Reploid Half Chapter 3: Is life supposed to work out like this?, a mega man fanfic

Chapter 3

Summary: This is the hell that is my life. No, not really. I can't back that up. Yet.

Author's Note: Hehe, two of my favorite quotes in a single summary. This is going to take place in the span of a week for the main characters. I really hope you guys like the fact that I've managed to include the two most well liked (seemingly) female reploids in the series, and I do plan on having them in upcoming chapters as well. I don't have much in the way of personalities for them yet, but I think what there is so far is pretty good. I hope so, anyway. Suggestions on their personalities (as well as NPC reploids) will be taken through e-mail only. If I get a review with a suggestion for such things through reviews, I'll delete 'em if I can. You've been warned. Also, I don't care that I spell "Dammit" instead of "Damnit." The main reasoning behind it is that no one actually pronounces the 'n' in "damnit." If you nitpick that little detail/spelling error, I really won't care. lol

Disclaimer: It's in my bio, but if the guys at capcom really want to be too lazy to look it up, then here it is. I don't own Mega Man X, Zero, Alia, Magma Dragoon, Lifesaver, or any other Capcom character in existence. However, Arik and Ayumi are my own creations. Got a problem with it? Too bad.

One week later

The end was near. In Maverick Hunter Headquarters, one could almost cut the tension that was thick in the air with a knife. In the remains of Doppler Town, one could likely punched a hole in it. And in the hospitals? Well, for one person, the end was near, but in a far different way than one might expect after a Maverick uprising of these proportions. Lives were saved, lost, and regained in mere moments that even time itself could not deny.

It was during one of these moments that I found myself on the floor after a bit of practicing. "Dammit!" I muttered in frustration, though the words had to have been muffled on the linoleum that lined the floor itself. Face first to the floor after such a promising 3.782 seconds, I told myself, and a sigh escaped me. This was getting exhausting, I thought, as I picked myself back up. I finally got enough control over the body that that voice had stopped correcting me on every little detail, and had shut itself down as a result. My knees were slower than my arms at this point, and it took a few more seconds to be able to tuck them up under my body so I could get a purchase on the floor with my feet.

I heard a giggle behind me, back towards the entrance to the room, and I looked over my shoulder to see who it was. The nurse watched me as I did this, looking rather amused. She was a human nurse, surprisingly- so even if she did try to help me get back up, she probably couldn't do it. I shrugged slightly from where I was, and pushed down with my feet and legs slowly, forcing myself up to my feet. Balancing act, I told my mind, trying to find some sort of focus to allow me to stay upright for once. This was something that the reploids couldn't even help me with, as they knew how to walk by the time they were activated. It was second nature, to them, but to me? It was with my own two legs, but not with two new legs like I had.

I was soon on my feet, wobbling somewhat as I adjusted some of my processes to even out the weight ratios enough to keep me upright. After a moment, I could sense that the body had begun to stabilize, and I smiled slightly as I looked to the floor as my right foot came forward. At least I was no longer having to actively think about doing everything now, I told myself, as I placed the foot firmly upon the floor. It didn't move, and then I found my left foot lifting slightly, the weight of my body switching back over to the right as I waited for a second.

And so did the foot. Inwardly, I cursed as I gave my own self instructions on how to complete the maneuver. And so the left foot finally came to the floor, contact firm, further ahead of the right foot. I smiled slightly- despite the fact that I was now learning how to walk again, at least this was infinitely better than being fed like a baby up to only 5 days ago. Ayumi assured me that she would never let anyone know, but from the small smile that she always had on her face... Well, I hope she enjoyed the view, I contended with myself, as I chuckled softly. She'll probably keep those images in her memory banks for all time!

Why was it so difficult to even walk? How did the babies do it? Well, perhaps because babies always take less time to adapt, to figure out how to walk upright once their muscles were developed enough to allow it. Not me... My muscles are hydraulics, my blood fusion energy, my spine (and the majority of my body in general) made from parts built from the lowest bidder, I thought, and a small sigh escaped me. But, I wasn't the worst off. I heard about the casualty reports. Ayumi told me about what had happened after the train wreck, how a reploid had gone maverick and caused the city's center to implode, and then blow outward. Whatever hadn't imploded had been destroyed by super-density materials as a result.

Dammit!

But no, I was now in debt. All the insurance in the world couldn't cover every expense that my new body had cost me... and my parents didn't have the best insurance, nor a large amount of money in the bank. It was a good thing that they had been saving for a vacation that they will now never be able to go on, but even that only helped to make a small dent in the expenses. Lifesaver told me that there wasn't a whole lot of money left to pay, but I would need to start paying the bills relatively soon after I was released from the hospital.

