she half-frowned and shook her head as he climbed out of this chamber.
"A new Reploid. Sorry, new isn't accurate," she said, weight on one foot, hips askew in a way X didn't mind the sight of. "She would be twenty one years and … six to eight months old."
"I don't understand… that's my age," X replied, nonplussed. He glanced over Alia quickly, and then studied the lab for any sign of change. There's my Falcon Armor…
"-Zero left two cycles ago to meet Borrus Mole at the Northern Excavation Site. Are you listening X?" she said, watching him stare at the armor stored in the west wall, adjacent his capsule. "You won't need that, but it's ready. You wanted the dash repaired, and I have done that. Don't you still have the saber and speed boost? You shouldn't be so careless with those upgrades, X, they weren't made for you specifically."
"I kept the saber and damage reducer. Permanent installations, modified according to your recommendations. I can't hope for peace to last," X sighed, folding his thick blue arms over his chest. "How long have I been asleep?"
"One year."
X and Alia turned to face Zero, stolid look yet receptive. X smiled immediately.
"Three hundred and fifty two days, Zero," Alia corrected him stiffly as X stepped forward to grip arms with Zero. A subtle grin of comradeship replaced the darkness lingering in their faces.
"Zero! All is well?" X chimed, mood lightened by his guest and long-time friend.
"Well? X, I have met someone very special who I would like to introduce you to," Zero smiled, eyeing X with particular fervor. With a slight bow he stepped aside, revealing the blue and reds of Roll's feminine armor.
"Hello X," she bowed formally, hands clasped together as a ponytail of blond hair slipped over her left shoulder. With a white hand she swept it back as their eyes met.
"Roll?!" he gasped, recognizing Doctor Light's assistant from Rock's memories. He recalled also a strong affection the warrior had for the young mechanic, and was struck dumb by its emotional impetus.
"Are you –"
"Rock X," he snapped. "I am sorry Roll, but I won't dishonor his name –" I don't fill his shoes. I never will.
"Forgive me," she apologized, bowing her head so rapidly X felt a twinge of guilt. "I meant no offense."
"You made no offense, I'm certain," Zero supplied, glaring curiously at X, who seemed stunned.
"None…" X confirmed hastily, emotions akimbo.
"Come Roll, you must be-"
Alia grabbed Zero's hand before it touched Roll's shoulder and said:
"In need of many things a Hunter cannot give her now. Zero and X will be very busy at Cane Valley, overseeing the excavation of the new ride armors the humans have discovered, won't they?" The expectant scrutinzing did not go unnoticed by either Reploid. "And they'll be suiting up in battle armor, too," she warned them expressly as she lead a rather confused looking Roll by the hand to her desk inside the lab. "Now, gentlemen…"
"Yes, Ma'am," Zero answered, taking X by the shoulders and pushing him through the open doorway. "Right away."
"But…" X mumbled.
"Quiet, you," Zero hissed into X's left audio receptor. "Mealy mouthed impolite Reploid if ever I've heard one! What were your errata in there?"
X leaned forward, regaining control of his senses, and turned with a stark expression of confusion to face Zero.
"I don't know! Zero, I don't know that Reploid, but…"
Zero's folded arms were as patient as the rest of his dissatisfied posture.
"I was only introducing myself-"
"You were making a fool of yourself, X," Zero flared protectively. "I've never heard you talk that way before."
"I was trying to start an argument," she said by way of realization. "I can't fathom why!"
Zero frowned bluntly, then took X's hand in his and dropped something into it with the other. He turned sharply and left in his wake these words:
"Doctor Light has given you much, X, appreciate what you have!"
X had only an unfounded gape, eyes locked on the upgrades crafted with all of the skill, heart and dedication one man can muster.
-
"You have much to learn, Roll," Alia started, leading her to a standing maintenance chamber. "But not yet. I have to see what you're made of."
"Okay. I'm usually the one who fixes things – I guess I don't mind," she murmured, clasping at the hem of her blue skirt. "Use reflective radium scans if you're going to do it. Nothing less will penetrate my armor."
"What the-"Alia gasped, adjusting the parameters of the scans accordingly. "You're right! Only Zero and X have such heavy armor."
"Its not heavy, just high density," Roll explained, dark eyes entrancing in the depths of their shining intelligence. "I formulated a new alloy that utilizes a radioactive form of titanium and reduced density iron. Doctor Light called it Rollite, at first. We decided on Transmetal."
"Odd," Roll remarked. "But you're correct on that point, too. I've never heard to the alloy referred to by that name."
"Of course not," she smiled matter-of-factly. Her face sobered as she asked: "You work on X's armors, Alia-chan? Can I call you that?"
"Please call me Alia. We don't use Japanese appellations in Reploid society. Some Reploid take great offense at it, since many of them were considered to be our oppressors. I know differently, but we live in a new culture now," Alia shrugged. "But how did you know…"
"I designed the Falcon."
