Chapter 4 - Questions Without Answers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Halo Apartments 7:45 PM~
I just sat there, kneeling over this guy I didn't know, staring into his eyes.
I could get lost in those eyes…
"Um, miss?"
The owner of the eyes that I was staring into like a twit spoke, and I blushed and stood quickly, averting my gaze when I realized what I was doing. I tried to cover my embarrassment, but I don't think it worked.
"Y-you don't seem to have too much wrong with you all things considered, so, um… I-I'll be going."
"Wait."
I turned back as he was easily picking himself up off the ground.
Great, what now?
"Yes?"
He looked at me a little strangely.
"What happened?"
Of course, what else would he want, coming to with some stranger staring down at him?
"Oh, that, well, after you hit the wall and collapsed, whatever that thing was flew out of the building and then the Sailor Scouts came and some weird blue guy showed up."
He looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Then what?"
I shrugged.
What's with this guy?
"They beat the bird-thing and leapt off like they always do. The blue guy just disappeared.
"Ah…"
He had a far off look in his eyes as he spoke, and I wasn't sure what to make of it.
Strange guy…
Still slightly flustered, I headed over to where Serena and Darien were. Serena looked at me with concern in her eyes.
"How is he?"
"Hmmm? Oh, your neighbor? Fine, fine…"
Darien looked at me funny.
"What is it?"
I blushed a little.
"Nothing…"
He still looked at me strangely, but dropped it. Serena smiled, and I asked a question to forestall any teasing.
"Do you have a place to stay?"
She nodded, but Darien spoke.
"We're staying at the temple with Rei."
It was my turn to nod now.
"Well, I should be going…"
Serena smiled again.
"Thanks for coming to check up on us, Amy. Bye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Halo Apartments 7:50 PM~
It was more than a little unnerving asking the blue haired 'Sailor Scout' what happened out there, but had to be sure that my cover story matched with hers, or I'd be in trouble with local authority figures.
Still, it had to be done. I can't compromise myself. Not now. I can't help but wonder if she's on to me though…
I was shaken out of my thoughts by a man wearing a blue uniform.
"Hey you, the doctor gave you a clean bill of health, so how about answering some questions, huh?"
Must be local law enforcement.
"Certainly, but my name is Rock Light."
The officer looked a little disgruntled, but the look passed.
"Fine, Mr. Light. What happened here?"
"I'm not really too sure. I've only just moved in, so I was having some coffee with my neighbors, then suddenly, a blue version of Big Bird comes in through the wall over there. I tried to stop it from hurting anyone, but it tossed me through a wall with no effort, then I blacked out. When I came to, there was a blue haired woman leaning over me."
"Woman? Oh, right the doctor."
He sighed, a little disappointed it seemed.
"Well that matches with what else I've heard this evening. I'll call if I have any more questions."
"I will be pleased to answer them. But how will you get a hold of me? I don't think my apartment will be habitable for some time. I may have to get a hotel."
"Which one?"
His tone was a little sharp.
"I've just been thrown through a wall. I don't plan these things in advance."
The policman looked a little sheepish.
"Sorry, reflex…"
"No offense taken."
That guy has issues…
I walked over to where Serena and Darien were standing.
I may be out of trouble with the police, but they might know something.
Serena smiled at my approach, eliminating most of my earlier fears.
"Are you okay? Amy said you were, but it never hurts to ask."
"Amy?"
"Oh, sorry. The woman looking over you for injuries was my friend Amy. She's a real worry wart."
"I'm fine. Thank you for asking. Tonight certainly didn't turn out the was it was planned did it?"
Darien smiled a little, and my fears were all but eliminated.
"Definitely. So much for welcoming you to the building…"
I've had worse welcomes before…
I paused to remember Vile standing in front of Sigma's lair.
"…you staying?"
I had missed the first part of Serena's question but the meaning was clear.
"I will find a hotel. What about you?"
"We're staying with another friend."
I smiled.
"Well, I must be going. See you later."
Serena's voice echoed after me.
"Bye!"
I waved over my shoulder, packed some things, and hopped on my bike. It was about an hour later that I was sleeping in a hotel room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Mizuno Residence 10:43 AM~
I grumbled a bit as I looked for my car keys. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a problem of significance enough to cause me to mutter so.
But if I don't find them soon I'll be late. I'm sure they were down here on my lab table…
I covered my eyes with one hand and groaned.