I'd asked about my parents, but all the answers that I managed to get were ones that didn't give me a direct answer. "They haven't been found yet," and "There are still more people being recovered everyday," they told me. Even Ayumi had skirted the issue, which didn't make me feel any better about this or about myself. I couldn't help but to hope that they would be recovered, but it had been a week already. In my heart, or what passed for it now, I felt a sense of foreboding that made me shiver. Was it possible that they could still be alive even after all this time? There hadn't been reports of survivors from the center of the city that had been destroyed... it was all a desolate wasteland now, after all. My other friends were probably gone, too.

"What a way to wake up." I said under my breath, and started taking another step. With each step, I felt that it was becoming easier and easier. Soon, that nurse won't have anything to laugh about, I thought, and grinned slightly at that possibility. However, the gravity of the situation just sank my spirits almost immediately. I'd been having hints as of where to go to get the money that I owe from others- Ayumi and Lifesaver, as well as on television itself... There were all sorts of recruitment drives being done as of late. Maybe I could find an organization that paid well that I could enter? Maybe. Right now, here, there wasn't a single chance that anyone would hire an invalid!

Elsewhere

A legion of mechaniloids in front of him, none behind him, and most of his squad gone to scrap or less. He was the last from the 14th, save for a single other reploid. The others were either destroyed or had been transported back to HQ for repairs. It was just the two of them now. Dammit, why did I disobey orders so directly, the commanding officer asked himself, the Dragoon giving a low growl that caused the humanoid reploid beside him to look at him as if to ask what was wrong. But the reploid didn't bother to ask, and no answer was given. Missile-launching mechs, ground-rolling mechaniloids, and remote beam cannon drones littered the landscape... but not in the way that the two would have preferred it.

The mechaniloids nearly had them surrounded. There wasn't a single Maverick Reploid with the bunch, just a whole lot of mindless drones, reprogrammed to kill any who attempted to get close to the citadel. X and Zero had gone ahead, and who knew what kinda luck they were having. The Dragoon cursed as he checked his internal energy reserves and weapons energy. Dammit. "Get outta here, kid. This is no place for a rookie." he said to the reploid beside him. Indeed, the reploid was a rookie, and had managed to survive this entire time due to luck and experimental propulsion systems. But now, with those system practically destroyed, Magma knew that there wasn't anything that the kid could possibly do. "Tell Alia that my own communications systems are destroyed... I'll try to make my way back to the landing craft."

The kid nodded, and was soon teleported out. Magma grinned slowly- at least the rookie knew when to follow orders. The jamming frequencies hadn't let up- there was no way to communicate with the outside world save through GPS relays and transportation programs. But the kid had been lucky, as he was one of the few reploids who'd been able to teleport outta this death trap. The others had to escape on foot to the landing craft, because of the transmission jamming that the citadel was producing to deny immediate access by any but the strongest of transport signals. His own transport signal had been cut off when that particular system had been destroyed... along with quite a large portion of his right arm and leg. His generator's containment field was still working, though just barely. System checks had confirmed that much more damage would send it into overload.

Magma snarled as he looked about at the slowly approaching drones, and his body shuddered slowly as he felt the power rising within him. The reploid smiled again, slowly. His own internal firepower was about to be known by the mechaniloids again, he thought to himself, before a bit of the flames escaped his jaws. Finally, he hunched over and expelled the plasma flame, its range extending beyond normal parameters due to a lack of magnetic bottling. It disintegrated a large portion of the enemy mechaniloids, and he found himself tiring.

But he forced the flame to continue. He moved from one side to the other, forcing his flame to weave through numerous mechaniloids. They burned to ash, blowing up quickly. But as the flame eventually died down, so did the destruction count. Magma went down to a knee, breathing deeply as his generator attempted to compensate for the power-loss by turning up the production of his energy, requiring him to breath in order to help cool down his system to safer levels. The Dragoon knew that he had only a few seconds before the remaining mechaniloids would converge on his position...

"14th unit! Anyone? Dragoon?" came the frantic call, and to which there was no indication of a response. A scowl was set onto attractive features as Alia shook her head. She'd known that they would be jumping into a mute zone, where her voice couldn't be heard through the communications array. However, a few signals managed to get through to the newer reploids in the unit, and through them she had managed to at least provide some basic information to the unit. But the last one other than the commander had just teleported back to headquarters.

