Chapter 3: The Duel
Zero ran, but it was not in fear. Something guided his feet; first out of the city and then beyond the grasslands. He was in a desert wasteland and it seemed so much like home. He couldn't help but wonder why he felt this way; perhaps an ages-old memory guided him here. He could make something out in the distance, a slight rise in the terrain. His footsteps beat faster against the packed earth. Whatever called him to this place had a powerful sway.
Zero stopped at the entrance, gazing into the blackness. This cave had been a mine long ago. Hazy recollections danced in his memory cells, vanishing abruptly when he tried to recall them. He became aware that they all involved this strange place.
Not fearing what lay ahead, Zero stepped forward into the gaping maw. The lights in the mine had long since gone out, but Zero did not need them. The path stopped abruptly at a pit, yet he halted moments before falling in. The force was pulling at him, tugging roughly at his mind. It begged for him to jump. Curious, Zero leapt. His boots thudded heavily against a metal floor. The triangular gem embedded in his helmet suddenly flared white, illuminating the passageway. As Zero walked he passed prisons of some sort, yet they were all empty.
Zero stopped short, drawing his blade. Something was ahead. Approaching cautiously, he found it to be nothing more than a corpse. It was rusted beyond recognition and covered in oil stains, covered in a thick layer of dust. A large hole had been burned through the robot's chest. Somehow this form felt familiar to Zero, yet he couldn't place it.
The corpse had fallen in front of a door. While it was rusted, Zero could make out some sort of signature on it. 'Dr. W' was scrawled over a circle. For a brief second the old man of Zero's memory flashed through his head. There was no doubt the power was out, so Zero bashed through the door.
Looking in, Zero's circuits froze. There were corpses, corpses everywhere. Bits and pieces of robot were scattered across a massive arena. Dust and cobwebs aged the arena, the oil that had no doubt flooded it long since dried. The thought of so much death in one place caused Zero's circuits to surge slightly nonetheless.
Zero walked on, embracing the sweet scent of decay as it swept around him, embracing him warmly and clinging to him. As faint as it was, this all seemed so very familiar. Putting his sword away, Zero felt something slick on his hands. Looking down at them, he found them covered in blood. His sensors jerked in shock, only to find the blood had vanished. Memories were drifting back, drifting slowly back. This was all so familiar, but how...
The memories crashed over Zero like a powerful wave. He fell to his knees as they raced through him, overloading his memory cells. He had done this. All this death had been his doing! He saw himself tearing these robots apart one by one, piece by piece. When his eyes fell on a blue robot, he boiled over with rage. That was the one his creator wanted him to destroy!
"My creator," Zero mumbled as the memories trickled to a halt. "My creator, Doctor Wily. And Mega Man, my nemesis...I can remember now," the reploid exclaimed as he stood, "I was created to kill Mega Man! From my very first awakening, I was to destroy him. Wily rebuilt my physical body yet kept my mind the same, hoping I would carry out his wishes in this new life he gave me."
Zero grinned, "Well, the least I can do is repay him." He stood, gazing once more at the carnage. The beauty of it stunned him, he had been able to wreak this much havoc even before his transformation into a reploid. But not alone. Zero froze again as memories assaulted him anew.
Zero found himself standing in the laboratory again. At the time, he felt as heartbroken as a robot could. Compared to what he was capable of feeling now it was nothing, but at the time it had been overwhelming. The old man, Doctor Wily, was working on a mechanical wolf. From where Zero was standing, it looked rather beat up. Zero was also aware of the fact that he was in this strange black and gold body once more.
"Can you fix him Doc?" Zero heard himself ask.
"I'm afraid not, Bass. Treble is gone," the doctor said bluntly. Zero's circuits sizzled.
"There has to be something you can do!" he shouted.
"No Bass, he's beyond repair. I could build a new one like I have done with the other robot masters, but it would not be the same Treble," Wily told him. The old man removed something from Treble's chest. "Now get this body out of my site, I have work to do!"
Zero's memory flashed forward. He was standing alone on a hill, staring down at a fresh grave. Hate and sadness swirled within him, the strength of the emotions incredible for a robot. Zero's buster arm was up in the air and he fired off three volleys in memory of his fallen friend. With that, he activated his teleportation unit. Saying a final goodbye, Zero was beamed up and away from the grave.
