Chapter 8
Summary:
Author's Notes: Wow... Looks like this thing is just gaining in popularity now. And even other fics that I've written seem to be taking off, too. Unfortunately, with the fact that I've been working on a new, original fic (something that I've wanted to do for a long time!), I've had very little time to work on a new chapter. Plus, I haven't had any ideas on how to continue this particular chapter until recently. Hopefully, I won't have the chapter go by so slowly this time, but I think I'll need to have the enhancements on Arik's reploid body explained somewhat. Let's just say that I haven't really had time to plan everything out yet, so chances are that by the end of the chapter, there'll be a few things that aren't completely explained... I'll do what I can, though.
Again, sorry about how long it took to update this. I've been going through a few things IRL, as well as playing around with ideas for a Tales of Symphonia fanfic that I may eventually write and post. Sorry! Looks like I'll be around more often from now on- I've got the internet at home now, so I'll definitely be online more than I have been in a long, long time.
Disclaimer: Once again, I have to go through this thing? At least I'm not bothered by any muses... I don't own the Mega Man X series of games. Never have, probably never will. Enjoy reading!
The next day
Installation procedures in place.
Installing updates for motor control and enhanced sensory network.
Body design has been altered, resetting sensory network.
"Oh..." I moaned, my head hurting as the increased amount of information settling into the processors around my head began to catch up with me. I felt a hand near my forehead, and my eyes snapped open, almost immediately adjusting as I found myself wide awake much sooner than I usually was. Then I heard a voice, but I was unable to actually adjust my hearing in time to understand the words being said. My sight was a blurry too, and I couldn't even see for a moment. My installation procedures had mentioned all the changes that had taken place- auditory and visual sensors had been in the list.
"Gimme a sec." I said aloud, though how loudly I had said it was beyond me at this point. Three seconds or so later, everything snapped into place completely and I winced as my eyes adjusted into crystal clarity. There was a person beside me that I could see, even as I sat up on the bench that I'd been set on. Motor control was obviously working fine, I thought, as I glanced down to my body. First, there wasn't a single thing that looked different or seemed different, fortunately- no need for another ROY system, I figured, even as I swung my legs over the side. I looked over to the person I didn't know, the one who stood in front of me now as I sat upright on the table.
The person there was a reploid in green armor, with a pair of protective lenses that were just resting above his eyes. "Well now, this was the first time I've had to work with a cyborg. Hope everything is working out. What do you think, eh?" he asked me, and I shrugged slightly before I hopped off of the bench to land easily on the floor. Still the same height as before, I could tell (a few extra inches from what I once had been was nice!), and my recovery systems seemed to work fine as my balance was very easily restored. I ran a quick low level diagnostic, and then I nodded to the reploid as I smiled a little.
"Everything seems fine, though I'd like to see the person who just knocked me out when I first came in last night." I told the man- must be Douglas, I thought, remembering from Dr. Cain's words just who the reploid was who had been scheduled to work on me. I glared at the green armored reploid, and he quickly shook his head as he raised his hands, showing his palms with me as if to reassure me that he hadn't been the one to do it. "Hm... not you? Then who?" I asked quickly enough, still somewhat pissed off. It looked like he knew exactly what I was thinking- but with the way that I glared at him, I wouldn't be too surprised that that was the case. It wasn't like I was trying to hide the fact that I didn't care to be knocked out for any reason, right?
"Hey now, relax buddy. There's no reason to be all angry. After all, you would've had to be shut down anyway,right? Besides, if you check your internal logs, you'll see that nothing untoward happened during the installation of your reinforced parts." Douglas told me, and I looked up to the gray ceiling as I closed my eyes, accessing the logs. I also played back the scene of when I was knocked out, but that didn't give me any clues- no sound other than electrical whine, nothing on my sensors. "Anyway, the person who did do that is probably off laughing about it, if I know him." he said, and I sighed softly as my anger started to leave me finally.
"Yeah... I guess it was funny, to a certain point of view." I said, acknowledging that possibility. Douglas nodded in agreement, smiling widely as he watched me.
