Chapter 5
Summary: The foot goes here, the hand goes there... Wait a second! Why not have more than two of each! No, the buster's not supposed to go THERE! Sheesh!
Author's Note: Yeah, if you couldn't guess, this chapter has a lot to do with Ayumi. I began this chapter shortly after uploading the fourth...and as of the time of writing this, I have yet to receive any reviews on the fourth chapter. Anyway, I certainly hope everyone liked the last chapter. I wonder, does anyone dislike the route I'm taking to avoiding the maverick virus as far as it goes with our good ol' Ayumi? Because if ya do, let me know, and I'd be happy to entertain alternative ideas that haven't been done already. Most of my information about the internal workings of reploids, as well as the virus itself, is taken one part from Reploid101, one part from one of Erico's old fics that describe MMX technology, and one part my own take on the whole thing. So far, I've yet to see anyone take the technical and mechanical route of bypassing the virus... So, there it is.
Keep in mind that because this series does take place before X5, there's no mention of the airborne virus' that abound in that game. Or even knowledge of it. Even for Sigma, it takes time to build nanobots with thrusters that can keep them in the air long enough to get them places, and yet not be noticed. To spread a disease, a virus, there needs to be a carrier medium- and since computer viruses can be blocked by firewalls and anti-virus programs, Sigma has to go for a more direct route, of course. That's my opinion on the matter. Suggestions are always welcome: but only through e-mail. Strangely enough, I haven't had any suggestions recently, and my e-mail's been getting filled with spam. Thank goodness for spam blockers.
Also, if you started with this chapter, I go into third person whenever I'm not dealing through the main character's point of view. When it's the main character, I'm in first person perspective. Italics are thoughts and thought processes, as the case may be. If you read the second chapter, you should know what I mean by that. Good ol' Roy. I decided that the fic needed just a small touch of old-school from my own namesake. I'll provide a little background on Roy at the end of the chapter.
In MHHQ
"RAM filters?" a female voice called out, and there was an affirmative male voice that answered back. The answer made the woman smile, as she connected the plug, and the cable between the filters and the three virus filters glowed into life. They'd been working at this for a while, and had managed to recruit even more help from wandering technicians as they needed to. Two other technicians had joined in, both humans and therefore immune to the virus that resided still within the defunct reploid shell that remained on the table. However, the surgery had been successful, if not at least painstakingly slow and nearly impossible if it hadn't been for the help of a certain individual who was now taking a nap in the corner.
Old Dr. Cain rested in a chair, resting his eyes after a grueling several hours of making sure that the connections that had been established would be enough to keep their subject alive. In spirit, that is, if not physically. The woman who had spoken looked to the shell that had once housed a living and healthy reploid with a look of disappointment. It was done for, she knew. The virus had invaded the remainder of the processor matrix while the primary matrix had been unhoused and the connections to certain areas, here and there on the secondary, were cut. For the most part, the primary matrix had survived, and testing had shown that the power had remained stable throughout the entire process to it. New parts had been added after Cain had given his approval for the project, and even X had helped by providing security for the room as the entire scene continued.
Alia smiled as she connected the cable to the matrix of the reploid that had survived. The personality matrix, that which allowed the reploid its own ways and memories, had been removed. The second matrix, the outer shielding for the primary, was a write off, and the primary now was hooked to a battery of processors that allowed the matrix that had survived to run at full speed. Though not truly conscious, the matrix of the reploid was still quite alive and retaining much of its life experience and memories in general, despite the forceful removal of it from its original body. If it hadn't been for Cain, the capability to save the reploid would have been at less than 10 percent. With his help, it had been possible, for the reploid had been based solely off of his designs. The reploid known as Ayumi lived still, barely in a state that one could call living, but she did.
She had been a first generation reploid. Her shell had been durable and much like a human in shape, size, and practically every other way, as all the original generation reploids were. But now, without a body for her mind, there was nothing much left for the reploid. And the costs of this? Well, Cain was footing the bill this time at least. "Okay, feed the power in now, Douglas. Do we have those reploid parts in here, or are they still being made?" she asked the technician of the body, and Douglas shook his head in response to her query. Alia sighed softly as she looked to where the reploid's primary was being held, suspended in a magnetically bottled current of reploid blood. It was the only way to keep it powered well enough until a new body was ready for her mind.