Zero shook as the memory faded away. He was back in the real world, standing amongst the dead in the arena. He walked through the grisly scene, stirring up dust as he kicked parts of robots out of his way. There was a vacant space amongst the bodies, one where only a faded oil stain still lurked. It was here where Treble had died. Zero stared at the oil stain for a long time, unable to understand how he had grown so attached to the mechanical dog. Yet he had, and still he felt it. Trying his best to shrug it off, Zero turned from the scene and walked back towards the exit.
The Epsilon Squadron transport touched down with a loud thunk, the engines dying and fading away. Just ahead Sigma could see a barricade had been made, a good hundred feet from the entrance to the cave. About half a dozen Maverick Hunters were crowded behind the barricade. Sigma knew they were class C hunters at best, nothing he could count on should this Zero character prove more trouble than expected. Sigma shook his head, remembering to keep his wits about himself. This was the same maverick that had single-handedly defeated Storm Eagle.
Sigma stepped out of the transport, walking up to the barricade. The Maverick Hunters had turned to watch him, all of them looking incredibly relieved. Even if all of them were to take the maverick at once they would fail. They knew it, Sigma knew it, and Zero knew it.
"What's the situation?" The Hunter leader barked.
"The maverick's still inside, sir!" what appeared to be the commander of the unit reported, standing straight and facing Sigma.
"Are you sure there are no other exits he could have escaped from?"
"None, sir! We scouted the parameter before constructing the barricade, sir!"
"Good job, men. Now I'll show you how we deal with maverick scum. I don't want any of you following me, it's far too dangerous," Sigma ordered.
"Yes sir!" the unit confirmed as one.
Sigma walked calmly towards the cave entrance, hands at his sides. He saw the footprints in the dust; Zero had been here. From the looks of things, he had not yet left. Sigma stepped into the darkness, his sensors switching to infrared. Not too far off, he heard a thud. Jerking his head in the direction of the sound, Sigma found himself face to face with Zero.
"You must be Sigma," the maverick sneered, "I've heard a lot about you."
"Hello, Zero. Not many mavericks cause us this much trouble. You will be an example to those who follow you," Sigma growled through clenched teeth.
"Enough talking then. You may not be my target, but your blood will be just as satisfying," Zero laughed, leaping back and drawing his saber.
Sigma drew his own sword, igniting it and charging his opponent. He was fast, but Zero was faster, leaping aside and swinging his saber at Sigma's stomach. Sigma's hidden thrusters ignited, pushing him out of the way of the strike in the nick of time. He turned, charging his enemy. Zero charged as well, their blades colliding in a surge of energy and sparks.
Zero leapt back, his feet connecting with the wall for an instant before the powerful thrusters in his legs activated and sent him hurtling towards Sigma. Their blades clashed once more, the force of the attack knocking Sigma off balance. He leapt back, only to take the offense once more.
Sigma growled, his enemy was enjoying this! Zero's maniacal grin was haunting as their blades struck one another time and time again, sparks flying. The two leapt around the cave, dashing and striking, hoping just a single stroke would connect. The longer the fight ran on, the more Zero seemed to enjoy himself. Sigma ducked but a moment too late, feeling the heat of Zero's saber sear across his cheek. The oil dripping down his face seemed to triple the maverick's efforts. Sigma was being beaten back fast; the fury of this reploid's assault was like nothing he had ever encountered before.
It was then that Sigma got lucky. Dodging Zero's horizontal slash, he brought the hilt of his sword down on Zero's hands and knocked the saber out of the maverick's hands. Sigma's luck did not last long, however, as the maverick quickly countered by kicking Sigma's sword away from him.
Zero lunged, knocking Sigma back against the wall. He wailed on the Maverick Hunter's chest, stopping a blow with both hands and nearly ripping the arm from its socket. Sigma swung with his free arm, catching Zero hard in the jaw and slamming him against the opposing wall. He charged to uppercut, but the maverick leapt and rebounded off the ceiling, planting a boot in Sigma's head.
Sigma growled angrily, the maverick was starting to test his patience. Zero had rolled and picked up his saber, charging his opponent. For a brief second Sigma saw something strange, a white 'W' flashed in Zero's blue gem. Zero was charging to slice Sigma in two across the stomach.