"Well, let's get you something to eat. Your body's just been through a major overhaul, and I'm sure that you'll need the energy. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all." I couldn't help but to grin at his words. Ah, when was the last time I'd heard that ancient phrase? He motioned to a table near the back of the repair bay, and there was a decent selection of breakfast items there. Pancakes, butter, syrup... Scrambled eggs, too.
"Hm, well, you're right. My mom used to say the same thing." I said, and somehow managed to keep a smile on my face as that particular word made me want to think about my parents. Douglas just laughed and told me to eat. "Well, what about you, eh?"
"Nah, I ate already. Besides, I gotta let the person who's going to show you know that you're almost ready for the tests to begin. I think they'll start you out on the weapons range today. I doubt that they'll have Alia test you for becoming an Operator- you've still got that old brain of yours, after all. Your system uses a lot of resources to just translate everything that you think about into actions. I think you've got more RAM in you than any average reploid!" Douglas said, and I couldn't help but to start laughing as I sat down on the chair at the table he'd motioned me to.
"You're a tech? You should be a comedian, Douglas!" I exclaimed, and that incited even more laughter from the reploid as I started eating. And then my eyes narrowed and my chewing on a pancake slowed... it wasn't exactly warm anymore. In fact, it was cold! And the butter wouldn't even melt on it... Ew. That was the only word that came to mind as I continued eating. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day... but only when it's a good breakfast! That was just something I came up with whenever I'd eaten something that Dad made for breakfast... Mom's meals were great, but Dad? His weren't even fit to toss out the window or give to a dog! I grew quiet as I kept eating, and I heard Douglas as he talked into a phone to someone.
Nothing that really concerned me, from what I could tell. Just talking to someone whose name I didn't recognize. My mind wandered away from being alert as I absently chewed on the pancake, making little headway into the barely heated insides of the bread-like substance. Where is Ayumi? I couldn't help but wonder as I slowly came to realize that I was feeling rather... cold. That diagnostic that had run when I woke up had said something about resetting the sensory network, could that be it? With a shrug, I brought myself to reality and finished off the pancake. It was the processes that I'd always taken for granted while growing up, I knew. I didn't have to eat anymore. Recharging for a few hours a night was all that was needed, truly. "So, what's first on the agenda?" I asked, looking over to Douglas as he set the phone receiver down. Funny that they still had that system in place, I considered, since it would be just as simple to use his own internal communications device to get in touch with someone instead.
"Well, first off is some basic testing. Synchronization rates need to be verified, and then we'll check each individual part of your motor synchronization. If you test high enough, we'll see about a hunter posting. I'll also be testing your knowledge on reploid sciences, repairs, and structures." Douglas told me, and I shrugged slightly as I continued to eat slowly. He went on to tell me a few more things that I'd be tested on, but I was busy dealing with the thoughts that were running rampant in my mind. Do I want to be anything other than a hunter, I asked myself. Is there really another place I could possibly be here? My mind wandered, going over possible positions I could be stuck doing... Cook in the cafeteria? Janitor? Maybe some sort of pencil pusher over in accounting or soemthing...
"HEY! Arik, wake up!" was the voice that I heard, though it was a bit different than Douglas' own voice. I felt my head snap back as my eyes opened, and I stared at Douglas in shock. I saw the look on his face easily, and it surprised me- the green reploid could actually be serious! The glare he gave me felt like when I'd told my dad a little white lie and he knew it... and wasn't happy about it, either. I smirked slightly and then shook my head slowly to try and clear my senses before I gave an apologetic smile to the reploid. "You didn't hear a word I said, did ya? Ah, forget it. C'mon, just for that I get to start the test early." he said, and I couldn't help but to cringe at the thought of all the tests that were about to be done.