"Sorry Alia, I've been kinda busy here. And to order these parts, well..." he trailed off, and Alia rolled her eyes. She could tell what he was about to say. "Well, it would cost more than it would for me to simply go in and make new ones for her instead. Give me a few days, and I'll have the shell ready. As for the wiring, we have enough left around to create several of her or one giant-sized reploid. What we'll have the real trouble with is her power supply." his voice grew heavier throughout the explanation, and Alia blinked for a second as she accessed the critical information about the microfusion generators. Cross-referencing it with the first generation reploid bodies brought up an interesting point that Douglas was now speaking of.
"If we don't get the right frequency for the power generator, we'll cause a surge in the primary matrix. This Ayumi? She'll be a clean slate after something like that. Absolutely no personality or memories... We'll be lucky if that's all that'd happen. There could also be a short somewhere in the system, and then that'll be all she wrote. This place won't look half as clean as Doppler Town after that." he finished, and Alia confirmed that fact with the article that she'd been scanning. She sighed and nodded, closing down the article as she looked over to the matrix that was being held in the containment field. With a nod, she looked to the humans who were taking a small break, and smiled a little bit before that faded from her face.
"Destroy the body and body parts... We don't want that virus escaping out among us." she told them, and the humans nodded as they took the parts and put them carefully into the crate that had been brought for just such a reason. Once the surgery had been finished, a force field had been erected around the body, and then a small EM pulse had been emitted into it, effectively destroying the electronics and shutting down the prototype generator within completely. Still, even with that done, no one would take chances with the possibility of being infected by the Maverick Virus. "Go ahead and get started, Douglas. Try to make her a bit more advanced for her sake, won't you?" she asked the green reploid, who simply grinned as he nodded in response.
"Of course! You know how I work, Alia. I'll get a few others to help me out with this too. Who knows, maybe we'll be finished in two days with the shell and we can start with the wiring?" he commented as he followed the humans out of the room. It took a moment for them to leave, and then heavy steps made themselves known to Alia's sensors before she could turn from looking at the doorway. Of course, they belonged to the one who had elected to become security for the project that had come up. Alia quickly saluted the commander, and he just waved her hand down and shook his head.
"Please, none of that here. I'm not officially on duty at the moment, alright?" X told her, and Alia nodded curtly before looking to the table and then to the matrix that seemed to almost be floating in the reploid blood. X did the same thing, and shuddered a little as he saw the matrix floating within. "Do you really think that the reploid in there is going to be able to be saved, Alia?" he asked the pink-armored reploid as he came up to stand beside her. Alia glanced to him, smiling a little from the sound of hearing her name come from him, and she nodded slowly in response.
"Very few reploids have ever survived the virus in any way, shape, or form, X. This one was still fighting it when she was deactivated and brought here. I think she has enough will to live that it is definitely possible, as long as her new body and microfusion generator are readied soon. The degradation of the primary matrix will begin within 24 to 48 hours, even while stuck in that." she commented, shaking her head now as she motioned to the tank that held the matrix within. The reploid still survived in it, completely oblivious to the outside world. "As long as we can get everything done and ready for her within that time, there's a 72 percent chance of the reploid to have a normal life of operations, without any sort of military-grade upgrades. After that, her chances drop by 3 percent an hour." Alia said, the sound of sadness in her voice.
"Well... that is true, Alia. But if you guys think she can be saved, by all means, do it. I want to meet the reploid who can fight off that virus for as long as you say she had. When our patient is operational again, let me know, okay?" he told Alia, and she turned to face her superior officer. Quickly, she saluted as she smiled at him, and X jokingly returned the salute as he smiled in return. "Leave off on that crap, won't you? I'm not your commander after all. And like I said, I'm not officially on duty right now." he told her, and he shook his head as Alia stiffled a giggle that threatened to escape her. Wait 'til Iris heard about this, she thought to herself, and Alia left the room quickly to take a break from this rather large operation.
Once Alia had left, that meant that X remained within the room, alone with the reploid primary matrix and the snoozing Dr. Cain. At the sight of his surrogate father, X smiled a little, and then he walked over to the containment field to watch the floating matrix within. It was so unlike the human brain, he thought. Much smaller and more compact in size, though it was a bit longer because of the memory space required. Little bits and pieces floated within as well, and X could tell that there would have to be plenty of surface work and internal connections placed to get the matrix to work well in it.