Sigma saw his chance. Swinging with all his might, the Epsilon Squadron leader's fist connected with the gem and shattered it. The maverick screamed, his body wracked with pain as electricity surged through it. The electricity coursed through Sigma's arm as well, deadening it. He gritted his teeth to the pain as Zero stood motionless for a moment, the saber in his hands crackling then fading. It fell from his hands to the floor, shortly followed by its master.
Sigma stood for a moment, dazed. It took a moment for everything that had happened to sink in. He looked down at the reploid then at the saber. He picked the later up first, hooking it in place behind his shoulder. Next he lifted the maverick up in his arms and carried him from the cave.
Cheers greeted Sigma as he emerged victorious. He managed a grim smile, exhaustedly walking towards the transport. The men congratulated him still and followed, yet didn't enter the transport. It was private and belonged only to Epsilon Unit.
Sigma locked the maverick in a stasis cell where he would stay until they reached headquarters. He couldn't risk an escape now, nor could he handle another battle. Both his arms were functioning well below optimum and his energy was running low, he would need repairs shortly after returning. Sigma couldn't help but wonder what would happen to this maverick, though. He knew very well that it should be melted down but that was not a fate he wanted it to see. If his memory could be erased Zero would make an excellent hunter. While the head of the Maverick Hunters, that decision would be up to Dr. Cain, the creator of the original reploids.
Sigma paused, realizing that was not entirely true. Dr. Cain had only discovered the original reploid, but from there he made several others until reploids were capable of building themselves. Cain was considered the father of reploids, regardless of the fact that he himself had not created the technology.
And then there was Mega Man X, the first reploid. Sigma couldn't say he liked him in the least. He had offered X a position in the Maverick Hunters, knowing he would excel at battle. X was designed to be a fighter, Sigma could feel it. Ignoring this, ignoring the immense good he could do, X refused the offer. Sigma remembered it clearly, X had stated that he didn't want to hurt anyone. Sigma had tried to explain that this would keep the city of Capcom safe, but X still refused. One day he would come around and see the light in Sigma's words, Sigma knew it.
Dr. Cain looked over the computer screens once more. He had hoped that the first results had been a glitch or miscalculation but by now he had run the system scan at least a dozen times. It was clear that the red and white reploid lying on his maintenance table was not a reploid.
Zero's components were eighty-nine percent similar to the original reploid, Mega Man X. Even with this being true, the circuitry was wired in a slightly different fashion that led Dr. Cain to believe Zero had been created by someone other than Dr. Light. Not only that, but the eleven percent of Zero's components that differed from Mega Man X's were not those of a reploid.
As a matter of fact, they weren't even robotic. While reploids had complex synthetic brains that functioned almost identically to those of humans Zero had an actual brain. It was modified to connect with his systems and function exactly like a modern reploid brain, differing in efficiency by maybe a hundredth of a percent. Where reploids had completely inorganic generators Zero had a greatly modified heart.
Dr. Cain was puzzled by these changes; why had Zero's creator constructed him in such a way? Converting the brain and heart would require much more precision and effort than building the processor and generator, even in the times when Mega Man X and Zero had been built. Although, Dr. Cain thought, it would take considerably less time. The creators of the reploid race must have been technological geniuses, Dr. Cain couldn't grasp why one of them would cut corners like this.
Zero's components were not the only things troubling Dr. Cain. The reploid's programming was equally confusing. There were no traces of the maverick virus in Zero, yet he had acted as a maverick and had turned many machines maverick merely by keeping them in his presence. The maverick virus would not simply disappear like this no matter what had happened to Zero, this had to be how he had been made and programmed. There was, however, a strange program clinging to parts of his mind. It was unlike any program Dr. Cain had analyzed before and appeared to be a dormant one. The program had been lost or corrupted at some point in time and there were not enough remnants for Cain to assemble what it could possibly mean.
Cain glanced over the strange creation on his table once more. Zero's chest plate and other armor had been removed to scan his wiring. There was something that just wasn't right, but Cain couldn't place it. Someone had made Zero to kill. Perhaps Cain's questions would be answered when the results on the capsule returned.
Since Zero had not been infected with the maverick virus there was no need to cure him or attempt replacing the commonly infected parts. In this case, Zero's memory could be saved to disc and erased, leaving him with his combat and personality programming. This way he could be raised to do good and become one of the Maverick Hunters under Sigma.