3 hours Later
"And the results are done, Arik." Douglas said to me, as I lay on the table. I sat up finally, muttering as I slid from the table an onto the floor. They'd gotten around to issuing me a standard suit of light armor, and the strange boots that I'd been given felt... strange. Almost completely a part of myself, over all. I couldn't really even move my toes- the boots were fitted to completely encompass my feet, to make the soles and boots themselves as if they were my feet. My arms, too were covered in the same way. There wasn't much give between the armor and my syntheskin, either. Douglas read off the report, and I nodded slightly as I smiled a little bit. unarmored reflexes were well within standard for the average reploid. Armored reflexes were just barely on the passable side as well.
I shivered as I recalled the jogging exercise with the armor on. And the sprinting. And the jumping, which was something that surprised the hell out of me. I never thought I could jump so high! I'd never seen hunters in action before, and their reflexes and physical abilities. When I jumped higher than I am tall, it shocked the hell outta me... and my landing was a sight that I hope Douglas never has printed out. I couldn't help the flush as the scene recalled itself in my mind, and I couldn't help but to smile as I shook my head, remembering the impact on the floor. With a sigh, I looked up to the ceiling as Douglas finished. "I've gone ahead and scheduled a session in the weapons training facility. You'll be able to go there and test out the different weapons available. Now, even though your power generator's been upgraded, we're still unsure about giving you a full grade buster. You'll have to deal with a basic buster as a secondary weapon, or go with an ammunition based weapon instead."
I nodded slightly as I turned to face Douglas, and I smiled a little bit. "Not even gonna test me for my knowledge in reploid repair?" I asked sarcastically, my smile turning into a grin. He just looked at me as if he was looking at a headless atomic chicken or something, and we couldn't help but to start laughing. After a few seconds, of course, the laughter died as I shook my head slowly- all before the door that was behind me slid open. I turned to look, and immediately I stood at attention. I could hear the sound of Douglas moving behind me, and we both saluted the reploid who entered. Of all things beside armor, there was one thing that stood out about this reploid before us...
"So, he finally woke up, eh? Hope I didn't damage anything permanently, kid." came the cocky voice of the reploid. I shook my head again quickly, before smiling ever so slightly. It took a moment for the reploid who had entered to return the salute, and both Douglas and myself were soon at ease. The reploid laughed, and then just gave a grin. "Damn, I hate formalities. Obviously you know who I am, but if you've been without any sight or ears in the past decade, I'm Zero." the long-blonde haired reploid said, and I nodded slightly at the easy way he spoke. "I've been stuck playing babysitter today for ya, when you get to the weapons training place. No one knows the way better than me... not even X." he said, and then the red reploid stretched slowly.
My smile began to fade as I realized what this was likely to mean. Dr. Cain had warned me about something like this just yesterday! I could only wonder as to how Douglas was responding to that information, but the wide smile on Zero's face told me that he was enjoying my expression. "Ah... well now, what's the matter? Are you only a bit surprised, or has old Cain told you to watch out for me?" he asked, and I could only nod to the second. "Old coot... I told him to stop teasing the recruits. I ain't gonna bite... maybe leave a few dents, but since you're a cyborg, I'll take it easier on ya. I'll just be giving you tests, that's all. Accuracy, strength, and speed. I don't expect something like what I can do, or what the old 1st could do, but don't you worry a bit. I'll make sure that you're sore but intact come dinnertime." he said, and I swear, if I was still human, I'd think that my face went ghost-white. Maybe it did, because Zero reached for me and grabbed my right shoulder, drawing me after him. "Hey, Douglas! See ya later. I'll send this guy back to ya if he gets badly dented, 'kay?"
I glanced back at Douglas as I heard his sharp affirmative, and I was purely dismayed at the mirth in the hunter's eyes. I could tell that as soon as I was out the door with Zero, he'd be laughing his reploid ass off. When I felt Zero's hand lift from my shoulder, I looked back to him as I walked off to the side and slightly behind the taller reploid. "I hear that you managed to beat down a Maverick while in the hospital. That's pretty impressive for a cyborg." he remarked, and I blinked in surprise at the compliment that I'd been given. He was leading me out of the building, towards a land chaser that had been parked just outside the doors. For some reason, my steps slowed a bit as I drew nearer to the land chaser, and Zero pulled ahead of me.