"Alia?" came the shaken voice, one from an uncertain rookie reploid. The one that had just teleported back in. "I was just ordered by Dragoon to return to base. He said that he'll be attempting to make it back to the landing craft, however." he told her, and the navigator nodded slightly before thanking the rookie. In her mind, she knew that the Dragoon had little chance to make it out of there, even if he used his internal flamethrower attack. He wasn't that maneuverable and was built a lot like a brick house- solid, but not fast. He'll be lucky to survive long enough to make it to the lander, she thought, though she wouldn't dare admit such a thing to the reploid who had just spoken with her.

"Dammit." she muttered, sitting back into her chair as her gloved right hand slid through her bangs and then through the short blond hair that she had. There wasn't anyone else in the room with her, that she knew of at least. Her processors and sensors were almost at the point of overloading at this point. The unit under her direction had nearly been destroyed, she told herself, and allowed a groan to escape her systems as she stretched. There was nothing more to do, other than log the information into the central computer, and wait for a signal from Dragoon. She did this immediately and soon began waiting.

But as usual, her thoughts turned to those whom she had always been intrigued by. Zero and X, the two most mysterious reploids that the scientific journals had attempted to analyze... only to find almost nothing known about their internal systems. She remembered her own limited scans that she'd managed on X while attempting to stay busy on the business at hand- low level, they had resulted in nothing but headaches for the navigator. Alia shook her head once more, slowly. Nothing had managed to evade her sensors and analytical systems for longer than these two have managed to do, and the worst thing is that they weren't doing it purposefully! Of course, she'd never had the opportunity to truly train her scanners upon them, but she could still learn more about a reploid of her own generation than she could from them.

Hidden in the room was a squat reploid, outside of Alia's impressive, immediate sensor range. He was red in color, and rather amazingly large in his short state. He watched and listened, learning from the navigator's work and smiled slowly. When the time came, he'd be prepared to take over a navigator's job. The hunter who hid there grinned as he saw the blonde female reploid stand up and stretch before turning to walk out from the navigator's room to do something else. There was certainly something he wanted to do here... and he quickly moved over to the console that Alia had been sitting at after the door had closed behind the navigator.

The reploid took one look at the console's readings, few though they were, and he patched himself through to his own transportation system. He slipped into an energy transfer and was gone from the headquarters in the blink of an eye, his data being transmitted somewhere far away from the hectic Maverick Hunter Headquarters. The door slid open a few seconds later as Alia stepped back in, wiping her mouth slowly. She blinked as her sensors picked up some sort of massive thermal readings for a second, before the heat signature dissipated. Better run a calibration test, she thought to herself, and brought up the test as she sat back down in the command chair.

It was early the next day when I managed to wake up- damned sedatives. The nurses always ran them through me, forcing my body into a sleep state that caused the rest of me to follow. Why? Because otherwise I might never sleep? I had to wonder about it, as I got up out of the 'bed'. It was a lot more enclosed than I liked- as I was somewhat claustrophobic, I couldn't enjoy my normal sleeping habits now. The capsule, really, was rather enclosed, but I soon found myself out of it as I looked around slowly. It seemed kinda quiet... I couldn't help but think to myself as I stepped out of the capsule carefully. I'd made a lot of progress yesterday, but I still needed to set myself on a kind of autopilot if I wanted to get anywhere. That or the device that was set beside the capsule, which I grasped and pulled closer. A walker, and I chuckled softly. I probably looked ridiculous, moving slowly towards the door with my gown on.

I could hear quite a bit of noise coming from down the hallway, and I couldn't help but to wonder if that was what could have been the reason as to why I woke up so early. With a yawn, I stepped forward using the walker ahead of me to try and help keep my balance so I could find out what was happening. There were shouts of pain and the sound of feet, human and reploid, running every which way from outside the door. I heard a few distinct shouts, and I could swear I heard someone yell the word maverick. I staggered a bit as that threw my concentration off completely. Damned weight and balance ratios, I thought in the back of my mind as I made my way to the door. If there was a maverick here, I wanted to see it myself.

I found myself on the sideline as people hurried away from the central hallway, going into rooms and such. I was the only left to see what was going on, if anything, and found myself staring at a sight I had never seen before. "What... in the hell?" I muttered, blinking once, slowly. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was a brown haired reploid at the end of the hallway, attacking anyone it could with, of all things, a hover stretcher machine. It was wearing normal street clothes, and I could hardly believe that it was actually a reploid for a moment. That is, until the stretcher was swung and I could hear two loud thuds as metal hit metal- the orderlies were reploids, I figured, from the force of the attack upon the floor as they impacted it. This can't be... it has to be a nightmare! I told myself, mentally, as I watched a reploid I knew holding someone up in the grasp of one hand. From the scans I was receiving, the person in the reploid's hand was a human... it didn't take much imagination to consider the most likely course of action that would be made.