I left them on the kitchen counter so the acetylene torch wouldn't melt them like last time.
I grabbed the keys off the counter, and hurried out to the car.
Maybe I will be on time…
The construction crews had finally finished with the Halo apartment building the day before, and I was meeting with Serena and Darien for lunch to discuss the new attacks.
After all these years of things getting blown up, I'm glad the construction crews are so much faster now.
I glanced at the stadium as I passed by.
Things have been pretty quiet lately.
An explosion of incredible magnitude ripped through the intersection, and I scanned for the epicenter of the disturbance. The stadium had a brand new hole in it, and in the center of it was one of those robots we'd been fighting. It was tall and two shades of green, and had the tail end of a helicopter sticking out of its butt. Its light, diaphanous wings gave it the appearance of a humanoid dragonfly. It had four smaller, more traditional-looking dragonflies surrounding it, and these were firing into the fleeing crowd.
Guess I spoke too soon…
I exited my car, not all that unusual, people were fleeing their vehicles left and right in an attempt to escape the monstrosity in the stadium. I noted with a little concern that the traffic jam caused by the accidents caused by the explosion was blocking the local fire station, and that they would not be very effective as a result.
Guess it's up to me then…
I ran for a deserted alley and felt the familiar rush of power as I changed into Sailor Mercury. I jumped to the top of the building and looked down. I paused, not really understanding what was going on. The dragonfly thing now had only a single target. A blue robot standing protectively over a little girl, no more than eight years old. From its performance the previous evening, I knew that the blue robot had incredible agility, but it stood rooted to the ground, taking all kinds of hits.
Almost as if he's protecting the child…
The robot glanced back at the girl every now and then, lips moving.
Probably trying to get the girl to move, but she's to scared to do anything…
Looking into the crowd, I saw a woman who was most likely the girl's mother, as a police officer was holding her back from charging in. I made my decision.
"Shabon Spray!" (Thanks to etj4Eagle for the correction - Neverwhere)
The magical mist launched, I jumped to the ground, where the blue robot was checking the girl for injuries. He spoke to me without looking up.
"Nice trick. Now take the girl to her mother over there before this wears off or Yammark decides to fire randomly."
As if to punctuate his point, several blasts were being fired off to the side of us. My mist started to thin out.
"Go. Now."
"Right."
I picked up the girl and ran, the Shabon Spray ending a moment later. Now freed of his watch over the child, I saw the blue thing's agility return, but somewhat hampered by the damage to his leg. As I returned the girl to her mother's waiting arms, the green thing I now took to be 'Yammark' spoke, his voice filling the street.
"Really X, could you be any more pathetic? Why do you continue to protect these weak, flawed humans? They hold back our progress!"
'X' yelled himself, sounding as angry as Yammark.
"Reploids are flawed as well Yammark! Mavericks like yourself simple choose not to see it!"
Yammark fired as he spoke now, ranting.
"Sure we see it! But the flaws of reploids are correctable! You simply have to be upgraded when the next advancement comes around! We are the superior race! We are…"
X took a hit and went down on one knee, obviously exhausted. My computer traced power concentrating in X's cannon. A lot of power. He called out, interrupting Yammark's insane yelling.
"Yammark?"
Yammark motioned with his hand, and the four smaller dragonflies surrounded the damaged blue robot.
"Yes X?"
"Go to hell. And this time, STAY THERE!"
His voice increased in volume to a roar as he spoke and fired of the energy in his cannon as one large blast. The blast punched a whole through Yammark's chest, causing him to explode and drop lifelessly to the ground. The dragonflies followed a moment later. X then fully collapsed and rolled onto his back, electricity sparking out of his wounds. I ran over to him, feeling oddly concerned. He looked me with unfocused eyes, and his voice slurred as he talked.
"The girl okay?"
I spoke quietly, not sure I was hearing right.
Is he really concerned?
"Yes."
"Good…"
After he answered, he immediately collapsed and slid into unconsciousness. My sister scouts appeared then, jumping from the rooftops. Sailor Mars was concerned, and rushed over to me.
"What happened here?"
My voice was still soft as I examined the face below me.
"I'm not sure…"
I thought for a moment as the others looked around the scene. I spoke with a little more volume as I made a decision.
"Help me get them back to my place. And be careful with the blue one, I don't think he's dead."