"Get better soon, my friend. I'd truly like to figure out how you staved off the virus for so long." he whispered to the motionless and unresponsive matrix inside the containment field. With a small smile, he walked away and sat down beside Dr. Cain, closing his eyes as the prototype rested there. He'd be there when Dr. Cain awoke, and then they would have several things to talk about when it came to this project.
Recruitment Drive
"Alright, let's see here... you're a cyborg?" the question was asked by the recruiter, and I nodded slowly to the human who sat at the desk. It had taken hours to go through the line, but I finally made it. Double was off talking with another recruiter, according to the last time I managed to look around before being called to this desk. The man nodded slightly, looking over the information that had been taken by a port in my arm, just above the junction of my wrist. "Are you capable of handling teleportation stress?" he asked, and I shook my head slowly. That, I don't know.
"I wish I knew, but as far as I've been told about this body, I don't have the shielding around my noggin' to withstand teleportation stress." I replied, wishing I could have said a definite yes or no to the question. The man nodded again, checking off the possible requirements I had listed to form a kind of resume. My skills, what I'd learned, how much schooling I'd had. That sort of thing had become rather important, of course, whenever it came to job placement. Of course, when it came to becoming a hunter, there were many jobs available, either to become a maverick hunter or one of the support personnel instead.
"Why did you choose to join the hunters?" was the next question that was asked, and I could tell that the man, though listening, was preoccupied with the list before him with the possible places within the organization that I could be placed into. It was a decent question, but I wasn't about to respond by saying 'revenge.' That was cliched, of course, and also not something to say that would be very smart, either. It was probably an often enough heard question, however, considering that the hunters did hire humans.
"Well, to try and stop people from getting hurt by mavericks, like I was... like Ayumi had been." I said quietly, looking to the desk. The man across from me finally took a moment to look at me and nod slowly at my response. I sighed softly and then looked back up to the man with a small smile. "I can't stand that virus, actually. Because of that Gravity Beetle, I got turned into a cyborg. My friends and family are mostly gone, too." I told him, and he nodded again. I didn't mention Ayumi, though. That was still far too painful for me to even mention yet. I'd attacked and hurt my only friend that I'd had left! I even took the syntheflesh off the side of her skull, scraped hair and syntheflesh clean off with my fists!
"I see. Well, you do have a fairly useful list of skills that we can use here, mister Silwat." the man said. "Reploid repair, minor to moderate level. A small amount of programming. Sensor analysis as well, and you seem to be integrated with your systems at a rate that is above average for a cyborg. And the fact that you're immune to the maverick virus is a plus as well. I would have to say that I could let you join the hunters, but I really cannot say in what capacity quite yet." he told me, and I nodded slightly. So, most likely, I have a job. I told myself this as I smiled a little bit. "But, we shall have to test your systems and your control over them before we can fully decide where you'll fit in best. Either as a support personnel, most likely, or perhaps as even a hunter if your systems can handle everything that is thrown at them." the man said, as if challenging me. Daring me to go ahead and sign up to become a hunter.
I didn't take the bait, however. I don't fall for that sort of a rise all that easily, after all. "If I could become a hunter, I'd most likely have to worry about my power supply, now wouldn't I? It isn't like I can just simply equip a buster cannon of some sort like most reploids can. If I lose too much energy from my power generator, I'm as good as dead." I replied, and the man nodded slowly. Had he forgotten that fact, perhaps? Well, he knew it now, I considered as I watched and waited to see how he would respond. I suddenly felt a bit tired, from all the walking and talking with this man... or perhaps it was simply boredom, combined with most of my walk and the wait in the line that I had been in.
"This is true, though thanks to recent advances from Cain Labs we can offer an overhaul of you power generator to be the equivalent of a microfusion generator like most reploids, as well as military-grade upgrades to your overall life support and mental shielding, mister Silwat." he told me. Lifesaver hadn't told me anything about that- most likely, I thought, because he knew I was going to be paying quite a lot for the remainder of the bills that I had already from the operation. Then he went on. "Cain Labs also has experimental mind shielding that can buffer a human's mind from the teleportation stress that occurs if some sentient organic tissue is transported. I would not suggest that option quite yet, but you will likely be notified some other time as to its effectiveness and whether or not it is available to you to have installed."