Heaving a sigh, Cain went to work. Backing up and formatting such a complex robot's memory would be a true test of his skill and patience. Luckily, he had no problem with burning the midnight oil, and working on a meaningful project certainly would prove more interesting and rewarding than the nights of tinkering with gadgets he had fallen into lately. With that thought, Cain set to work.
The world seemed empty, cold and black and soundless. To Zero, there was nothing. He existed alone, outside of the world. His memories were fading rapidly until he was no longer aware that he had existed before this very moment. The fading stopped then and he became aware. That undefined moment became his birth, now he waited in blackness.
First came the hum. It was not a strong hum, but it was the only sound in Zero's world. He clung to it, not afraid, but curious as to where it would take him. Words began passing through his head. First muffled, like the ruffle of wings behind glass. The voices became louder, clearer. Zero was still unable to comprehend the words, grasping only enough to tell that the voices spoke of him.
The world came in a rush, like the leaking dam had just given way. The blackness flashed momentarily to white, then dimmed and became arrangements of colors as Zero's optics calibrated for what her perceived to be the first time. He was lying on a table of sorts, armor removed.
"Greetings, Zero," a kindly old voice spoke, "I am Dr. Cain. Your systems malfunctioned and Sigma brought you back here." Zero turned his head to look at the old man, finding him gesturing towards a tall, bald reploid in green armor.
"I repaired you and brought you back to life," the old man said.
Zero sat up, looking over the two. Dr. Cain was short, maybe five feet tall. He was old and frail with a long beard, appearing to be the exact opposite of his companion. This Sigma reploid looked powerful and almost coldhearted, standing at around seven feet, maybe taller. This was clearly one reploid that Zero did not want to pick a fight with.
Zero sat up and slid off the table, looking around. "So," he began, "You two saved me? How can I repay you?"
"I was hoping you'd ask, Zero," Sigma said in his gruff, but not entirely unfriendly, voice. "You are a reploid with incredible combat capabilities. With some training you'd make a fine Maverick Hunter. I am asking you to join us."
Something about the thought of combat made Zero's circuits surge. This was an offer he knew he couldn't refuse, the thought of combat felt more tempting than anything else. When Sigma extended his hand, Zero shook it readily.
Sigma grinned. "Welcome to the team, Zero."
Zero ran, but it was not in fear. Something guided his feet; first out of the city and then beyond the grasslands. He was in a desert wasteland and it seemed so much like home. He couldn't help but wonder why he felt this way; perhaps an ages-old memory guided him here. He could make something out in the distance, a slight rise in the terrain. His footsteps beat faster against the packed earth. Whatever called him to this place had a powerful sway.
Zero stopped at the entrance, gazing into the blackness. This cave had been a mine long ago. Hazy recollections danced in his memory cells, vanishing abruptly when he tried to recall them. He became aware that they all involved this strange place.
Not fearing what lay ahead, Zero stepped forward into the gaping maw. The lights in the mine had long since gone out, but Zero did not need them. The path stopped abruptly at a pit, yet he halted moments before falling in. The force was pulling at him, tugging roughly at his mind. It begged for him to jump. Curious, Zero leapt. His boots thudded heavily against a metal floor. The triangular gem embedded in his helmet suddenly flared white, illuminating the passageway. As Zero walked he passed prisons of some sort, yet they were all empty.
Zero stopped short, drawing his blade. Something was ahead. Approaching cautiously, he found it to be nothing more than a corpse. It was rusted beyond recognition and covered in oil stains, covered in a thick layer of dust. A large hole had been burned through the robot's chest. Somehow this form felt familiar to Zero, yet he couldn't place it.
The corpse had fallen in front of a door. While it was rusted, Zero could make out some sort of signature on it. 'Dr. W' was scrawled over a circle. For a brief second the old man of Zero's memory flashed through his head. There was no doubt the power was out, so Zero bashed through the door.
Looking in, Zero's circuits froze. There were corpses, corpses everywhere. Bits and pieces of robot were scattered across a massive arena. Dust and cobwebs aged the arena, the oil that had no doubt flooded it long since dried. The thought of so much death in one place caused Zero's circuits to surge slightly nonetheless.
Zero walked on, embracing the sweet scent of decay as it swept around him, embracing him warmly and clinging to him. As faint as it was, this all seemed so very familiar. Putting his sword away, Zero felt something slick on his hands. Looking down at them, he found them covered in blood. His sensors jerked in shock, only to find the blood had vanished. Memories were drifting back, drifting slowly back. This was all so familiar, but how...
