I've been waiting since Monday for my beta reader to reply and he hasn't. My patience has worn out. But he's reading this I still value your feedback.
One week later…
The press conference room was a-buzz with excitement. Reporters from all over the world were gathered at MHHQ as well as a few members of the scientific community. Dr. Cain announced the previous day that he was finally going public with the details of the protoreploid that he had found a few weeks ago and anyone that could be present was. One reporter by the name of Brian Carolina was standing in the center of the room, waiting anxiously like everyone else.
"Hey Brian!"
The reporter looked behind him to see a friend of his pushing through the masses to meet him.
"Matt, glad to see you could make it." The two warmly shook hands.
"Thanks for the press ID you gave me."
"No problem, but keep it down. If my boss finds out, I could get fired."
"Sure, sorry."
The two looked at the platform in the front of the room. A red curtain was draped across the back and two reploids could be seen standing within the shadows to the left. The steel podium in the center, once home to dozens of microphones, stood empty save for a datapad that contained the outline of Cain's speech. Reporters no longer carried bulky equipment that snapped photos, recorded speeches, or took footage. That was all done by small drones that the reporters mounted on the walls or hung from the ceiling. The only thing a reporter carried was his personal datapad to jot down notes and such.
"So Brian, what have you heard of this reploid?"
"Rumors mainly. None of it seemed very likely. One guy said that upon activation, it knew all knowledge that could be known."
"That's bullshit."
"Exactly, but today we find out exactly."
Matt nodded and looked into the shadows to the curtain's left.
"So when's Dr. Cain going to make his appearance?"
"It should be anytime now."
"I sure hope so. I don't want to be waiting around for an hour."
"It's a good thing you never became a reporter then. I've been standing for an hour and a half."
Matt was about to make a comment on the length of time when Cain walked out from behind the curtain. All ambient noise in the room ceased as the aged man assumed his position behind the podium. Taking a deep breath, Cain activated his datapad and began the conference.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, you all by now are wondering about the reploid I discovered. Many of you have heard rumors concerning what he is like. I can assure you all that every single one is false. However, I cannot explain you to what he is like. Like all of us, he is a unique individual with his own set of beliefs and ideals."
During Cain's pause, a flurry of reporters shouted out questions to the aged man. An expression of desperation crossed his face for a moment before it fell back to its previous blank one. Looking out over the crowd, he picked a reporter from the New York Times.
"Doctor, is this reploid structurally the same as Megaman X?"
"In some ways yes he is."
"Do you mean to say that he's more advanced?"
"Without a doubt, that is true. However, I must once again bow to the genius of Dr. Thomas Light. I could not fully duplicate the construction of X and I have barely been able to scratch the surface of this one's makeup." For a moment there, Cain's apprehension disappeared, replaced by a wonder and excitement equal to the assembled crowd's.
The reporters once again began to assault him with questions but he raised both hands and signaled for the multitude to calm down.
"I cannot answer every question you ask me for there is much I do not know."
Cain continued his best at calming the reporters for the upcoming event of the protoreploid's first public appearance. Brian looked into the shadows behind the curtain and saw three figures conversing. Squinting his eyes in the hopes of seeing better, he saw that the tallest of the figures was rubbing his chin. Standing to his side was another, shorter figure that only came up to the first figure's shoulders.
The third figure was the apparent recipient of the discussion. He was in-between in height judging by the way he would've looked if he was standing up straight. All of a sudden, the third figure assumed a hostile stance against the other two. One had seemingly said something that he took to offense and was not too pleased about it.
'Damn, I wish I knew what was being said.' Brian thought. At that moment, Cain cleared his throat loudly over the sound system.
"I cannot answer your question any further so without further delay, I present the protoreploid I discovered." Cain stepped back and motioned to the side of the platform. Brian could not believe his eyes when he saw Megaman X and Zero step forth from behind there. Zero was rubbing his chin absently mindedly not so much as it physically hurt, but because it was the source of a bruised ego. X had a troubled expression on his face. And third figure was undoubtedly the protoreploid.