Lita looked at me like I was crazy.
"What! You want to take a live one of them back to your house?!"
I sighed as mind flashed back to the events earlier.
"That's the thing. I don't think he's with them. He was trying to defend a child."
No one really spoke as we transported the robots, one live and one dead back to my house.
What if I'm wrong? What if this 'X' is no different than the others?
I shook my self mentally.
No. I saw the look in his eyes. He wanted that girl to be safe.
I sighed.
Though why is another story.
We reached my home and deposited my newest acquisitions in the basement, laying X carefully on an empty lab table. Rei looked around.
"It's become a junkyard down here. What now?"
I smiled at Rei's attempt at humor.
"Go. I can handle things here."
Rei shook her head.
"I am not leaving you alone in this place with that one over there still alive!"
I sighed.
"I won't reactivate him without calling you guys first alright? I'll be fine."
Rei grumbled, but complied.
He'll probably wake up on his own anyways…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Mizuno Residence, 3:30 PM~
Of course, with the way I feel, who's to say I don't belong here…
I groaned in pain as I sat up, every joint in my body protesting.
At least I'm off the street.
Her eyes…
Her eyes were a very deep blue, and they brought memories unbidden to my mind, and I shoved them down. I backed up, and tripped over Commander Yammark's head, landing on my butt. I blushed, embarrassed.
"H-hello…"
Amy… that's what Serena called her.
She smiled at me, and spoke.
"Are you okay?"
The memories came back in a rush, and I was lost in their flood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Halo Apartments 7:45 PM~
I just sat there, kneeling over this guy I didn't know, staring into his eyes.
I could get lost in those eyes…
"Um, miss?"
The owner of the eyes that I was staring into like a twit spoke, and I blushed and stood quickly, averting my gaze when I realized what I was doing. I tried to cover my embarrassment, but I don't think it worked.
"Y-you don't seem to have too much wrong with you all things considered, so, um… I-I'll be going."
"Wait."
I turned back as he was easily picking himself up off the ground.
Great, what now?
"Yes?"
He looked at me a little strangely.
"What happened?"
Of course, what else would he want, coming to with some stranger staring down at him?
"Oh, that, well, after you hit the wall and collapsed, whatever that thing was flew out of the building and then the Sailor Scouts came and some weird blue guy showed up."
He looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Then what?"
I shrugged.
What's with this guy?
"They beat the bird-thing and leapt off like they always do. The blue guy just disappeared.
"Ah…"
He had a far off look in his eyes as he spoke, and I wasn't sure what to make of it.
Strange guy…
Still slightly flustered, I headed over to where Serena and Darien were. Serena looked at me with concern in her eyes.
"How is he?"
"Hmmm? Oh, your neighbor? Fine, fine…"
Darien looked at me funny.
"What is it?"
I blushed a little.
"Nothing…"
He still looked at me strangely, but dropped it. Serena smiled, and I asked a question to forestall any teasing.
"Do you have a place to stay?"
She nodded, but Darien spoke.
"We're staying at the temple with Rei."
It was my turn to nod now.
"Well, I should be going…"
Serena smiled again.
"Thanks for coming to check up on us, Amy. Bye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Halo Apartments 7:50 PM~
It was more than a little unnerving asking the blue haired 'Sailor Scout' what happened out there, but had to be sure that my cover story matched with hers, or I'd be in trouble with local authority figures.
Still, it had to be done. I can't compromise myself. Not now. I can't help but wonder if she's on to me though…
I was shaken out of my thoughts by a man wearing a blue uniform.
"Hey you, the doctor gave you a clean bill of health, so how about answering some questions, huh?"
Must be local law enforcement.
"Certainly, but my name is Rock Light."
The officer looked a little disgruntled, but the look passed.
"Fine, Mr. Light. What happened here?"
"I'm not really too sure. I've only just moved in, so I was having some coffee with my neighbors, then suddenly, a blue version of Big Bird comes in through the wall over there. I tried to stop it from hurting anyone, but it tossed me through a wall with no effort, then I blacked out. When I came to, there was a blue haired woman leaning over me."
"Woman? Oh, right the doctor."
He sighed, a little disappointed it seemed.
"Well that matches with what else I've heard this evening. I'll call if I have any more questions."