It was Ayumi! She had glanced down the hallway while holding the squirming captive in her right hand- a nurse that I had met the other day, no less. She was trying to get Ayumi to release her hold on her throat... which, after a sickening pop, my friend complied with her requests that had been made. Her eyes settled on the only one in sight, and I heard footsteps as I moved back into the room. My internal threat indicators were screaming at me now, the Roy system obviously kicking in due to the stress that was leading my mind through one hell of a loop. Oh shit! My mind was racing as I heard rough and fast steps fall down the corridor, coming ever nearer. Certainly, I'm sure that the patients that were in rooms leading to her were relieved when the steps went past, but as I turned around, I saw my friend in the doorway, her chest heaving slowly as she seemed to just take a good look at me.

I shivered as I saw the look in her eyes- crazed, but not devoid of any sort of feeling. I saw a deep pain in her eyes, as if a part of her was still active. But then I looked down to her hands and my own eyes seemed to widen as I saw the red liquid drip down along her fingertips and to the floor. It wasn't much, really, but obviously enough that she must have been here a short while or have been... "A... Ayumi?" I asked weakly, and she flashed a feral grin as she darted forward fast enough to wrap her right hand around my throat. Breathing was impaired now, as I felt the pressure build in her grip upon my reinforced neck. I gasped for air that didn't seem to come fast enough as my generator began pumping out energy faster.

Ayumi batted the walker away and wrapped the fingers of her left hand up into making a fist against her palm as she raised me slowly into the air with her considerable strength. One of my hands leapt to the hand at my throat, and the other attempted to block what I could see coming. The fist slammed forward and I felt a jarring pain in my left arm as I managed to parry the blow. My arm went numb, but not slack, as I felt her fist continue to connect with my body. I knew without a doubt, if I was still human in these areas, that I would definitely be hurt if not dead already. I could feel the pressure on my arm increasing to the point where I simply knew that the metal portion underneath my syntheflesh skin was becoming dented, and I began to truly cry out in pain as I locked my gaze onto her eyes. There wasn't much time before the shock of this attack would take over any responses I could make, and it took over a minute for me to even prepare myself for this, thoughts of hurting my friend in my mind, conflicting with my need to survive and that friends don't hurt friends.

"You damned maverick!" I exclaimed, and drew back my right leg and then forced it forward, my hydraulics screeching as I attacked Ayumi's body with as much force as I could put behind it. My survival was at stake, the human part of me and the reploid part of me merging as one in this action when my foot slammed forward quickly. Her eyes flashed in pain, though she made no sound of it other than the crunching of metal upon metal. Her grasp was released from my throat, and I fell onto the floor. My left foot connected with the floor, and then my right foot touched down as she staggered back. I could breathe again, but I could see that besides my attack, she was preparing something herself.

"Maverick? I'm nothing like that Gravity Beetle who killed an entire city... including your parents. Sorry Arik!" she told me, in a voice that wasn't quite the same as the voice she usually spoke in. True, it was cheerful, but the underlying tone was far from normal for my friend. Her eyes changed from the crazed look to something altogether different. Softer, perhaps, and yet the look reminded me of someone who might be pleading. "Arik! Please, stop me. I don't want to continue doing this. Please!" she said, and cried out in pain as her hands went to her head and held it between them. She seemed to be doing the reploid equivalent of crying as she crouched in place, but I was now in shock. She remained in that position for a moment longer, as if trying to suppress the virus in her systems by simply using a physical gesture to 'compress' the thing.

Ayumi was still alive in there! But I know that I can't do anything to stop the virus once it was in a reploid's body. How did it get there? A flash of rage ran its course through me, my body shuddering as I came up close, my chest heaving as my right arm drew back. Ayumi saw this, but did nothing. A small smile seemed to appear on her face for a split second before she closed her eyes, perhaps regaining control for a second- and then I surged forward with all my strength. My arm spun slightly, rotating from having my knuckles to the side to pointing straight forward, and then I hit. Metal hit upon metal, and then I felt her skull cave in somewhat, leaving a dent in it. I felt a shock in my body as my fist struck against her skull, her hair, and into the systems between, and I shuddered as I stepped back before I struck again. And again. When I managed to stop after the fourth strike, I was breathing hard, and clutched my damaged left arm against my body as I watched her look up at me.