The memories crashed over Zero like a powerful wave. He fell to his knees as they raced through him, overloading his memory cells. He had done this. All this death had been his doing! He saw himself tearing these robots apart one by one, piece by piece. When his eyes fell on a blue robot, he boiled over with rage. That was the one his creator wanted him to destroy!
"My creator," Zero mumbled as the memories trickled to a halt. "My creator, Doctor Wily. And Mega Man, my nemesis...I can remember now," the reploid exclaimed as he stood, "I was created to kill Mega Man! From my very first awakening, I was to destroy him. Wily rebuilt my physical body yet kept my mind the same, hoping I would carry out his wishes in this new life he gave me."
Zero grinned, "Well, the least I can do is repay him." He stood, gazing once more at the carnage. The beauty of it stunned him, he had been able to wreak this much havoc even before his transformation into a reploid. But not alone. Zero froze again as memories assaulted him anew.
Zero found himself standing in the laboratory again. At the time, he felt as heartbroken as a robot could. Compared to what he was capable of feeling now it was nothing, but at the time it had been overwhelming. The old man, Doctor Wily, was working on a mechanical wolf. From where Zero was standing, it looked rather beat up. Zero was also aware of the fact that he was in this strange black and gold body once more.
"Can you fix him Doc?" Zero heard himself ask.
"I'm afraid not, Bass. Treble is gone," the doctor said bluntly. Zero's circuits sizzled.
"There has to be something you can do!" he shouted.
"No Bass, he's beyond repair. I could build a new one like I have done with the other robot masters, but it would not be the same Treble," Wily told him. The old man removed something from Treble's chest. "Now get this body out of my site, I have work to do!"
Zero's memory flashed forward. He was standing alone on a hill, staring down at a fresh grave. Hate and sadness swirled within him, the strength of the emotions incredible for a robot. Zero's buster arm was up in the air and he fired off three volleys in memory of his fallen friend. With that, he activated his teleportation unit. Saying a final goodbye, Zero was beamed up and away from the grave.
Zero shook as the memory faded away. He was back in the real world, standing amongst the dead in the arena. He walked through the grisly scene, stirring up dust as he kicked parts of robots out of his way. There was a vacant space amongst the bodies, one where only a faded oil stain still lurked. It was here where Treble had died. Zero stared at the oil stain for a long time, unable to understand how he had grown so attached to the mechanical dog. Yet he had, and still he felt it. Trying his best to shrug it off, Zero turned from the scene and walked back towards the exit.
The Epsilon Squadron transport touched down with a loud thunk, the engines dying and fading away. Just ahead Sigma could see a barricade had been made, a good hundred feet from the entrance to the cave. About half a dozen Maverick Hunters were crowded behind the barricade. Sigma knew they were class C hunters at best, nothing he could count on should this Zero character prove more trouble than expected. Sigma shook his head, remembering to keep his wits about himself. This was the same maverick that had single-handedly defeated Storm Eagle.
Sigma stepped out of the transport, walking up to the barricade. The Maverick Hunters had turned to watch him, all of them looking incredibly relieved. Even if all of them were to take the maverick at once they would fail. They knew it, Sigma knew it, and Zero knew it.
"What's the situation?" The Hunter leader barked.
"The maverick's still inside, sir!" what appeared to be the commander of the unit reported, standing straight and facing Sigma.
"Are you sure there are no other exits he could have escaped from?"
"None, sir! We scouted the parameter before constructing the barricade, sir!"
"Good job, men. Now I'll show you how we deal with maverick scum. I don't want any of you following me, it's far too dangerous," Sigma ordered.
"Yes sir!" the unit confirmed as one.
Sigma walked calmly towards the cave entrance, hands at his sides. He saw the footprints in the dust; Zero had been here. From the looks of things, he had not yet left. Sigma stepped into the darkness, his sensors switching to infrared. Not too far off, he heard a thud. Jerking his head in the direction of the sound, Sigma found himself face to face with Zero.
"You must be Sigma," the maverick sneered, "I've heard a lot about you."
"Hello, Zero. Not many mavericks cause us this much trouble. You will be an example to those who follow you," Sigma growled through clenched teeth.
"Enough talking then. You may not be my target, but your blood will be just as satisfying," Zero laughed, leaping back and drawing his saber.