"Ah... well, thank you, sir." I replied, and Zero stopped to turn around and face me. One finger was pointed at me and then he held it up before shaking back and forth.
"My name is Zero. If I require someone to call me by title or some other name, I'll let you know beforehand, okay?" he said, admonishing me. I could only grin and nod in agreement. He nodded at that, and then motioned for me to get on the Land Chaser. "I'll be doin' the drivin... according to X, I'm a natural." Zero mentioned, and I wondered just how much of that was true. If I remember correctly, Zero was a fairly reckless person according to the reports on him that had been on the news before, I thought to myself, even as I got onto the passenger sidecar of the Land Chaser. Military grade, top speed of somewhere around 200mph, my sensors and vehicle knowledge base told me, and almost out of instinct I reached for a seat belt. Then I checked my other side. I looked up to Zero as he seated himself in the driver's seat, and he glanced down to give me a grin.
"Hang on... we don't usually have sidecars on these things, so this could get kinda rocky." he told me, and I looked from him to the area ahead. The base was rather busy, supposedly, but there weren't many people or reploids outside the buildings right now. Then I heard the engine rev up. It reminded me of the sound of an old chainsaw that I'd heard a while back. Then I shuddered as I heard the high pitched whine from the hover thrusters, and then the chaser lifted from the ground. The whine... it brought back those memories. The warnings in my head didn't do a thing as I was swept away, the high pitched whine filling my sensors, my mind, as the scenes were brought back. Vivid as if they had just now occurred. Nothing else could take my eyes, unseeing save for the images in my head, from where I stared, directly forward.
The Crash
Weightlessness. An odd sensation unless one were born into it, to say the least. And to me, when I was wrenched away from Ayumi's embrace, it came, and then I saw the look of fear reflected from my face upon Ayumi's. It was one of grief and pain as she fell faster than I did, towards the back of the car of the train. My sight became blocked as my eyes must have closed, and I felt weight upon me once more. It was warm, this weight- another human being. I could not tell who, nor of what gender this person who struck me was, but the impact drove me forward back to Ayumi, who had her arms spread wide. This time, she caught and held onto me, the sight of her the last I saw when I opened my eyes. Then, there was a jarring impact upon my back. And then from before me, behind Ayumi, as we slammed into the wall of the car. Gravity soon rushed back into being as the car slammed into the ground, the crushing and screams of pain, fear, and death filling the air.
The whine had been there, too. The whine of the car as it traveled along the rail, a magnetic system that propelled the train within Doppler Town. It had been there, exacted almost the same chainsaw sound when the car toppled off of the track rail. I remember it just as clearly as the screams that erupted from my own mouth as I felt jagged pieces of metal, of some sort, strike right through me. The pain had been staggering- several of the bench-seats in the train had come loose, unbolted and flew down to meet the few survivors that had remained after the landing of the car from on the track and through several buildings, into the ground. The pain came swift, and yet still was I awake for it. I could smell the blood, taste my own blood. And I felt heat with the stench of human blood as it struck my face. And my clothes. It was all around me. Yet, still I felt Ayumi's embrace, just barely, before I felt her left arm slip away. The shock overtook me shortly afterwards, bloodloss also taking it's toll upon my ravaged body. As my mind left, so did the sound, thankfully...
Weapons Training
"Geez, Zero, what did you do to the guy?" came a voice I'd heard before, as I finally took a moment to gasp for air. My eyes focused again as the memories suppressed themselves, and I could feel someone's hand on my shoulder as I shuddered into a near-restart. What had happened? I held a hand up to my forehead, expecting more heat to come from that location, as if I was still a full human and had a fever or something. But my sensors and tactile sensory net picked up no strange temperatures.
"All I did was drive over here! Gimme a break X, my driving isn't that bad. Besides, he went into that almost as soon as I started up the 'Chaser. You... don't think he had some sorta overload, do ya?" I heard Zero ask, and I shook my head. The movement obviously caught their attention, and if it didn't, my moving to stand certainly did as I stood up and looked to the two most famous reploids in existence. Other than the infamous one, that is. I blinked in surprise, and began a low-level diagnostic similar to the one I had run earlier.