The syntheflesh that had covered her face was partially gone, the hair that I couldn't help but to look at when she was around falling from her scalp to the floor. When her eyes opened, I found myself staring at an unthinking and unfeeling machine as she got up and moved to attack me... She grinned maniacally, and when I saw her eyes, I became very frightened. It was the first time I'd ever stared into the eyes of a maverick... but this was my friend. There wasn't anything left of Ayumi. I saw nothing in her eyes that remained as the person I had come to know and like as much as a family member. She was on her feet after only a single second, and the crazed look in her eyes seemed to escalate now as I saw her body sway for a moment, as if she was regaining her balance. "Time's up." she said simply, a quiet and rather toneless sound in her voice as I prepared myself for her next attack.

She darted forward, trying to bring her right fist up into an upper cut, but wound up falling forward, face-first to the ground as I stood there, arms raised while I breathed deeply. I watched her fall, and found a triplet of fairly large blades in my friend's back. I looked up, and saw Lifesaver in the doorway. He was breathing hard, as if he might have run all the way here, and I just watched as he came in and took the blades out of Ayumi's body. I was completely in shock at this point... I'd attacked my only friend left! My body shuddered without my thinking of it, and I fell to my knees as my hands impacted the floor. I lay there, prone beside my best friend... who was now dead. I could see her eyes... god, it was like they were staring straight through me. A blank stare, a look and feel of death to them as I shuddered. I looked up to Lifesaver, who was standing near the door with a grim look on his face.

"You did what she would have wanted..." Lifesaver commented in a low volume, and I just looked at my now gone friend. "I doubt she wanted to hurt you, Arik. But, that's what the maverick virus does." he said. I nodded slowly, able to keep myself from any sort of involuntary secondary tasting of a meal thanks to the fact that I had not yet eat anything. First my parents and my friends... and now, my only friend left had gone maverick. And she was as good as dead now, too. With a sigh, I felt the bitter acidic taste of bile in my throat, and I swallowed quickly as I got back up to my feet slowly. My left arm moved back to being pressed against my chest- obvious bruises and syntheflesh scraped from my arm, the bare metal exposed as I wavered slightly, but managed to remain standing somehow.

I felt a bit of pain in the back of my mind as a sudden light flashed down from the ceiling, and was followed by two more as well. Maverick Hunters, I thought to myself, as I stepped back towards the recharge capsule. I stayed behind them all, though all three immediately turned their busters on me. If I was a human still, I'd start sweating, I realized, as I looked between the three and raised my hands, shaking my head in denial. "Where's the maverick?" the one in the lead asked. It was a humanoid reploid, with straight gray hair that reached to his shoulders. One of the others was a type of bird of prey, and it looked like his or her armor had been stylized after a hawk. The other looked like some sort of animal... a weasel or a ferret, maybe. The obvious leader was carrying what looked like an old-style naginata with an energy blade, while the other two surely had some sort of bladed weapon as well that was out of sight. The one in the bird-like armor stepped closer, and I stepped back. Did a maverick usually back off, or do they hold their ground? I didn't know, but either they thought it was funny behavior for a maverick or something because the hawk-like reploid just assumed an easy stance.

"He's not the maverick... He managed to hold the maverick off long enough for me to deactivate the maverick." was Lifesaver's reply, and I nodded slightly. When the medical reploid directed their attention to the maverick on the floor, I couldn't help but to shake my head slowly The hawk-like reploid looked to the floor, where the body of my one-time friend was, and I sighed softly as I heard the weapons that had been trained on me be turned off. The weasel-like reploid stepped over and picked up Ayumi's body, and my heart seemed to jump slightly before I noticed the humanoid reploid watching me.

"What is it?" I asked quietly. I'd already had to fight my only friend, and now? She was deactivated. Chances are that now, since she was completely deactivated, was effectively as dead as a reploid can get without being destroyed. The personality matrix in a reploid was a very delicate thing, after all, and the loss of power for any length of time past two minutes could easily destroy the personality that had been stored in the body of a reploid. I hadn't realized it, but my fists were still clenched, and I hadn't relaxed them yet. It took another moment of the reploid watching me before I realized this and finally managed to relax again. It was only a moment before my fingers came from where they had curled against my palm, and I found myself watching him in return.

"You did well to hold a maverick at bay." he said simply, and then he looked to the hawk-like reploid. He (or she) nodded in return, or possibly in agreement with that assessment. "Obviously, she was not designed to be a combatant, but perhaps we can gain some sort of information from her memory banks." he told the hawk, and I watched as his partner shrugged slightly. I sighed a little- well, they'd have access to the memories she had of me, then. But what pained me more was the realization of what would happen to her body after everything was said and done. After the testing was finished. After they'd extracted every bit of information... she'd be melted down to scrap.