"I will be pleased to answer them. But how will you get a hold of me? I don't think my apartment will be habitable for some time. I may have to get a hotel."
"Which one?"
His tone was a little sharp.
"I've just been thrown through a wall. I don't plan these things in advance."
The policman looked a little sheepish.
"Sorry, reflex…"
"No offense taken."
That guy has issues…
I walked over to where Serena and Darien were standing.
I may be out of trouble with the police, but they might know something.
Serena smiled at my approach, eliminating most of my earlier fears.
"Are you okay? Amy said you were, but it never hurts to ask."
"Amy?"
"Oh, sorry. The woman looking over you for injuries was my friend Amy. She's a real worry wart."
"I'm fine. Thank you for asking. Tonight certainly didn't turn out the was it was planned did it?"
Darien smiled a little, and my fears were all but eliminated.
"Definitely. So much for welcoming you to the building…"
I've had worse welcomes before…
I paused to remember Vile standing in front of Sigma's lair.
"…you staying?"
I had missed the first part of Serena's question but the meaning was clear.
"I will find a hotel. What about you?"
"We're staying with another friend."
I smiled.
"Well, I must be going. See you later."
Serena's voice echoed after me.
"Bye!"
I waved over my shoulder, packed some things, and hopped on my bike. It was about an hour later that I was sleeping in a hotel room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Mizuno Residence 10:43 AM~
I grumbled a bit as I looked for my car keys. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a problem of significance enough to cause me to mutter so.
But if I don't find them soon I'll be late. I'm sure they were down here on my lab table…
I covered my eyes with one hand and groaned.
I left them on the kitchen counter so the acetylene torch wouldn't melt them like last time.
I grabbed the keys off the counter, and hurried out to the car.
Maybe I will be on time…
The construction crews had finally finished with the Halo apartment building the day before, and I was meeting with Serena and Darien for lunch to discuss the new attacks.
After all these years of things getting blown up, I'm glad the construction crews are so much faster now.
I glanced at the stadium as I passed by.
Things have been pretty quiet lately.
An explosion of incredible magnitude ripped through the intersection, and I scanned for the epicenter of the disturbance. The stadium had a brand new hole in it, and in the center of it was one of those robots we'd been fighting. It was tall and two shades of green, and had the tail end of a helicopter sticking out of its butt. Its light, diaphanous wings gave it the appearance of a humanoid dragonfly. It had four smaller, more traditional-looking dragonflies surrounding it, and these were firing into the fleeing crowd.
Guess I spoke too soon…
I exited my car, not all that unusual, people were fleeing their vehicles left and right in an attempt to escape the monstrosity in the stadium. I noted with a little concern that the traffic jam caused by the accidents caused by the explosion was blocking the local fire station, and that they would not be very effective as a result.
Guess it's up to me then…
I ran for a deserted alley and felt the familiar rush of power as I changed into Sailor Mercury. I jumped to the top of the building and looked down. I paused, not really understanding what was going on. The dragonfly thing now had only a single target. A blue robot standing protectively over a little girl, no more than eight years old. From its performance the previous evening, I knew that the blue robot had incredible agility, but it stood rooted to the ground, taking all kinds of hits.
Almost as if he's protecting the child…
The robot glanced back at the girl every now and then, lips moving.
Probably trying to get the girl to move, but she's to scared to do anything…
Looking into the crowd, I saw a woman who was most likely the girl's mother, as a police officer was holding her back from charging in. I made my decision.
"Shabon Spray!" (Thanks to etj4Eagle for the correction - Neverwhere)
The magical mist launched, I jumped to the ground, where the blue robot was checking the girl for injuries. He spoke to me without looking up.
"Nice trick. Now take the girl to her mother over there before this wears off or Yammark decides to fire randomly."
As if to punctuate his point, several blasts were being fired off to the side of us. My mist started to thin out.
"Go. Now."
"Right."
I picked up the girl and ran, the Shabon Spray ending a moment later. Now freed of his watch over the child, I saw the blue thing's agility return, but somewhat hampered by the damage to his leg. As I returned the girl to her mother's waiting arms, the green thing I now took to be 'Yammark' spoke, his voice filling the street.
"Really X, could you be any more pathetic? Why do you continue to protect these weak, flawed humans? They hold back our progress!"
'X' yelled himself, sounding as angry as Yammark.
"Reploids are flawed as well Yammark! Mavericks like yourself simple choose not to see it!"