"Hey... Arik, right? You okay?" X asked, a bit concerned obviously from the sound in his voice. I nodded slowly, swallowing a little before I could find the ability to talk available to me again. My sensors picked up a fair amount of reploids around us, slow in pace as they walked past- obviously, seeing someone in the state I had been wasn't all that common, even around here. The diagnostic was finished after a few more seconds, reporting no unusual activity or problems with my internal systems.
"Yeah, I guess I'm okay. Sorry to have worried you two." I replied, and then I heard a short laugh from beside X as someone came up to him. It was Dr. Cain, and I blinked in surprise at the sight of the old man. It took a moment for my sensors to fully come back online, and then they settled as I kept up the residual scanning anyway.
"Three, you mean, right? Zero here was worried that he'd accidentally caused you to short circuit or something." Cain said, and X chuckled a bit as Zero just put a hand to his forehead and shook slowly. "Oh, I told you that I'd check up on ya, didn't I? Well, X and I are taking over for Zero for the day, since Zero's got some business with the Repliforce."
I saw Zero whisper to X, and X just nudged him with his elbow before motioning for the red reploid to leave. Zero looked at me and gave me a quick grin before saying goodbye, and then he was off in a stream of red light. "Um... okay..." I said slowly in reply, to which X just sighed and smiled.
"No worries. Zero would've given you quite the workout, and I guess that this just isn't the time to do something like that. Besides, he likes to nitpick everything when it comes to battle statistics. I should know..." X said, and trailed off as he seemed to remember something. Cain looked at X and placed a hand on his arm, snapping the blue reploid back to reality.
"Anyway, let's be going." Dr. Cain said, and motioned for me to head into the building. "I've been informed of your testing from earlier, Arik. I must say, I am quite surprised by these statistics. Most of the few cyborgs that ever joined never reach these synchronization levels, even with armor off. With your new specifications, you should be able to use any non-energy based weaponry easily, and I think we might be able to give you a low-grade buster to use as well."
"A buster? Won't that sap too much energy from my systems though, doc?" I asked, walking alongside the old man as X followed after us. I had followed the system specifications on a basic, modern buster before, back when I would help my parents at the workshop, but even with the new systems I had, including the more powerful power generator specs... Well, that wouldn't work out too well. The drain would be so bad that theoretically, it could destroy my life support systems. We went single file as a large bruiser of a reploid wandered past us-
"Well... we wouldn't be using anything as strong as the Mark 17 buster, actually. Maybe something about... oh, say, only half as powerful as that. And it would have to be it's own cannon of sorts. Unless you actually wore a power pack on the back of your armor, I don't think you could survive using even a Mark 17 buster like X here has." Cain replied, and I nodded slightly. With the information I knew about the buster weapons, they went through maybe 6 total upgrades during the time of the Robot Rebellions thanks to the legendary Dr. Light and Mega Man. Dr. Light must've skipped around a dozen generations of buster designs before settling on the Mark 17, I considered, even as I ran the system specs for the device that had been suggested. "Keep in mind that it would be extremely weak compared to today's standards, but you would be able to defeat the mechaniloids that Mavericks often use to throw in our way. With some minor difficulty, I would think."
"Hopefully, we can keep you out of any dangerous situations, like defeating a Maverick General. They're no easy task with a Mark 17, let alone when my buster is upgraded." X added in, and I shuddered ever so slightly from the thought of that.
"Yeah... Bad enough that I already met one once, I'd rather not meet another one sometime." I commented, and both Cain and X stopped, looking at me curiously. "Gravity Beetle, remember? In Doppler Town, just before the attack began, he toppled the rail system along with the city itself. I was one of the lucky ones, if you could call it that, that was stuck on the train heading into town when Gravity Beetle flashed by."