While the three maverick hunters were busy speaking with Lifesaver, I watched Ayumi as she lay slung along the weasel-like reploid's shoulder. Limp, like a mannequin, I thought to myself. Just as lifeless, now. "Rest in peace, Ayumi." I said quietly, hoping that the other reploids wouldn't hear my voice. I saw the hawk-like reploid glance to me, as if attempting to figure out what I was or something, and I looked back to it. The reploid flashed me a small smile, as if to tell me that it had heard me after all, and I just looked to the floor as I stood there, quiet and motionless, as I held my left arm against my chest. In my mind, I was now seeing the full consequences of everything that had happened in the past few weeks.

My eyes closed and I had the sudden urge to shut down. My world had died around me- now, I was the only one truly left from it. The internal command was there, that one that would tell Roy to shut down the generator that was now my heart. To end all existence. Sense, touch. Sight, hearing. Taste, time. Emotion. All these things and more, to be erased at the simple command of the user's voice. I knew that these things could end. I wouldn't even explode. I'd simply shut down. There might even be a funeral, even if no one would go. My mother, my father. Their memory would live on, as would mine, with our few remaining relatives. I could never have children, never retain the family name unless I remained alive. There was nothing that could be done about it, anymore. Genetic engineering had gone the way of the dinosaur ever since reploid sciences came about.

For, the fact is, I am no longer human. However, I am not a robot. I am not even a reploid, though I am closer to one than to being a human than most anyone could ever dream to be. I told myself this, and waited. I felt the heat of my body rise slowly, as I clenched my fists. I also felt a pain in the back of my head as I stood there thinking. The hunters must have left, I thought to myself, and I groaned softly as I finally just collapsed to the floor. Let the shock take hold, was my last memory that I could remember. Decisions can wait.

Lifesaver watched as the maverick hunters left, sending with them a message to his friend by the name of Alia to contact him when she had the time. The medical reploid sighed as he looked to the ceiling, glad that this little crisis was finally over with, even as he received an update as to the final toll on the facility. A dozen doctors killed, more than half that number of nurses killed. Twice that number each for being badly wounded or injured. At least four were in critical condition at this time, and one was not expected to make it through the night. When he heard the sound of metal on syntheflesh, the medical reploid looked to the young man who had been forced to fight the only person who had cared about him enough to attempt to try and help him through his recent trials.

Lifesaver held his breath- not something to worry about, for a reploid, but he moved over quickly to the fallen young man, even as his sensors picked up the readings of others just outside the door. He still managed to find a 'pulse' on the cyborg that he was now kneeling beside, and his breathing continued as he shook his head. In shock- he hadn't commited suicide or anything of the like. With a sigh, he picked up the young man and stuck him back into his recharge capsule. The reploid looked back to the door and frowned at the crowd of onlookers that stood there. Some had heard the entire thing, having been in the rooms beside this one. Others had just arrived for work.

"Get along, there's nothing to see here!" he told them, and the crowd slowly dispersed as Lifesaver walked up to the emptying doorway. To a nurse, he told the reploid to watch over the patient and see about grafting new syntheflesh onto his arm, as well as repairing the dent in the metal. And so the day went, with order being restored slowly, and many papers being filled out. By the end of the day, Lifesaver was worried about his own sanity... But he certainly knew better, to say the least. Too many of the hospital's own employees were forced into their own wards, either for repair or for surgery. A few had not made it, while many others did. Most had suffered broken bones, two had suffered punctured lung. As for the reploids? A few days of self-repair would fix the minor injuries, while some had to go to a repair shop to have an arm or a leg replaced.

Then, he realized, he hadn't thought much about the kid who had managed to stop that maverick... his own friend, the only one, from the records, who had taken the time to ever come and meet him in the hospital. To help him start learning how to walk, and use the functions that his new body had provided. How... why, even. Why had she gone maverick so suddenly? It was information that he doubted he would get, but if Alia was cleared to provide it... Well, no need to linger on it. What was done was done, and the boy was now in something of an 'induced' coma. It began as his sleeping, but the nurse had to put him into a deeper sleep in order to work on the left arm, which had been heavily dented in areas. A new strip of syntheflesh covered the arm now, the original having been thrown away after being deemed worthless and damaged beyond repair. He'd be woken up tomorrow... and then they'd find out just what the boy wanted to do.

The next day, but not at the hospital

"Well, Dragoon, I'm glad you managed to make it back... well, mostly in one piece." was what the condescending female's voice rang out, and the red-hued reploid groaned from the large and heavy hover stretched that he lay upon. Well, she was right about that much at least, he had to admit. Damned logic circuits... why did he have to admit that sort of thing, hm? His optics reintegrated themselves after a moment- he'd had himself on a sleep mode, to conserve his strength and let the nanomachines do their jobs. But now, it seemed rest time was over.