Brian raised an eyebrow at his design.
'Geez, Dr. Light must've been going senile when his exterior was made. Skin colored upper arms, thighs, and waist isn't a way to impress people. And his helmet and chest plate are both plain.' He shook his head.
"Well at least the red armor isn't all that bad." He mumbled. X and Zero flanked the platform while the protoreploid stepped up to the podium and faced the anxious crowd. It was then that Brian noticed that his appearance seemed haggard, like he didn't want to be there. His eyes were dull and very little light shone from within them while his facial features were slightly darkened.
The protoreploid opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, then turned to Cain. The two exchanged words that the drones didn't pick up. It seemed to Brian that the protoreploid was asking Cain a question, in which he responded to and nodded in encouragement. Since not a peep was heard from the audience, the silence in the room was almost deafening. The protoreploid turned back to the people and spoke.
"I… I really don't know what to say. I never suspected that I'd be standing in front of the press. I guess I should start with my name. I'm Dan Parker." He paused, waiting for some sort of response.
Except there was none. It was odd for a reploid to have a human name and almost unheard of for one to have a last name. And this one had both. Brian looked around slowly, seeing that many of the people were still listening in a shocked silence. The few scientists in the crowd were jotting down notes and one was making a rough sketch of Dan's appearance.
Dan swallowed hard. The response he was getting didn't seem very encouraging to him. Without any other reasonable option, he asked for someone to give him a question. Brian obliged.
"Why do you have a human name?" And Dan's response was one that shocked the world.
"Because that's what I was."
On the opposite side of the country, Emilius Cristoph was watching the press conference with great interest in his mind and scowled expression on his face at Dan's last statement. The holoscreen showed the reporters suddenly assailing the beleaguered Dan with questions along the line of, "Did Dr. Light program you to think that?" and "If that's true, why are you now a reploid?"
Cristoph lowered the volume as his phone began to ring. Clearing his throat, he put on his diplomatic attitude as he picked up the receiver.
"Emilius Cristoph's residence, Cristoph speaking."
"Drop the air Cristoph and switch to the secure line."
Cristoph recognized the voice on the other end and pressed a hidden button on the phone's side.
"Alright, the line is safe Coleman." He spoke into the mouthpiece, his voice having assumed a serious, business tone.
"I hope you're watching the recent breaking news."
"Of course."
"Light truly is a bastard. First he defies God by building those robots that nearly proved to be end of the human race. Granted he at least had the foresight implement the Three Laws into them but Wily proved that was little deterrence."
"I know my history Coleman."
"I know, I know. We thought reploids were bad enough but this… this takes the proverbial cake. He turned a beautiful human being into an ugly, damned machine."
Cristoph shook his head in disapproval at the ranting. Coleman had always been an emotional individual who always let that get in the way of rational thought. On the other end, Coleman took a deep breath to clear his head and get himself under control.
"What do we do," he asked.
"Right now, we simply watch the world's reaction. We may control the GDC but because of that old man Cain, the Maverick Hunters are still out of our grasp. Of course I'll have to check this with the High Council but I feel that they'll agree with my decision."
"Understood, should I notify them of your coming?"
"No, I'll have relay my thoughts on this through another. The GDC council hasn't dismissed yet and I don't want to chance any suspicions."
"Of course, do you want me to tell them?"
"No, I have someone else in mind." That was a lie of course. Simply put, Cristoph didn't trust Coleman to not put a spin on things.
Before Coleman could respond, Cristoph hung up the phone and turned the security off. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling in deep thought.
'One thing's for certain. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day.'
The conference ended an hour later with Dan exiting the building in a neutral mood. That was an improvement, considering the events that had happened during the past few weeks. The reporters and scientists didn't get as many answers as they would've liked but still left pretty well satisfied and shocked. Cain accompanied by Dan, X, and Zero entered a rented limousine and drove off back towards the Maverick Hunter Headquarters. Outside, the storm clouds above finally started empting their vast contents of rain upon the earth.