I nodded at his words, smiling a little. What would teleporting like a reploid or robot feel like? I'd wondered about it for such a long time... "Well, where do I sign as far as joining the hunters then, sir?" I asked amiably, and the man smiled in return as he disconnected his datapad from my dataport, turning it to him to punch in a few things before a contract was presented to me upon it. I scanned it quickly and processed the information, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the pay was rather good while working for the maverick hunters. Even better, I considered, when I found that the contract itself contained no loop holes (how that had happened, I may never know!) or any fine print that I found to be a bit too annoying. I didn't even see anything I could disagree with, and I nodded as I wrote my name on the digital contract with the stylus pen.
"There will be a file made available to you on request of this contract. You will need to report to the Maverick Hunter headquarters in Japan by a week from today. We shall cover the costs of having you flown there, mister Silwat. Also, you may be contacted by one or two maverick hunters to provide some early testing to check your aptitude for the different positions that are available at the moment." the man said as he stood, holding his hand out to me. I smiled still as I stood as well, shaking the full human's hand carefully before releasing my grip upon his hand. I figured that this would be the case... but to go to the headquarters, I considered, and I turned away to walk out of the small room that we had been in. "Please send in the next applicant, if you would?" the man called out, and I looked over my shoulder and nodded to him before I continued out the door that opened for me.
I passed the line that was still formed, and tapped a female ani-reploid's shoulder lightly, bringing her out of a short-period power restore mode. A nap mode, I thought, even as I informed her that the man I had spoken with was now ready for her. She smiled to me, blinking once or twice to recalibrate her optics before heading in that direction. Hm... based on a cat of some sort, I figured, as I watched the tail sway behind her dark skinned body. Some sort of panther, perhaps? I shrugged and continued walking off to the entrance, and then past the anti-techies that were still outside as they protested, though much fewer in number now. Quite a few were out cold on the street, and I shook my head as I walked past them. I heard the sound of electricity, and I looked over my shoulder as I saw a reploid police officer with some sort of stun buster there and two protestors now shaking slightly upon the ground.
Three laws my ass, I thought. Not even the world could say that reploids aren't allowed a sense of freedom and the ability to protect themselves, even from humans, without killing one. Of course, I was in that gray area, as Lifesaver had told me. With a shrug, I turned away and headed back to the hospital, planning on catching a short rest cycle before trying to find some way to better myself and my skills before I headed off to Neo-Tokyo. "Better pick up some Japanese." I muttered to myself, and I shook my head slowly. It would be a long plane trip, too, going from the midwest of the United States to the once-called 'Far East.' I smiled a little, knowing that I could retain the information I read now much more easily, even if I didn't fully integrate it mentally. A picture perfect memory is a wonderful thing.
The inner recesses of a beleagured mind.
It was dark in here... so very dark. Memories flooded her mind, as they had earlier while fighting the virus. It seemed to have stopped now- attacking her other systems, perhaps? She couldn't tell. It was deathly quiet, too. Perhaps... perhaps the virus had taken her over, forced her into a partition of her mind and waited for her to give up? Though she couldn't talk, she could think. And remember. It kept her mind off of how she had attacked her best human friend. Arik, she thought to herself, and many images floated up. Not full length memories like she'd pulled up so often before, but simple still-pictures, like what was once used before she was created. She remembered while they had studied together, the pictures making her smile mentally.
Those thoughts brought up the pictures of his attacking her, however. She'd wanted him to do it, but part of her hoped he wouldn't. He'd been suspended in the air in front of her, and she vaguely recalled that her hands had been wrapped aruond his throat, squeezing. Bending metal and syntheflesh, constricting his throat and air cooling system causing her friend to be choked. And then she winced, remembering the kick that he had given her. A sharp pain in her side had caused her to release him from her grasp, and he dropped to the ground. This, she remembered fully, and the full memory played back.
