MEGA MAN X: END OF A DREAM
By Erico
CHAPTER THREE: BURIED SECRETS
When Zero came to, Cain and X were standing over him, but also present was a familiar smell of cleaning solution. It took Zero a while to realize that he was in the sickbay. Reaching behind him, he found his saber missing.
"Wha…" Zero looked down and found his arm cannon had been detached.
"We removed your weapons systems because you were in an incredible state of hallucination and anger." The reploid doctor Hazil rolled over. Hazil was more of a multi-armed computer on wheels than a doctor, but that only allowed him to increase the number of difficult tasks he could accomplish. He reached in himself and pulled from his lower compartment a container of Coke. "Here, drink this. It may help you overcome the effects of the anesthetic." Zero grabbed it hungrily and gulped it down. His internal reactor would fuse the atoms in the substance and give him an energy boost, as well as disperse of the waste products.
"Hey buddy. Good news, you're not infected." X chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood.
"But still, something caused you to flip out Zero. What was it?" Zero put the empty canister down beside him and grabbed his saber. Plucking it back in the shoulder holster, he shook his head and ran an internal diagnostic.
"I don't know, but it's happened before."
"What?!" Cain coughed. "Are you telling me this short circuit has occurred while you've been on duty?"
"No, only when I've been on rest cycle. But now it's happening while I'm awake."
"What happens during this?" X asked. The tone of sincere caring in his voice was deep.
"It starts off with some old man just popping in on me. I can't make out his full image, only his outline. But even that is enough to scare me." X, Cain and even Hazil were listening intently.
"He knows my name, but he calls me his masterpiece. Then he says for me to go and destroy 'him' because 'him' is his nemesis. Today I finally discovered who he was talking about." Zero turned to them and put his arm cannon back on.
"It was you, X." The blunt statement surprised all in the room and X's face had a rare look of surprise.
"Me? Why me?" he said. Zero shook his head.
"I don't know. All the holograms which we were fighting turned into holograms of you, and they surrounded me. That's when I started shooting." There was nothing but empty silence as Zero stopped.
"In any case, I gotta go sort this out. You have my comm channel if you need me." With that, the radiant red Maverick Hunter Zero stepped out of the Headquarters and into the unknown.
It was two days from when Zero was heard from, but as long as X was there, there was no need for alarm. No Maverick riots were reported. As far as anyone cared, everything was running smoothly. The newest batch of Maverick Hunter recruits had arrived, all headstrong reploids from every corner of the earth imaginable, with every form from humanoid to floating headbots. Cain was with them in the auditorium.
"Welcome, youngsters. I am Dr. Cain, the pioneer of reploids. To help you in your new career, I am going to give you the basic overlay of just who and what you all are." They all listened intently, but Cain could tell there were a few in the crowd who just wanted to go out into the target range. Those were the ones in stasis.
"A reploid is a highly advanced robot. They can come in any form, any size, or any color. The only one true thing about all reploids is that they have the ability to think like humans and make their own decisions. You yourselves have made a decision of that kind by deciding to join us here." Cain paused and pushed a button underneath his microphone. It booted a program that searched for stasis-mode reploids in the room, then sent a powerful, but non-damaging electrical current through their seats. Just like waking up a baby. The effects were immediate as about twenty of the three hundred shot up swearing and screaming. Laughter filled the room, but Cain waved his hands.
"Now that I have your full attention; this brings me to my next point. Because of this, the designer of the first next-generation robot, Dr. Thomas Light took great pains in securing his prototype in a capsule that would run diagnostic programs for an extended period of time. The reason why is that he feared robots like his prototype would be able to break The First Rule of Robotics…" Cain was cut off by the monotonous drone of the room.
"No robot shall ever cause harm to a human being." Cain smiled warmly.
"Good for you."
"Sir! Sir!" a frantic hand waved about. "Sir, isn't it true that after you found X, you abandoned all warnings on the capsule and started activating reploids right after they were made?" the hand belonged to a young humanoid reploid with orange coloring. The datapad list said that his name was Bastion. Cain frowned.
