Megaman X2: Eternal War
Chapter 19: Saying goodbye
By Genoscythe
…Damn, can't think of one.
VR only wanted one thing before he left on the most dangerous mission he had ever undertaken. He needed to get a closer look at the armor Megaman X had gotten from his late creator, Dr. Light. When he entered the armory, it was almost empty. Armor and weapons used by the injured hunters were either being used by the remaining forces or given to civilian reploids who wanted to help out. All four of the other hunters assigned for the Central Control mission had their armor lockers closed, except for X's. VR could not quite figure out how or why it was open, but he took it as a godsend.
As VR opened the locker all the way, he once again saw the splendid armor that the Azure Hunter donned on missions. The sleek white and red combat armor was amazingly crafted. Even though it hadn't been repaired since X's encounter with Violen, it seemed in perfect condition. The new hunter reached out to touch one of the energy spikes on top of the white, blue and yellow helmet. As soon as his gloved hand met with the smooth exterior of the helmet, a shock went through VR's body. He jerked his hand back, but he could still feel the tingling of the electrical discharge.
Amazingly, an image began to appear on VR's blue-tinted visor. It was a holographic image of an old man, portly and bearded. " Ahh… You seem somewhat familiar…" The image began speaking. " I know I've seen your design somewhere…"
" Wh-who are you?" VR asked tentatively.
" Me?" The image looked surprised. " I am Dr. Thomas Light," VR was stunned.
" You mean…"
" Yes, the creator of Rock, who you know as Megaman, type X. I suppose you could call me…the father of robotics,"
" What are you doing in my head?" the surprised reploid asked.
" That is not important, and far too complicated to explain," The image of the dead doctor continued. " The question is, how am I in your head?"
" It should be impossible…" VR said.
" Impossible for most reploids, yes. Not for a reploid I built…" Dr. Light trailed off. Neither spoke for a moment, then suddenly Dr. Light's image went wide-eyed. " I remember you now! You're the Virtual Reproduction unit I was designing!" VR could barely comprehend what the doctor was saying. Did he mean that Dr. Light built him?
" Wait, I was built on a Replitech assembly line!" VR interjected.
" You're almost right. I did not build you, but I had made detailed blueprints and data files about you. The only thing I had not finished calculating was your Core Processing Chip,"
" But then, if you didn't build me, then who did?" VR inquired.
" Replitech did. You were a special project undertaken after Dr. Cain found the data files I had made about you,"
" How do you know all of this?" He asked.
" I'm scanning your memory and processors as we speak. Also, I've been installing a new program into your system while I was answering your questions. It's the Core Processing system that I never was able to finish… oh my, this is horrible! Are all reploids installed with this CPC?"
" Most of them are, at least the new ones are anyway," VR said. The image looked disheartened.
" This is exactly what I feared…why does humanity keep repeating the same mistakes?"
" What do you mean, Dr. Light?"
" Listen to me carefully. I want you to shut down Replitech and erase all data files on reploid design,"
" Why?" VR asked.
"…There. The program is completely installed and the virus has been deleted."
" Virus!?" VR said, fear-stricken. " What virus?"
" I am running out of time. I fear my energy can only last for so long," The image said.
" Wait! I need to know something!" VR begged.
" Please make it quick," Dr. Light said.
" What does 'Virtual Reproduction unit' mean?" He asked.
" It means that you are the physical manifestation of my two sons, the first two robots I created."
" You mean I'm…"
" Yes, I created you to replace Rock and Blues. I'm afraid I died before I could give you a name, though." VR was trying to understand what the image was saying. It was reasonably hard to accept the fact that VR was designed solely to replace Dr. Light's dismantled sons, but there was still one question he had to ask.
" Will you give me a name?" He asked hopefully. The image sighed.
" A name is a precious thing. It takes time to think of the perfect name, and I'm afraid I cannot take that responsibility alone. I will think about it, but you have to decide for yourself what your name should be. I can only make suggestions."
" But you're my creator! You have to give me a name!"
" Ah… running away from your responsibility, I see. The new program is already in effect. You must learn to accept responsibility, just like any human. You have become a sentient being now. You can make your own decisions. My only advice is to make the right ones." The blue-tinted hologram of the old man began to flicker and fade out. VR was about to call out to him, but stopped himself. He knew it was useless to try and call him back.
VR just stood there, watching the image fade away, all the new sensations and thoughts whirling through his head. He heard X's locker slam shut, but he didn't realize if he'd closed it or not. After several minutes, VR slumped against the row of lockers and shut down, hoping the void would help him sort out his thoughts.
***
Drake paced the inside of his modest sleeping quarters. He was clutching his multi-task assault rifle tightly, chanting to himself. He found he had checked the ammo gauge twice every five minutes for the past hour. Finally, he threw the gun down onto his bed. He gave a half-hearted laugh at the fact that reploids didn't even need beds, that they were just another one of the many devices made to make reploids feel more human. Then, he chastised himself for letting his mind wander.
Then, he got mad for talking to himself. " This is insane…" He kept repeating. Now, normally he would be nervous about a mission like this, but not as nervous as he was now. His current level of fear was attributed to the transmission that had played on every video screen across the HQ about two hours ago. It showed the live video feed of the massacre that occurred at the Central Control near the beginning of the war. All through the gruesome display Magnas, the traitor, was explaining the chances of the Maverick Hunters' success if they tried to destroy the main maverick attack force. Those chances weren't good.
Once again, Drake began pacing. He looked out the window at the setting sun. It was blood red. " Great," Drake muttered through his teeth. " Just the kind of omen I need," He resumed his pacing. "This is insane…this is insane…" He looked at the chronometer on the wall. Half an hour to go…
***
" How did Magnas manage to hack into the system?" Megaman X asked nervously.