She'd regained some control over herself. She managed to beat the virus back, somehow, and even got to speak with Arik before it tried to swallow her mind whole again. Her memories played, clogging her processors as best she could with them, but the virus began to catch on. Slowly, the virus crept in on her, taking over her body and cutting off her connection with her limbs in order to take control. It even took control of her voice, and all this in the time it had taken for Arik to get some good hits in on her skull in an attempt to defeat her body. But the virus knew the capacities of a first generation reploid better than one might think, and it forced her to rise, to goad the young man that she'd attacked already and who had attacked her in turn. Then, as she remembered rearing back to force a punch at her changed friend, the virus screamed in pain in her mind and her body had fallen forward. SURVIVE. The word seemed to pound into her mental capacity as this took place.
By that time, she couldn't see. Couldn't hear or feel anything. She had been disassociated with most of her system, save for her processors and matrices. It was to these that she sent her memories, to keep her processors busy for fear of the virus taking complete control through them. She fought them for a long time... or at least, it felt to be as such. Her chronometer had been taken early, the internal clock ticking against her as she fought the impeding darkness in her mind. It was a lot like a bonfire against a blizzard, and somehow the bonfire had been kept lit, though the blizzard claimed more and more of the heat required to keep it alive. She attacked back, using memories and thoughts of her own to remain warm, to keep back the cold darkness that had been invading her. INFECT. It was this word that was forced against the bonfire that she had lit and managed to keep alive.
It nearly had her, when the cold and the storm subsided, and the sounds of the blizzard died away. The virus was... gone? It was difficult to tell. Her thoughts were slow now, as if she had become numb. She could see, hear, feel, and sense nothing at all. Nothing, save for her memories. They had been the only things to keep her alive, to keep her sane and safe from the virus that had attacked her. And she had neutralized it, for the time being at least. There wasn't even the sensation of pain, either. Just a numbness that she couldn't decide whether or not was her own. DESTROY. This word was weak, had been weak. It tainted her thoughts, instances of watching others destroyed or killed playing through her mind. Killing and hurting people inside the hospital. The monorail wreck only weeks before. The twisted and mangled bodies of humans and reploids alike, and the nearly destroyed condition of her only friend, in her arms, as he had been taken away from the scene to a hospital.
And so, Ayumi huddled there, in the recesses of the mind left to her, as the outside world continued on. Stuck inside her own mental faculties, with no escape, though desperately she wanted to be able to do something- anything- at all. It's only a matter of time, she thought, before she would shut down. If the virus had taken over, then it would probably go ahead and destroy her sometime soon, when it felt like it. The screeching voice that she had heard during the storm that had been outside the bonfire of her creation had taunted her, and it remained in her memories for quite some time, telling her that it was pointless to resist. All she needed to do was survive. And infect. And DESTROY. Was that something she would try to deny herself forever?
The answer she gave herself- the part of her still existing, somehow, against all odds. That answer was a resounding "yes!"
A day later
"Damned thing..." the green reploid muttered. To himself mostly, even as he shaped and molded the metal that he'd acquired in order to create the shell of the female reploid that was to be rebuilt. From first generation to newest, the reploid race had evolved by leaps and bounds... and accidents, of course. With a sigh, Douglas looked at the schematics in his mind, modifying and fixing up certain areas. For instance, first generation reploids had very few of the curves that made female reploids look like female humans. That was immediately fixed in his revised plans. A combination of first and tenth generation systems, Ayumi's new torso had already been created with the information in his mind. The legs were being made by two others, and he had been in charge of her arms.
And that was the problem, Douglas thought. He'd never had to make a civilian reploid body before. Without buster conversion parts and strengthening the arm structure, what was the point? I'm a mechanic and repairman, not a damned inventor, he told himself, and with a sigh, he did what he knew how to do. Of course, this meant that she'd be born practically into the Maverick Hunters as a result- no one would allow a reploid with a buster to live among humans without some sort of special consideration. But considering her immediate past? No chance in hell. The body was already nearing completion, and with the strengthening of the shell and internal compartments, he knew that this reploid would be much more advanced than she had been in years.
Using the casting process that was often used to create parts for certain units, such as repair limbs and such, he managed to start work on the shell for Ayumi's arms. Pouring the liquid metal into the molds, he nodded to himself as he knew it would take quite a while before it would cool into something usable and workable. On the reploid's torso shell, he began to work on the wiring now, installing the parts. A microfusion generator that was wirelessly linked to the primary matrix already, working on finding a suitable frequency that would match the power needs of it without destroying the fragile mind that had been left suspended in the containment field. The wiring that led from the torso and the waist portion were dead as well at the moment, unpowered to keep them safe from any sort of integration as of yet. Ayumi's skull, based somewhat upon the original that had been on her body, was being manufactured solely by Cain Labs, and would arrive later today or tomorrow at the latest.