"Yes, it is true. But if I had not done so, you would not be around to talk about it." The orange reploid blushed audibly and sat down.
"But he does have an important point. People all over the world began to create reploids. Eventually, some reploids encountered a software glitch that told them humans were unnecessary. It is because of this that the first Maverick Uprising occurred. It ended with X's triumph over Sigma and his legions. However, Sigma escaped oblivion and came back. A few years ago, a reploid by the name of Doctor Doppler found a way to immunize and cure reploids of the glitch that caused the Maverick bug. However, even this new wonder was eliminated, as Doctor Doppler himself became a Maverick." The room mumbled in low tones.
"To date, there are no ways to prevent Maverick disease. That is why we must still rely on the Maverick Hunters to keep the world safe from this terrorist force." The lights came back on, and Cain smiled.
"But you can't do that until you can fight. So my recruits, it's off to the training fields for you. Report to Sergeant Yadob for further instructions. Dismissed!" the room shuffled off, muttering to each other, glad to be free of the boredom of Dr. Cain. Just then, Cain's comm went off. Reaching down, Cain saw it was X.
"Sir, can I see you for a moment?" X asked.
"I just finished with my class. I'll be down in a minute, X. And please, don't eat my candy." The soft crunching sound on the other end ceased as X giggled in embarrassment.
"So X, what did you want to see me about?" Cain asked as he hung his cane up on a wall hook. His office was clean, with pictures of his excavations on every side. His pet Goldfish, Sigma II swam around happily in the fishbowl made from Armored Armadillo's shell. X sat down and looked at Cain.
"I was thinking, sir." Cain waved his hand.
"Please don't call me sir. Call me Cain." X shrugged, being used to saying the formality.
"I was thinking about Mavericks." Cain gave an 'ohh' of realization, then sat back in his comfy chair.
"Why do we exist at all?" Cain stared at X as he said the question. "If Dr. Light feared that we might rebel, why did he build me? Didn't he see that by building me in the first place, the explosion of reploids would be inevitable?"
"So you trouble yourself with that again." Cain sighed. "You still think that because you were the first of your kind, that you are to blame for all that has aspired?" X nodded. At times, he could be as wise as a sage, but at others he could be like a child, unknowing and doubting.
"X, I don't know why Light created you. I don't know the reasons why. What I do know is this; the world is by far better than it would have been if reploids had not been made." X looked at Cain in amazement.
"Why do you say that? Reploids become Mavericks! Do you know how many have suffered and died because of us?"
"X, it was first thought that the Maverick bug was caused by code. But Doppler's downfall eliminated that option. Maverick Disease is caused by something far deeper, something not part of the robot inside of you." Cain emphasized the statement by pushing in X's chest.
"I bet you don't remember X, but when I first found you, you had no personality. All you were equipped with was a bunch of data logs on manners! The first few days with you were quite boring, really." Cain chuckled. "But then something wonderful happened, X. You learned. Something inside of you turned on, and you began to analyze humans and your environment. Eventually, you understood our emotions quite well. After that, you acted as you do today. X, reploids not only have the ability to think, but also to learn. I believe Light's hope was that the path reploids took in life would help them to live it fully and to aid others. The Maverick bug, although I don't fully understand its causes, is something that corrupts that. A reploid is much like a child when it is activated. It knows only what is has been programmed with. Everything else follows because it learns. Much faster mind you than a child, but it's still the same process. And even humans can become corrupted. The only difference is your strength. Reploids because they are robots can go longer, faster, harder than any human could. But a being, be it human or reploid, is meaningless unless it knows how to help others and help the world." Cain's impressive monologue ended, and X felt better.
"Doctor Cain, do you ever feel responsible for what happened?"
"You mean, do I feel I am to blame for all the Maverick uprisings? Yes, and no. While I could have waited before releasing my discovery, or the blueprints which would have forced them to listen to my exact instructions, overall I would say that even if I had done those things there would have been some fool in the world who would have gone ahead and done what people did anyway. That's what I think, X." X and Cain ended their conversation, then X went over to check on the recruits at the target range.