MEGA MAN X: END OF A DREAM
By Erico
CHAPTER FOUR: WHISPERED FUTURE
Zero had left Maverick Headquarters and now walked about New Tokyo. He wore a brown leather jacket and a large pair of pants. His hair, uncovered by his missing helmet, was still kept in a blond ponytail and was the only thing that anyone could have identified Zero with. By anyone's view, Zero was nothing more than a tall sixteen-year old with a blond ponytail. His arm cannon he had warped back to the HQ, but he kept his trusty saber with him just in case.
Zero's beam saber had a short but well documented history behind it. It originally belonged to Sigma, but during the first Maverick Uprising, X had taken it from Sigma's fortress after his victory. X had then given it to Zero as a welcome back present after the second Maverick Uprising. Kept tucked safely in its sheath, it only added to Zero's mystique, giving him the appearance of very broad shoulders underneath the jacket.
"Ahh." As much as Zero enjoyed the action of a fight, there were times he also felt the need to go out by himself and just walk around. New Tokyo was a bustling city, but the noise did not bother Zero in the least. He bought a hot dog at a street corner market, then ate it hungrily. Reploids really didn't need to eat; their regeneration chambers gave them a full energy boost. But living among humans does something to them. Reploids see, reploids do. Because of this, reploid's internal fusion reactors were designed to handle food. Zero smiled as he remembered the time he had challenged X to a pie-eating contest, and the two of them ended up short circuiting their voice simulators with the sugary filling. It took Cain hours to fix that error.
Zero found himself in the Crystal Park. Crystal Park was a public facility where one could stand among bushes and scattered trees and look out to clear starry skies and a fantastic view of the sea. Zero and Iris had come here many times before the fourth uprising, and now Zero sat alone on the bench.
He missed her terribly. He could still remember how the heat crept from her body as she faded off in his arms, battered beyond repair. She had smiled a weak, small smile, and then…died. Zero knew reploids didn't die, but because of Iris's ultimate destruction, it was just natural to say that.
"Hey, buddy. What's wrong? You look down." Zero looked up to see a human boy looking at him in concern. Zero looked back down.
"It's a girl, isn't it?" Zero nodded slowly. The boy sat down beside him on the bench. Far off, a seagull cawed as the waves washed ashore.
"I was very close to her. And now she's dead." Zero was very blunt about things, even with all the emotions he had learned in his life. The boy nodded somberly.
"I'm sorry. How did she die?" Zero thought for a moment, then said,
"A reploid killed her." This was true, although Zero had skated the truth a bit. Iris had died by an explosion overhead, to which she was pushed into by their duel. It was like manslaughter. The boy nodded.
"The Maverick Uprisings. I can imagine how it feels to lose someone so close to your heart like that. I lost my father during the first one. His car was blown up by a Bee Blader." The boy sobbed silently then pounded the armrest. Zero looked beside him for the first time, seeing how the boy was deeply affected by what he had said. Zero wanted to reach out and comfort him, but something kept drawing him back…Finally Zero spoke.
"The pain hurts, doesn't it?" the boy nodded. "I suppose you never really get over losing somebody. Even I still miss her, and it's been two years." The boy nodded. Zero finally raised his hand and put it around the boy's back. "You just have to go on living. The person you lost would have wanted you to do so." The boy stopped sobbing and nodded, a smile slowly creeping back to his face. Zero smiled back.
"It's been nice talking to you. But I have to go now." Zero stood up, then walked off. The boy suddenly was struck with a realization:
"Hey! I never caught his name."
The truth was Zero had no place in particular to go. He had just wanted to leave before the boy asked too many questions. Zero could pull off a reasonable impression of a human teenager, but after a while the tiresome process took hold and then he would be shunned or looked at coldly. Most people disliked or hated reploids because of the Maverick Uprisings.
"Why do some people hate us, X?" Zero had asked X once. "I mean we're fighting the mavericks, not them. We're putting our lives on the line and all they can do is spit at us!" X had simply replied,
"People fear us because we are different. Before reploids, there were simply robots who could only go as far as their programming allowed them to. To them, we are abominations, an interbreed of robot and humans. And there will always be people who fear and hate that which is different. It sucks to be human." Zero shook his head. Although X tended to be more of a philosopher, sometimes he could be so blatantly obvious and…well, HUMAN.
Zero then switched back to another memory file. The one where he almost started kicking the crap out of a cluster of human boys. It was from three years ago, just before the third Maverick Uprising, but it was still clear as day. He and X were at the Tokyo mall, eating their hoagies in silence. Then they showed up. Zero had been watching them as they picked up their milkshakes from the shop, then stared at Zero and X in disgust. They spoke in whispers, but Zero's sensitive hearing had picked up every word.
"Man, would you look at that? Now they're even EATING like us."
"No kidding, man. Where do they get the gall to do that? This is just too outrageous." Zero's reploid blood had boiled, but X spoke without looking from his sandwich.