They were upgrading so much of her processors and capabilities with this new body, he knew, and Douglas smiled a somewhat as the little LCD panel that was connected to the microfusion tank ticked away slowly as it tested every possible power supply frequency slowly. She would be like a new reploid by the time this was over. He mulled over the design possibilities, but shook his head. If he were to implement the ideas he had, that would deprive the reploid he was working on of a choice in what she was being recreated to do. "Well now, we should have you up and running tomorrow, my young friend. I just hope there's enough of you left to be able to come back to the world of the living." he told the shell, obviously not working yet.
The two who had been helping with the legs came in with them, finished at about the same time with the upgrades and wiring of the system. Their testing had shown green, according to the information Douglas had been shown through messages already, and he motioned for them to connect the legs to the waist portion of the reploid in question, making sure that the wires and such were connected perfectly beforehand, of course. Douglas grinned as he started a bit of detailing once the other two were gone, thanking them for their help. As he smoothed out the rough edges on the shell, he gave a call to the repair bay to get a large amount of syntheflesh ready for his pet project. He'd need it soon, after all.
Hey... maybe I am in inventor after all?
Elsewhere on the base
It was with great pleasure that he began playing the ancient arcade machine. Long ago, humans had even played in tournaments using this game and its successors. To increase the difficulty of the game, the one playing the game had programmed it to act as if one of the best of the human players were playing it, using skills and knowledge that the CPU itself didn't have in order to control the reploid's opponents. Of course, the player had chosen Ryu, and the opponent had Ken. It was a match that made the Dragoon smile, enjoying himself as he ducked and weaved forward, rolling under a fireball in order to pull off a shoryuken. The uppercut missed as Ken blocked and followed up with a tatsumakisen, knocking Ryu to the digitized floor roof of a dojo that was Ryu's own stage level.
Magma loved this game. He even imitated Ryu's and Ken's moves at times, and was even at work modifying his flame buster in order to allow himself to try doing the shoryuken on his own. He once heard rumors that Mega Man X had perfected the move as well, but none had ever actually seen him do it first-hand. It was something that drove him to continue, to play and train on this machine as well as attempt to do the same in practice simulators. He was best at projectile attacks, but there was something about the melee features that he absolutely enjoyed as well. His entire game froze, however, when he found himself with a challenger from across the top of the machine. Dragoon glared at the announcement on the screen, then looked up to see a rather familiar face sitting across from him.
Upon seeing him, he couldn't help but to grin slightly. It was the leader of the second unit, the one reploid who had been a part of the hunters longer than even Zero had been part of the maverick hunters. Another melee combat specialist, no less, and Magma often enjoyed practicing his developed moves against him because he was like a legend here in the maverick hunters, and with the Repliforce as well. "You should have warned me that you wanted to play, Liu." he told the humanoid reploid, and the reploid before him just nodded slightly before giving his opponent a small smile. "Going to use your normal selection?" Dragoon asked, and then looked back to the paused game as the selection was made. His own character, Ryu, on the left side and his opponent's character was on the right.
The man that Liu had chosen was hunched down. It was green, with orange hair that streamed long his back like a mane and a orange hair on his chest. Blanka, Dragoon realized, and he frowned at the selection. In this game, the green machine was a cheap attacker, capable of electrifying an opponent faster and more effectively than a human wrestler from the late 1990's called the Rock. With a sigh, Magma realized that Liu must have been practicing with this particular character, or else he'd never even bother with challenging him with that one. Very few people in the maverick hunters were capable of defeating Dragoon while he utilized Ryu, but Liu was one of the ones who always gave a good fight. Magma felt a rush of excitement as the modified game projected its 3D field above it, and both of the players could see each other as the ancient "Round 1" was announced by the digitized voice. Then, there was an almost infinite pause as spectators gathered round. Dragoon and Liu smiled slowly, watching the other as they awaited that all-important signal.
"Fight!"