Yammark fired as he spoke now, ranting.
"Sure we see it! But the flaws of reploids are correctable! You simply have to be upgraded when the next advancement comes around! We are the superior race! We are…"
X took a hit and went down on one knee, obviously exhausted. My computer traced power concentrating in X's cannon. A lot of power. He called out, interrupting Yammark's insane yelling.
"Yammark?"
Yammark motioned with his hand, and the four smaller dragonflies surrounded the damaged blue robot.
"Yes X?"
"Go to hell. And this time, STAY THERE!"
His voice increased in volume to a roar as he spoke and fired of the energy in his cannon as one large blast. The blast punched a whole through Yammark's chest, causing him to explode and drop lifelessly to the ground. The dragonflies followed a moment later. X then fully collapsed and rolled onto his back, electricity sparking out of his wounds. I ran over to him, feeling oddly concerned. He looked me with unfocused eyes, and his voice slurred as he talked.
"The girl okay?"
I spoke quietly, not sure I was hearing right.
Is he really concerned?
"Yes."
"Good…"
After he answered, he immediately collapsed and slid into unconsciousness. My sister scouts appeared then, jumping from the rooftops. Sailor Mars was concerned, and rushed over to me.
"What happened here?"
My voice was still soft as I examined the face below me.
"I'm not sure…"
I thought for a moment as the others looked around the scene. I spoke with a little more volume as I made a decision.
"Help me get them back to my place. And be careful with the blue one, I don't think he's dead."
Lita looked at me like I was crazy.
"What! You want to take a live one of them back to your house?!"
I sighed as mind flashed back to the events earlier.
"That's the thing. I don't think he's with them. He was trying to defend a child."
No one really spoke as we transported the robots, one live and one dead back to my house.
What if I'm wrong? What if this 'X' is no different than the others?
I shook my self mentally.
No. I saw the look in his eyes. He wanted that girl to be safe.
I sighed.
Though why is another story.
We reached my home and deposited my newest acquisitions in the basement, laying X carefully on an empty lab table. Rei looked around.
"It's become a junkyard down here. What now?"
I smiled at Rei's attempt at humor.
"Go. I can handle things here."
Rei shook her head.
"I am not leaving you alone in this place with that one over there still alive!"
I sighed.
"I won't reactivate him without calling you guys first alright? I'll be fine."
Rei grumbled, but complied.
He'll probably wake up on his own anyways…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Mizuno Residence, 3:30 PM~
Main System Booting . . .I opened my eyes and took a look around. The place I was in resembled a scrap heap.
Booting Optic Sensors . . . . .Complete
Booting Auditory Sensors . . . Complete
Booting Tactile Sensors . . . .Complete
Booting Hardware . . .
Hard Drives . . . .Online
Emotion Grid . . . Online
Ethics Chip . . . .Online
Booting Hardware . . . . . . . Complete
Booting Weapon System . . .
X Buster . . . . . Error
Booting Weapon System . . . . .Incomplete
Boot Complete
Unit Designation: Mega Man X
Unit Name: Rock
System Diagnostic:
Leg Units: 15% Damage
Status: Functional
Torso Unit: 30% Damage
Status: Impaired
Details: 'Rock' disabled, damage critical for organic tissue.
Left Arm Unit: 5% damage
Status: Functional
Right Arm Unit: 40% damage
Status: Impaired
Details: X Buster Disabled
Head Unit: 15% Damage
Status: Impaired
Details: Memory needs to be recompiled
Core Unit: 20% Damage
Status: Functional
Repair Function: Active
ETR(Estimated Time to Recovery): 5 hrs.
Unit Status: Online . . .
Of course, with the way I feel, who's to say I don't belong here…
I groaned in pain as I sat up, every joint in my body protesting.
At least I'm off the street.
Energy Lock: 'Sailor Scout'There was a sound from the stairs, and she came down. I moved forward to where she was… and stopped dead.
Unit 'Blue one'
Her eyes…
Her eyes were a very deep blue, and they brought memories unbidden to my mind, and I shoved them down. I backed up, and tripped over Commander Yammark's head, landing on my butt. I blushed, embarrassed.
"H-hello…"
Amy… that's what Serena called her.
She smiled at me, and spoke.
"Are you okay?"
The memories came back in a rush, and I was lost in their flood.