"Well, what else would you think would happen, hm? I got lucky when some red hunter provided some backup for me." he replied, the dragon-like reploid moving to sit up on the stretcher slowly. He was in fairly bad shape, with his left leg blasted apart at the shin. His right arm was actually completely missing... Well, from his shoulder, at any rate. It was lying right beside him at the moment on the stretcher. The Dragoon couldn't remember the name of the reploid who had found him limping towards the landers while the mechaniloids attempted to surround him. Their shots, cannon balls and energy blasts, rained all around him as he struggled to make it back... but then, they stopped. It was as if someone had destroyed them all at once, he told himself. His circuits had been on the verge of shut down mode as a result of the damage he'd taken when he felt a pair of arms on him. His optics had been badly damaged, and he was going on sheer memory in order to retrace his route back to the landing craft.

"A red hunter? Zero was on a mission with X to infiltrate Doppler's compound." was the reply, and Magma shrugged as best he could with only one shoulder still attached to his body. He focused his optics on the pink-armored reploid before him, her blonde hair remaining in one place easily enough as she assessed the leader of the 14th unit. "Anyway, there'll be reports to fill out when you are 'armed' again, so be prepared, commander." she told him, smiling a little. He could tell she was teasing him, but Magma knew that for some reason, he truly wanted to blast that smirk off of her face. He still had his flame burst available... but using it would probably shut him down for good.

"Yeah... well, thanks. How is the rest of the unit, Alia?" he asked, his slight anger dying down as he remembered the others who had been sent back to HQ after taking too much damage. The navigator sighed softly and shrugged at the question. He slouched slowly, leaning forward enough to cause the stretcher to wobble dangerously, as if warning that if he moved more, then he and anything on it (like his arm) would be pitched off. "That bad?" he asked quietly. For a reploid who was built for battles, he was very protective of the others who had qualified for his particular team.

"Six of them were lost in mid-transport. Three are being repaired and two are down for major repairs that the repairmen are not sure if they'll pull through..." she said softly, looking to the floor. Alia knew better about this particular unit commander than she let on. She knew of his concern for his troops, because she was their navigator. She had to know of this, after all. She was the one who provided them with the information that could decide the battle, even if the commander was the one making all the real decisions there. She felt sorry for Magma Dragoon, for he had done what he could, without her help and expertise. "The rest are either reting or being treated for minor damage to their vital systems." she finished. "I wish I had better news for you, sir. Also, the commander would like to have a word with you once your own repairs are finished. He expects to meet with the unit leaders other than X and Zero by noon tomorrow." she told him.

Dragoon nodded and inwardly sighed as he shook his head. He didn't even notice when Alia had snapped a smart salute to him, as he moved to lay down on the stretcher once more. A technician came up to him, and the Dragoon closed his eyes and entered a sleep mode in order to conserve what little energy he had left, as he was directed into the repair room. One of the last things that ran through his minds was a possible reassignment to the Repliforce squads... but they were almost all of humanoid build. It wouldn't hurt to ask, though...

Groggy, I soon found myself groaning as I came to. Everything was a blur, as I pushed my foot up... and felt it connect lightly with some sort of restraining mechanism. Strange, I thought. Why would they have restrained me again? I shrugged and pushed a bit harder, realizing that I was just in the capsule and that the bottom restraints were up and in place, unlike what I usually liked. "Oh... right." I muttered, the bright light that had been my dark dimming quickly as I realized just what had happened yesterday. My eyes closed and I sank back against the cushioned insides of the capsule as I sighed softly.

I'd fought Ayumi... she'd gone maverick. Dammit! I couldn't help but hit the inside portion of the capsule as I opened my eyes, looking to the top of the capsule before I calmed down a little bit. That flash of anger, all too easily apparent, escaped me, and I reached forward to the release latch for the restraints that had been set into place. Mom and Dad're gone, too... if what Ayumi told me was the truth. With another groan, I stepped out of the capsule and carefully stood up from the capsule, now drawing myself out of it before I looked around the room. There was nothing different about it. No damage on the walls... nothing. I blinked, and lifted my left arm, not feeling the cool air against my metal arm anymore, and found a pale patch of syntheflesh grafted into place, over the areas that had been obliterated by repeated blows from Ayumi's fists.