"It's his favorite," Alia said in a note of awe. "It's survived everything… we have the Nova, Gaea, and Blade, but he never uses those. The rest were corrupted or damaged too greatly to be repaired."
"You've improved it. I am honored. You have significant talent and skill," Roll nodded. "It was a delicate system, and prone to fail if tampered with, or repaired sloppily. I was inexperienced and could not avoid that."
"That is also true… Honored? I assumed, preemptively, I see, that Doctor Light designed the Falcon. I see also why the style is so different."
"He never told you that, did he?"
"Me? What?" Alia asked, looking up briefly from the highly active readout at her fingertips.
"That he designed the Falcon."
"No… Then… Can you prove what you say is true? I don't mean to be so mistrusting," Alia apologized.
"No, I understand," Roll said, her eyes narrowing slightly into a shrewd smile that impressed Alia. "There is a cross and rose embossed on the X-Buster buffer casing, and the following serial code upon the Air Dash drive coils: XBENIMBLEXBEQUICKROLLSLOVESHEILDSYOULICKETYSPLIT."
"Ah! That is so very cute!" she giggled at the limerick, tapping the next phase of the scan. "But do you still love him?"
"X? Yes. I fear though that he no longer knows me. It is my duty to remind him. I love someone else more, and it is terribly confusing…"
As Roll spoke, Alia nodded acknowledgment on two points, mulling over her memory of the Falcon and X's systems: Firstly, the X-Buster buffer casing would not alter due to any upgrades X might receive, while the Air Dash was specific to the Falcon Armor. These reflected the consideration with which the markings were placed. It also meant…
"You designed the X-Buster?!" Alia burst, hands flying up to her face, knocking her headset loose. It clattered on the display, under Alia's trembling hands.
"I improved it, to adapt new weapons. Doctor Light could not increase its ability at first without causing an overload in the simulation, so I designed the buffer, which has a variable energy reserve to accommodate the unique needs of any weapon Rock would absorb," Roll elaborated calmly, with a confidence and familiarity that suggested first hand knowledge. Alia blinked at Roll, knowing the human mechanic was not a weapons specialist… although… was there something they didn't know? To this day they didn't know the fate of the original Rock, nor had they found any trace of Rush's DNA.
"That is remarkable, and very gratifying to learn," Alia said, steadying herself on the control panel as a host of unsorted feelings tore through her frame. "I…"
"Do you love Zero?" Roll inquired suddenly. Alia looked up with poorly disguised pain in her eyes.
"He is a mighty Hunter; fierce, and honorable. I could, but he knows no affections, Roll," she replied with a fatigue only felt by those of unrequited love.
"Oh," she sighed, shoulders slumping visibly.
"But no once has dared brave his heart," she confessed rather selflessly. Alia respected X's dedication to the fate of the Reploids and humans… Yet he's begun to show signs of stress. I cannot repair the psychological stresses … I've fixed everything else. Yet I cannot deny his feelings, Alia lamented. Oh X…
Roll gazed steadily at Alia, heart in hands. She was one of those who felt so earnestly for others, sympathized so strongly, that she could not stand motionless when the opportunity arose to help. She said with conviction and clarity, to the Reploid whose eyes glazed with distress into the distance.
"You love X."
Alia's face tightened, and he wondered: Who is updating who, now?
"Yes, I do," she found herself saying. "I cannot deny that. Does it upset you to know that?"
Roll shook her head, lips sealed.
"No. You are honest, and I thank you…"
Alia glanced over the indexed database of parts detected inside of Roll's svelte body. Half a dozen failed to match any registered specification, and Alia could not theorize as to their purpose based on their placement, or even connections.
"What are those … buffers … in your arms? These also… coils? You don't have a dash function, do you, Roll? There are two other parts in your chest cavity that seem to have no specific function."
Roll shook her head again.
"I have no recollection of their purposes. I did not design this body, but my memory indicates that Dr. Light and an unregistered roboticist participated in its development and construction."
"Weren't you human, Roll?"
"Yes, but something happened… an accident… I was nearly killed…" she blinked, voice changing volume randomly as her face wrenched with a powerful, writhing agony. She curled forward, arms wrapped around her stomach. "I can't access… th-"
Alia let out a little cry as Roll burst into tears and slumped against the left panel in a heap, shoulders and chest heaving.
"Roll? Roll?!" Alia called, scrambling around the control panel and kneeling next to Roll's jittering body. What do I do… what do I… Douglas! What is wrong with you, Alia? Why are you so frightened?
Not bothering to formulate an answer, she jumped up and ran to her desk, where she hailed Douglas' room, holding her headset to one audio receptor.
"Yes Alia? How can I help you?" he asked in a mild tenor.
"Roll's having emotional problems, Douglas, but there's a memory malfunction too. I believe they're related. Come quickly!" Alia said in a slightly raised, but still controlled, voice.
"I'm no psychologist, Roll, but I will do my best," Douglas offered with an undercurrent of doubt in his voice.
"Thank you…"