Sigma drew his own sword, igniting it and charging his opponent. He was fast, but Zero was faster, leaping aside and swinging his saber at Sigma's stomach. Sigma's hidden thrusters ignited, pushing him out of the way of the strike in the nick of time. He turned, charging his enemy. Zero charged as well, their blades colliding in a surge of energy and sparks.
Zero leapt back, his feet connecting with the wall for an instant before the powerful thrusters in his legs activated and sent him hurtling towards Sigma. Their blades clashed once more, the force of the attack knocking Sigma off balance. He leapt back, only to take the offense once more.
Sigma growled, his enemy was enjoying this! Zero's maniacal grin was haunting as their blades struck one another time and time again, sparks flying. The two leapt around the cave, dashing and striking, hoping just a single stroke would connect. The longer the fight ran on, the more Zero seemed to enjoy himself. Sigma ducked but a moment too late, feeling the heat of Zero's saber sear across his cheek. The oil dripping down his face seemed to triple the maverick's efforts. Sigma was being beaten back fast; the fury of this reploid's assault was like nothing he had ever encountered before.
It was then that Sigma got lucky. Dodging Zero's horizontal slash, he brought the hilt of his sword down on Zero's hands and knocked the saber out of the maverick's hands. Sigma's luck did not last long, however, as the maverick quickly countered by kicking Sigma's sword away from him.
Zero lunged, knocking Sigma back against the wall. He wailed on the Maverick Hunter's chest, stopping a blow with both hands and nearly ripping the arm from its socket. Sigma swung with his free arm, catching Zero hard in the jaw and slamming him against the opposing wall. He charged to uppercut, but the maverick leapt and rebounded off the ceiling, planting a boot in Sigma's head.
Sigma growled angrily, the maverick was starting to test his patience. Zero had rolled and picked up his saber, charging his opponent. For a brief second Sigma saw something strange, a white 'W' flashed in Zero's blue gem. Zero was charging to slice Sigma in two across the stomach.
Sigma saw his chance. Swinging with all his might, the Epsilon Squadron leader's fist connected with the gem and shattered it. The maverick screamed, his body wracked with pain as electricity surged through it. The electricity coursed through Sigma's arm as well, deadening it. He gritted his teeth to the pain as Zero stood motionless for a moment, the saber in his hands crackling then fading. It fell from his hands to the floor, shortly followed by its master.
Sigma stood for a moment, dazed. It took a moment for everything that had happened to sink in. He looked down at the reploid then at the saber. He picked the later up first, hooking it in place behind his shoulder. Next he lifted the maverick up in his arms and carried him from the cave.
Cheers greeted Sigma as he emerged victorious. He managed a grim smile, exhaustedly walking towards the transport. The men congratulated him still and followed, yet didn't enter the transport. It was private and belonged only to Epsilon Unit.
Sigma locked the maverick in a stasis cell where he would stay until they reached headquarters. He couldn't risk an escape now, nor could he handle another battle. Both his arms were functioning well below optimum and his energy was running low, he would need repairs shortly after returning. Sigma couldn't help but wonder what would happen to this maverick, though. He knew very well that it should be melted down but that was not a fate he wanted it to see. If his memory could be erased Zero would make an excellent hunter. While the head of the Maverick Hunters, that decision would be up to Dr. Cain, the creator of the original reploids.
Sigma paused, realizing that was not entirely true. Dr. Cain had only discovered the original reploid, but from there he made several others until reploids were capable of building themselves. Cain was considered the father of reploids, regardless of the fact that he himself had not created the technology.
And then there was Mega Man X, the first reploid. Sigma couldn't say he liked him in the least. He had offered X a position in the Maverick Hunters, knowing he would excel at battle. X was designed to be a fighter, Sigma could feel it. Ignoring this, ignoring the immense good he could do, X refused the offer. Sigma remembered it clearly, X had stated that he didn't want to hurt anyone. Sigma had tried to explain that this would keep the city of Capcom safe, but X still refused. One day he would come around and see the light in Sigma's words, Sigma knew it.
Dr. Cain looked over the computer screens once more. He had hoped that the first results had been a glitch or miscalculation but by now he had run the system scan at least a dozen times. It was clear that the red and white reploid lying on his maintenance table was not a reploid.