"Calm down, Zero. They're just kids." Zero had grumbled a few curses, but had returned to his sandwich, tearing away at it.
Then the boys had walked over. Zero saw them out of the corner of his eye. One nudged the others with his shoulder, and smiled cruelly. He whistled and walked by Zero casually, but then faked a fumble and spilled his milkshake all over Zero. The group laughed and pointed, and everyone in the mall looked. Zero could feel the hundreds of eyes boring into him with contempt and bemusement.
"Whoops! Sorry about that. I just…slipped!" the boy laughed again, walking back to his friends and exchanging high fives. Zero's low growl turned into a louder one, and X looked at him.
"Don't do it, Zero. Just leave them alone. Conflict will bring nothing but trouble. Let the lesser ones wallow in their shallow glory. If this was a battle, they'd be dead anyway." Zero somehow managed to hold a chord of self-restraint, even with all his anger welling up inside him, threatening to burst loose. But then the boy who spilled the milkshake spoke again.
"Look at that! I found the perfect use for a reploid…a garbage can!" That was the final straw, and Zero screamed out in rage. Activating his dash boots, he boosted over and grabbed the hooligan by the arm. His eyes glowing red murder, Zero swung they boy around and sent him flying. The boy screamed in fear as he flew like an arrow at a robot trash container. He hit so hard, he made a dent. But Zero screamed again, and pulled out his beam saber. Turning it on, he activated a full blast from his boots, leaving scorch marks on the smooth granite floor as he sped over. He raised his left arm, ready to swing his blade of death down upon this whelp…
But it shot out of his hand as a plasma blast jarred it loose. X had fired his cannon and disarmed Zero.
"Zero! STOP!" X shouted, his cannon trained on Zero's chest. Zero paused, then the savage fury of hatred and scorn vanished away from him, leaving him with the full realization of what he had almost done. Gingerly he went over and placed his smoking saber back in its sheath. Then he turned and looked straight at the boy, whose eyes were wide open in pain and fear. Zero raised his hand and pointed.
"Never do that again." Then Zero turned and walked out of the mall, with a flustered X at his side, leaving behind a ruined food court…
Zero brought himself back to reality as he continued back to Maverick HHQ. Remembering his troubled past and thinking of the future always drained him mentally. A recharge and a night in stasis would make him feel better. It was pitch black in the sky, for it was about 11:00 at night.
Zero could never account for why he would suddenly turn into a savage beast whenever he was provoked beyond his temper. All he knew was that during those episodes, he could not break out of it by himself, and that it was like he had no control. He lost all extraneous functions, and saw things like a regular robot. There was his target, here were his surroundings, and here were his available weapons. For all purposes, when Zero entered a rage, he lost the part of him that was control and complex thought and emotion, leaving only the bitter and cold program of death in his head. It scared him. He had tried to control it in the past, but more often than not it worked both ways. During a heated maverick fight, his rages were intense and useful to destroy the threat, but during regular situations he became a menace to all around him. Zero stopped and put his hand to his head. All this thought was wearing him down more than he thought. He thought he was hearing voices.
Zero's pulse quickened; he was hearing voices. Or more correctly, a voice.
Zero. The voice was strong and overwhelming. Zero, come to me. Zero shook his head. Maybe he was scanning a memory file again…This is no memory, Zero. This is happening now. Come to me. Zero shook his head again.
"Computer, run self-diagnostic." Most likely some glitch. I am no glitch, Zero. I am here, and as real as you are. Zero became confused. Who was this…Yes, Zero. I can read your thoughts. I am known to you. More correctly, I AM you. Zero, you have forgotten. Come to me, Zero. Come to me. Come to me…
Zero winced. The voice grew louder, and his head was beginning to throb. Zero began to quicken his pace, stepping into a brisk jog. Zero, you cannot run from me! Zero, COME TO ME. Zero screamed at the increase. Whoever this person was, it was sending telepathic messages. But telepathy was still myth and rumor. He had to get back to Maverick HHQ. Zero's jog turned into a desperate run, swinging violently back and forth, back and forth. He crashed into car doors, the sides of buildings, until finally he hit a lamppost and spun off dizzily.
Zero, there is nothing at your base that can help you. There is nothing for you there. I am your only friend, your only place left for you to turn to. Now, turn here. Down this alley. Zero slowly turned. A part of him was cooperating with the voice's commands, but another part of him was trying to fight it.
"I must…home…you…my enemy…" I am not your enemy, I am your only friend. Now, TURN!!! The last of Zero's will vanished, and he went down the alleyway. Following the voice's instructions, he pulled out his saber and slashed the sewer grate open. He dropped down, then swan through the wastewater into a whirlpool. Dropping through, Zero leaped out into a large chamber with multi-connected pipes. Electrical wiring ran through the tunnels, but Zeros followed one of them. Zero had become a zombie, overwhelmed by the voice's presence. Finally, Zero with his last ounce of reserve stepped into the path of a bright light, then he slumped over and went into automatic stasis. And then a figure stepped forward into the light.