"Well," Cain started, resting in his faux leather seat, "all things considered that went rather well."
X and Zero nodded in agreement. Dan ignored them however and just stared out the window.
X and Cain exchanged glances.
"So Dan, do you have any other family," X hesitatingly asked. Dan's reply was short.
"No."
X looked at the floor and closed his eyes. "Come on Dan, this isn't healthy. You have to snap out of it," he muttered, apparently too loud as Dan heard him.
"Shut the fuck up you liar."
"Hey! Now that's enough Dan," Cain snapped. Dan looked at him loathingly.
"Why the hell do you care? All you want to see is how my body works."
Zero –for once- stayed silent which helped things. The rest of the ride continued without a word, but the air was thick with tension waiting to break loose any moment. And the moment they got in sight of MHHQ, a whole mob could be seen gathered in front. The police were dressed in full riot gear, warning the rabble to get back while inside the headquarters security was arming themselves with non-lethal weapons. The throng was shouting hate laced messages to the Hunters while a few signs were held displaying very graphic images of what they intended to do Dan.
Cain saw the crowd, frowned deeply, and leaned towards the driver.
"Take us around back," he said, but before the driver could execute that, the mob recognized the limo as belonging to Cain. They surged forth and overwhelmed the police, immediately crowding around the car. Threats laced with blood erupted from their mouths as they banged on the limo with their bare hands (or signs for those that had them).
At once, the security guards burst through the doors of MHHQ, weapons drawn but all of them hesitant to shoot. While they certainly had the authority and right to do so, they knew that these people would declare them Mavericks if they did. Shouting warnings and pointing their weapons at the unruly mob, they assisted the police in pushing the mass of rioters back for the limo's occupants to safely disembark.
While X, Zero and Cain each had very liberal remarks tossed at them, the vilest ones came bearing down on Dan as soon as he exited the vehicle. And he did not react to well to it. X and Zero each quickly grabbed an arm of Dan's as he started shouting equally nasty retorts at the crowd while trying to rush them. Several of the people in the mob began throwing random objects at the three individuals; cans, rocks, broken pieces of brick, things like that. None of them hit and with Cain holding the front door open, the trio made it inside with the security force following in suit.
After they walked in a few steps and Cain locked the door, the two Hunters released their hold on Dan. The red armored man suddenly lost the spark that fired within him before and reverted back to his depressed self.
"What the hell's wrong up with you Dan? Why'd you try to go after those people? If Zero and I hadn't stopped you, you'd have hurt them and that'd be the end! You'd be proclaimed a maverick and shot!"
"Are you really that fucking stupid X?!?" Dan looked at the Blue Bomber. "I didn't ask for any of this shit! I woke up three weeks ago like this!" He looked away. "If I had a choice… I would've rather DIED on that road." Suddenly a great weight felt like it was lifted off of Dan's shoulders. But all he did was sag them. Without so much as a word, he walked off down the halls.
X tried to go after him but Zero placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Let him go," he quietly said. "I have an idea what he's going through right now. The best thing is just to leave him be." X looked at his best friend and sighed.
"I hate this Zero. The man I consider my brother is going through hell," he bowed his head, "and there's nothing I can do."
Time passed and night fell. After several hours of ranting and raving, the mob outside dispersed most of them because their lives interfered but there were those that would've stayed for days upon end. X and Zero were both finishing up back logged paperwork. Cain attended to some management duties. Dan slept in his room. The covers underneath him were all strewn about as he was tossing in his sleep. He was reliving his death.
Dan was walking down the blacktop road of the city of New Tokyo, Washington. After World War III, several prominent Japanese investors helped rebuild the war torn city, so they renamed it to that in their honor (as well as several other landmarks). His spirit soared above the clouds as he whistled a few notes from that song he learned from the red robot.
'Kate, you are making me the luckiest man on earth. Two more weeks and I can kiss my status as a single man goodbye without a single regret.' He stopped for a moment and looked up at the stars. In his state of pure bliss, he thought that none of them looked as pretty as the diamond he gave Kate four months ago.