" We don't know!" The operator yelled angrily. " All of the firewalls are still in place, and he didn't bypass any of the security systems,"
" Check the video systems," X said. The operator began typing hurriedly on his console. It was about two hours ago when the former Maverick Hunter had contacted the Hunter Base. The images that had accompanied the message were gruesome, and X recognized them as security camera recordings from the Central Control.
" It looks clean, nothing……What the hell?" The operator looked surprised.
" What is it?" X asked.
" It's Magnas's transmission. Somehow he implanted the data into the video mainframe, but…"
" Call it up."
" What?"
" Can you play the transmission again, on this screen?" X asked.
" Sure, but…why?"
" I just want to take another look at it, that's all," Suddenly, the screen flickered. It showed the first hunter's head being crushed.
" As you can see, the power of the Purifier army is easily greater than yours." Magnas began. The images continued. " We have amassed a huge force, nearly ten times the amount of Maverick Hunters, and we have a trump card," X watched as a hunter's mechanical spine was torn out of his back and split in two. " Whether all our warriors are destroyed or not, Neo Tokyo City will be leveled. You cannot stop us." Magnas sent pieces of debris flying at the hunters, smashing their heads in. " Also, I have complete control over your HQ. All automatic gun turrets and electronic systems are under my control. I find it amusing that I could destroy you with but a single thought, yet I stop myself every time I try. It just isn't fun if there is no battle." The final image, the one of Jett's torso being punched through, told the end of the transmission. " Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…" Magnas said as a cryptic finish.
" Damn it, no wonder Calliope is scared…" X muttered under his breath.
" I'm sorry, sir?"
" Forget it, it's nothing. Look, can you shut down the security systems inside the HQ?"
" Yes, sir." The operator began typing again. " I shut off all the security systems, sir. Including the cameras and automatic gun turrets."
" Good. We can't take the chance that he'll use these things against us." X said. He turned to leave, but the operator stopped him.
" Wait a minute, sir… the systems! They're starting up again!"
" What!?"
" All the security systems I shut down are starting up again!"
" What the hell are you talking about?" Suddenly, the monitor turned black. Words began appearing on the blank screen.
" 'Bad idea, Maverick Hunters. You should know that I can turn on anything I see fit'" The operator began reading it aloud. " 'I have complete control. Don't do something foolish like that again.'"
" Damn, Magnas is just playing with us!" X growled. Angrily, he stormed out of the control room. Looking at that recording again, X felt a kind of fear that he had not felt in quite some time. It was a kind of fear that sunk into his CPC and chilled his entire body. It was times like these that X wished reploids weren't so human.
***
Half an hour later, X was waiting in the ride chaser hangar. He wanted to get there early because he wanted to get an early start, and he didn't have anything else to do. After waiting for a while, he started to get bored. He began waving his buster around like he was scanning for an enemy, and when Calliope jumped out from behind a pillar, he almost shot her.
" Whoa! Careful where you point that thing!" She cried. X lowered his buster.
" Calliope? What are you doing here? We still have ten minutes left before the mission," He said.
" I know, but… I kinda figured you would be here,"
" Me?"
" Yeah. I wanted to spend my last few minutes alive with you," She said with a half-hearted laugh. X tried to laugh, too, but found that he just didn't feel like it. She stepped up closer to him and draped her arms across his shoulders while laying her head on his chest armor. " Whenever I'm with you, I realize just how much I have to live for," she said.
" Now, don't start crying again…" He began stroking her hair. " We'll make it. We always have in the past, right?"
" This is different, though. You saw the video transmission,"
" We've already gone through this. We can do it, and if we can't, then it just wasn't meant to be," She looked up at him. " Always believe everything will work out for the best."
" Rock…" He stroked her cheek.
" I know," Suddenly, a loud clang resounded from the back of the hangar, near the door, and a familiar voice started swearing explosively. Drake walked into view, muttering about tripping on some debris.
" Stupid piece of shit technicians… always leavin' stuff lyin' around… oh, hey guys!" Drake said with a nervous laugh as he looked up. " Where's everyone else?"
" Probably saying their prayers," X said jokingly. They all knew that the jokes were only aimed to relieve tension, but it felt good to laugh, even if it was forced.
" Hey," Drake began. " This is going to be just like old times. The three of us on ride chasers, sneaking into a maverick base. I just hope we don't get blown away this time, huh Cal?"
" Yeah," Calliope muttered, conjuring the memory of their first mission together as a group.
" Well, this time we have Mobius and VR to cover us, so we can all make it in this time," X said.
" Speaking of, I wonder where they are?" They waited in silence for several moments.
" I see we're the only punctual ones, huh?" VR's voice called out from the hangar door. He and Mobius walked in and moved to where the other three hunters were standing. Mobius was decked out in his new blood-red combat armor. " Well, can we go, or is our new mission to just stand here while the mavericks slaughter all the humans?" VR said cheerfully.
" VR, you seem… different," Calliope dared to say.
" Yeah, you're not talkin' in technobabble anymore," Drake put in.
" It's a long story, so I'll tell you later."
" We have to get moving anyway," X said. They all got on their appropriate ride chasers.
" Any last words?" Calliope called out over the hum of the hover engines.
" Today is a good day to die," Mobius said.
" It's never a good day to die," Drake grumbled. X narrowed his eyes. This was it. There was no turning back now.
" Let's go,"
End
AN: I made a new record! A new chapter in (calculating…) two days! That's the fastest update I've ever made! (Sniffle) I'm so happy…(Sniff)