I touched the pale syntheflesh gently, wondering if it would simply be able to peel back without worrying about pain or anything. My touch on the skin was smooth and soft, and I shivered as I shook my head slowly. No, I told myself firmly. I wouldn't try it. I wouldn't do as I thought I might last night, after the entire situation had defused. My parents... and Ayumi, wouldn't want me dead. It was the virus that had killed mom and dad, and had corrupted Ayumi as well. To deny the virus meant that humans had to live. Human or not, I would deny the virus in any way I could think of... And I smiled slowly as I came upon the realization of just how to do that.

Activate Roy system. I told the reploid control matix, and I felt a small ping in my mind as it responded, awakening the dormant system that remained attached to me. It was my subconcious now, basically, and I knew that it still held the pathways to commands that I would never want to use. "RO1-Beta system now online. How might this system help you?" it asked, and I smiled a little bit. It was definitely something that I could do in order to keep myself from ever entertaining such thoughts... ever again. Roy, uninstall all commands and pathways regarding final shut down processes, I told the system. It gave me a warning, to which I simple replied with the override command. I felt a slight loss of control for a moment as it did as was asked.

"Override confirmed, removing final shut down sequences." Roy said... and I couldn't help but think about an ancient warning message that had survived even to this day. "Do not remove the memory card or turn off system while saving is in progress," or something like that. I didn't know I said that aloud as I felt the pathways, ever so slight in my mind, were wiped out, and then there was a ping as the process was finished. "Process finalized. Attempts to shut down self are now impossible without a reset of this system. RO1-Beta is now shutting down." I was told, and then the voice in my mind was silent as I regained control of my systems once more.

I stretched slowly, smiling a little bit, though I knew a part of me was kicking me for even doing so. There was nothing more that I could do at this point... I am on my own. I can't rely on others to help me anymore. When I found a nurse come into the room, I smiled to her and even gave her a polite, "Good morning!" This seemed to floor the nurse, as she stood there, watching me for a moment. "What is the matter? Never seen a patient feeling good again?" I asked, and then she just giggled a little bit as she brought a small scanner over to me. She held a small cord with what looked a lot like a plug one might find on earphones, though the plug itself was only about half as long.

"I need to see your synchronization ratios, if you don't mind, sir." she asked, and I nodded slightly as I turned slightly. There was a port like that just behind and beneath my ear that had been installed for such a reason. I felt her fingers brush aside the bottom edge of my ear slightly, rather careful as I felt a small click and then information flowed from my mind to the port, to fill it with the information that was requested. It was one of the first things that I had learned, actually, and soon the nurse nodded slightly as she disengaged the plug from the port. "Thank you... looks like you should be cleared soon." she said, as she studied the results. "97.694 percent synchronization. I don't think that it will get a whole lot higher than that." she commented, and I nodded slightly.

The sooner I am out of here, I thought. The sooner I'll be able to do something to repay the people who died, humans and reploids alike. As the nurse went to a tablet PC in order to input the information, I asked her if my clothes were still around, or if I'd be stuck with a hospital gown. With a chuckle, she told me that a small amount of money had been set aside for the purchasing of new clothes for me when I was ready to leave, but I'd have to order them off of the internet. Besides, she commented slyly, my old clothes wouldn't fit too easily on my new body. We both had a small laugh as she left, and I sighed as I sat down on one of the chairs in my room. I had a lot to think about... Just how best to avenge my parents, my friends... and Ayumi?

Author's Notes: Well now, there's the third chapter. I wonder, did anyone see this coming? I do try to do little things that might provide a small twisting of the plot, especially as they revolve around a character's feelings. I added a bit of actual action in this one... But it was the first time I've ever tried combining actions and emotions in quite this way, so I hope it worked out well in the eyes of the reader.

Responses:

Delta X- Hey, no problem about the praise or anything. I'm glad you found the last chapter better than the first, and I hope you like this one as much as well.

Iniora Nackatori- I'm glad to hear that I fixed up whatever you meant by the 'choppy sentences.' If you ever remember what you meant by that, let me know. I'd like to improve. As for being based off of X4… actually, I started during X3. I'll be going through X4, however, and past it as well.

Guest- Thanks for the praise. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter just as much as the first.

Zaisha- Well now, you're the 200th reviewer I've had! Thanks for picking out the percent problem. I had forgotten that the percentage sign doesn't really make it through the upload process.

Jennagurrrl- Did you change your name from FarlandHunter? I personally preferred the original name, but that's just me. And did you just change your name again, this time to Meshia? How am I gonna keep track of the name changes?

Genocideking Archfiend- I know you didn't leave actual reviews for me, but I'm glad to have had you e-mail me about this and other fanfics of mine. No worries about muses yet... After all, I've yet to do anything to offend the new ones. I hope, though Alia has been somewhat annoyed that I made her Dragoon's navigator.