"Hey dude, you lost?"
Dan looked back down to see a quartet of men walk up to him. Everything about them, their hair, their cloths, the way they walked, everything just screamed out gang. Dan put on a stone hard expression.
"No, I know exactly where I am." He started to turn around when one of the gang members pulled out a replicate Japanese throwing star.
In the real world, Dan's right hand began to twitch.
"Just give us your money and you'll walk away from this punk," the apparent leader of the group said. Dan faced them, his feet shoulder length apart. One of the lackeys sneered at Dan.
"Yeah, you'll walk away. A few cuts and bruises maybe, but you'll live." The rest of the gang laughed.
Dan turned onto his back as his right hand suddenly locked straight and receded into his forearm. A moment later, the barrel of a buster came out.
Dan reached for his right pocket. 'I only have one chance at this,' he grimly thought. All of a sudden, his hand grasped the grip of his pistol. He raised it at the gang, only to see the leader with his own firearm drawn. Two bullets buried themselves inside Dan's torso; one is his gut and the other in his right lung.
"Stupid asshole," he heard the gang leader say. Dan heard footsteps come over to him and pull out his wallet. He felt his own blood stain his clothes and some touched his lips.
"This was a waste of time. Bastard doesn't even have a single buck on him." The leader tossed the wallet down beside Dan. "Let's get out of here and pick up some girls."
Inside Dan's room, a humming began to be heard. Emanating from Dan's buster, the hum grew in intensity and after a period of four seconds, reached its peak.
Dan heard the thugs start to walk away. After a few moments, he slowly pushed himself off the ground. He tasted blood in his mouth and his stomach felt like it was on fire but both paled before the fire that burned in his eyes. They looked around, seeking a weapon of some sort to use. They spotted a discarded section of piping left over from a past construction on the side of the road.
'Gotta stop them… make those bastards pay…'
He walked over to the where the poles laid, his pain completely forgotten. Picking a section up in his hands, he put one foot back. Remembering his time on the javelin team in high school back in his second home in Iowa, he held it on its center of gravity. Taking two running steps, he tossed it through the air. It whistled as it traveled, finally imbedding in the thigh of one of his attackers. A split second later, the leader was turned around with his pistol drawn again.
"Mother fucker!" He shouted, pointing the barrel at Dan. One shot was fired, hitting Dan's left leg.
No…
Another shot erupted, this one burying itself in his right shoulder.
NO…
The barrel pointed itself at his chest. A flash of light was seen. Dan suddenly opened his eyes and shot up in his bed.
"NNNOOOOO!!!"
X closed the office door to his unit's room and yawned.
"Oh man, what a day."
He activated his warp generator and swapped his armor for his nighttime attire. He started walking down the hall to his bedroom, looking forward to a full night's rest. Along the way, he passed Dual, commander of the "Unlucky" 7th Unit. The 7th was a small, well trained and well equipped unit of Hunters but they never saw much action. The reason why they were set up that way is because they essentially served as the janitors for major maverick outbreaks. And alone, cut off, and surrounded mavericks tended to fight very nasty.
"Hey Dual, what are you still doing up at this time of night?" The orange and silver reploid looked at X with a tired expression.
"Would you believe it's for a romantic rendezvous?"
"You? Dating? I'd have a heart attack." The two commanders laughed.
"Na, one of our cheval landchasers broke down during training and I have to march over to Cain's office to give him the report AND Cleo told me to order some new parts for it. What a glorious job it is being a Maverick Hunter. Good night X."
"'Night Dual."
X didn't take more than three steps before a massive ball of plasma sudden carved its way through a wall to his side and continued right on past. Suddenly the emergency sirens erupted throughout the entire base and the security squads started converging on its point of origin. But by simply looking down the hole to his right, X saw where it was from.
Dan was sitting up on his bed with his right arm in buster mode. That massive blast was his.