Their battles on the ancient arcade machine always brought onlookers to watch, to gaze at the craftsmanship of old and new technologies combined to create an experience that would allow the players of the game to realize something that those who played long ago never truly could. Full 3D movement, a range of techniques that allowed greater mobility. The onlookers watched as the players circled about the holographic playing field, words of encouragement and whispers of bets taking place as the two began the duel. For these two were the leaders of the Maverick Hunter's most well known melee units other than the special 0th unit. To the two in control of the players of the game, however, that was of no concern. This was just as good as sparring practice, to them, for it pitted more than merely their factory and modification specifications against one another. The battle of the mind was what they sought, another way to tune up their abilities. And so, the duel waged on, to the delight of those who were watching the small, virtual battle.
Iris was speaking with one of the people from the second unit as well at her lunch table- a maverick hunter who was wearing her hawk-like flight armor. Together, they were conversing as the battle over in the arcade section began to draw quite a crowd, and they laughed a little as they saw a large number of reploids and humans go over to watch. Of course, there were only a very few number of hunters who ever bothered with the games these days, and only one particular pair who ever managed to get a crowd that size to be drawn to watch the game. "Looks like my commander's battling the 14th commander again. Don't they ever get tired of that ancient game?" the hawk-armored reploid asked Iris, and Iris giggled a little before grinning mischieviously.
"Of course not! They remind me of my brother and Zero, actually, when they do that kind of thing over there. At least they can't damage one another like that, though. My brother nearly lost a hand during their last sparring practice." Iris replied, concern for her brother entering her voice as she recalled the incident. "Of course, he had that fixed right up and the match went on for another hour before they decided to stop for the day." she commented, a smile on her face. She could never decide who to cheer on in those spars, and so never raised her voice during them- to do so would be to make the two lose their concentration, and all that they wanted to do was get better and better with those beam sabers of theirs, she knew.
"How can you watch them do that without rooting for one or the other? Besides..." Iris' friend trailed off, shutting her mouth quickly as her sensors caught wind of a certain energy signature. Iris' sensors did the same, and she smiled brightly as she quickly stood up to wave at the figure who had been heading in their direction. A red and white armored reploid, lined with fold in some places. A long blonde ponytail playing along his back as he smiled and walked towards the table that the two ladies were sitting at, with a tray of food in hand. "I think I'll leave you two lovebirds alone now." the hawk-armored reploid said quietly, throwing her now stunned friend a conspiratorial wink before taking her now empty tray to the nearby trash receptical.
Iris stared after her friend for a moment before looking to Zero, who had already placed the tray down on the table across from the female reploid. "Did I interrupt something?" he asked the brunette, who immediately shook her head before smiling shyly in response to the query. She began to remember their time spent together the day before, and she couldn't help but to blush when she thought of how much she really enjoyed spending time with the one that mavericks called the 'red demon.'
"Nothing at all, Zero. How has your day been?" she answered, sitting down as her friend did. The small talk continued as cheers and words of encouragement darted back and forth from over in the arcade, with the two players of that ancient, yet modified game continued to battle each other in a no-holds-barred, no-time-limit match of who was better.
And from near the window of the cafeteria, a red maverick hunter smiled before walking off, taking mental notes of the three people he'd been told to keep an eye on. Once he stepped outside, and he found the coast was clear, the hunter disappeared in beam of red light that rose to the heavens.
Author's Note: Well now, here's the info on Roy. The full name is Roy Fokker, and he was a veritech pilot in the anime called Robotech: The Macross Saga. He's one of my favorite characters of all time, and I always thought that I could use a character that is somewhat like him in my stories. However, because of the way I write and the way that his personality is, I found myself unable to do a whole lot towards making that goal a reality. Roy had a good sense of humor, knew how to have fun and when to kick ass. And when it was time for the latter, well... He could be about as destructive as Mega Man can be, really. If you haven't watched the series, I suggest that you try doing so sometime. You may be pleasantly surprised by this anime from the 80's.
Review Responses: A few less than last time? Ah well.
Lady Axia: Yet another new name, eh? Actually, the last chapter was shorter than the two chapters before it.
Jazzerman: Thanks for the review!
Chaos Emerald Guardian: Well, I do think you're right about X being pessimistic. However, if you take into effect that this is the third maverick uprising that he's just dealt with, and he's still feeling a bit pissed that it's partially his fault? Well, I think I've written him as much in character as I can without jumping into his boots. Yes, Ayumi will be returning within a chapter or two, I think.