Zero's components were eighty-nine percent similar to the original reploid, Mega Man X. Even with this being true, the circuitry was wired in a slightly different fashion that led Dr. Cain to believe Zero had been created by someone other than Dr. Light. Not only that, but the eleven percent of Zero's components that differed from Mega Man X's were not those of a reploid.
As a matter of fact, they weren't even robotic. While reploids had complex synthetic brains that functioned almost identically to those of humans Zero had an actual brain. It was modified to connect with his systems and function exactly like a modern reploid brain, differing in efficiency by maybe a hundredth of a percent. Where reploids had completely inorganic generators Zero had a greatly modified heart.
Dr. Cain was puzzled by these changes; why had Zero's creator constructed him in such a way? Converting the brain and heart would require much more precision and effort than building the processor and generator, even in the times when Mega Man X and Zero had been built. Although, Dr. Cain thought, it would take considerably less time. The creators of the reploid race must have been technological geniuses, Dr. Cain couldn't grasp why one of them would cut corners like this.
Zero's components were not the only things troubling Dr. Cain. The reploid's programming was equally confusing. There were no traces of the maverick virus in Zero, yet he had acted as a maverick and had turned many machines maverick merely by keeping them in his presence. The maverick virus would not simply disappear like this no matter what had happened to Zero, this had to be how he had been made and programmed. There was, however, a strange program clinging to parts of his mind. It was unlike any program Dr. Cain had analyzed before and appeared to be a dormant one. The program had been lost or corrupted at some point in time and there were not enough remnants for Cain to assemble what it could possibly mean.
Cain glanced over the strange creation on his table once more. Zero's chest plate and other armor had been removed to scan his wiring. There was something that just wasn't right, but Cain couldn't place it. Someone had made Zero to kill. Perhaps Cain's questions would be answered when the results on the capsule returned.
Since Zero had not been infected with the maverick virus there was no need to cure him or attempt replacing the commonly infected parts. In this case, Zero's memory could be saved to disc and erased, leaving him with his combat and personality programming. This way he could be raised to do good and become one of the Maverick Hunters under Sigma.
Heaving a sigh, Cain went to work. Backing up and formatting such a complex robot's memory would be a true test of his skill and patience. Luckily, he had no problem with burning the midnight oil, and working on a meaningful project certainly would prove more interesting and rewarding than the nights of tinkering with gadgets he had fallen into lately. With that thought, Cain set to work.
The world seemed empty, cold and black and soundless. To Zero, there was nothing. He existed alone, outside of the world. His memories were fading rapidly until he was no longer aware that he had existed before this very moment. The fading stopped then and he became aware. That undefined moment became his birth, now he waited in blackness.
First came the hum. It was not a strong hum, but it was the only sound in Zero's world. He clung to it, not afraid, but curious as to where it would take him. Words began passing through his head. First muffled, like the ruffle of wings behind glass. The voices became louder, clearer. Zero was still unable to comprehend the words, grasping only enough to tell that the voices spoke of him.
The world came in a rush, like the leaking dam had just given way. The blackness flashed momentarily to white, then dimmed and became arrangements of colors as Zero's optics calibrated for what her perceived to be the first time. He was lying on a table of sorts, armor removed.
"Greetings, Zero," a kindly old voice spoke, "I am Dr. Cain. Your systems malfunctioned and Sigma brought you back here." Zero turned his head to look at the old man, finding him gesturing towards a tall, bald reploid in green armor.
"I repaired you and brought you back to life," the old man said.
Zero sat up, looking over the two. Dr. Cain was short, maybe five feet tall. He was old and frail with a long beard, appearing to be the exact opposite of his companion. This Sigma reploid looked powerful and almost coldhearted, standing at around seven feet, maybe taller. This was clearly one reploid that Zero did not want to pick a fight with.
Zero sat up and slid off the table, looking around. "So," he began, "You two saved me? How can I repay you?"
"I was hoping you'd ask, Zero," Sigma said in his gruff, but not entirely unfriendly, voice. "You are a reploid with incredible combat capabilities. With some training you'd make a fine Maverick Hunter. I am asking you to join us."
Something about the thought of combat made Zero's circuits surge. This was an offer he knew he couldn't refuse, the thought of combat felt more tempting than anything else. When Sigma extended his hand, Zero shook it readily.
Sigma grinned. "Welcome to the team, Zero."