X nodded at my words and smiled sadly. "The important thing is that you survived, Arik. Of course, fighting one is a different matter. Your body is of a light build, a lot like mine but lighter still thanks to Dr. Cain and Douglas' work on you. We'll have to see about outfitting you with something to help increase your speed sometime. Your agility is probably greater than mine, thanks to your lighter body weight." I looked to him at that last comment- it seemed he was emphasizing speed and evasive manuevers over any type of attack. Have to admit, I completely agree with X there, I told myself.
I shrugged at those words, and a door slid open as we entered a hallway that led to a large hall. A very large hall, in fact, that was empty save for a pair of reploids who were working on their distance shots. Both reploids turned as we entered, and immediately saluted Dr. Cain and X. X saluted back smartly, and I smiled as I recognized the squat yellow reploid who was handling a buster rifle. "Heya, Double!" I said to him, even as the other reploid, a humanoid reploid in stylized hawk-like armor, nodded to X before returning to her practice.
Double grinned and waved with the buster rifle still in hand to me, even as he flicked the switch on the rifle to set the safety on it. "Oh, hey... Arik? Wow, they sure got you some nice armor." he said, and I shrugged a little. It was standard gray armor, given to all recruits who didn't already have their own, of course. Double looked to X as the blue reploid went over to see how the hawk-armored reploid was doing, and I could almost swear that I saw him almost scanning the originator of the reploid race. Must not be doing so, I thought, even as I looked away and headed to where Dr. Cain had walked towards. X didn't show any signs of having been scanned, and his systems should be able to pick up any sort of scanning beam directed towards him after all.
"Sorry Double, I'm a little busy testing things out. Maybe we can talk more later, 'kay?" I let the squat yellow reploid know, and he nodded in acknowledgment before turning to face the end of the range. Unfortunately for him, he wound up dropping the buster rifle onto his foot, a loud clanging sound emanating from the impact that caused me to wince somewhat. I looked over to Dr. Cain, and saw him shaking his head slowly at the sound. He looked to me and smiled grimly, as if to tell me with a glance that that was one reploid who'd never be sent to the front or rear lines. He motioned me closer to the table, even smiled a little bit as he pointed to the largest of the weapons that were laid upon the table that was now in between us.
"Alright, Arik. First, I think we'll try an autocannon." Dr. Cain instructed, and I nodded as I went over to pick up the large weapon from the table that had been prepared with a fair number of choices. The autocannon was of a cylindrical shape, and seemed to be something that could be fitted over my forearm. It was pretty heavy, too- about 100lbs altogether, with ammunition installed already in it. "This thing has a dozen shots to begin with. It regenerates the ammo by using a feed to your power generator at a rate of one shell every five seconds or so. It is a very long range weapon, and has an automatic lock-on that you can use by linking to the targetting feed. It shoots slowly, but the shell that is fired travels quickly towards the intended target." he said, and I grasped the handle of the weapon that protruded past my shoulder and hand. The part above my shoulder tapered into a energy connection port, and the part that extended past my hand was a blunt end, making the weapon look a lot like a cigar over all.
"You can also connect the weapon to an alternative power generator or microfusion generator as well, and that will increase the recharge rate up to generating one shell every second or so." Dr. Cain said, and I made the connection to the weapon through my hand, and then spread my awareness to my arm as I practically seemed to graft the weapon into my system until it was a part of my sensory network. I turned as X came back, standing beside Dr. Cain as I looked towards the target at the end of the range. The weapon took a little too long to draw into a firing position, thanks to its weight. Way too heavy to move fast, I thought. It took a second to find the bull's eye, and half that to pull the trigger after I aimed the cannon, adjusting the cannon to fire directly towards it. The recoil that came was quite the shock, even though I had braced myself for it. It propelled me back about 6 inches before I stopped, the smoke flying behind me soon dissipating thanks to the large fans that were overhead.
The target exploded perfectly, the hologram shot through nearly the very center. X recited the calculations. "The recoil is far too much for a cyborg frame to handle easily. The aiming was good, and you were off only by a matter of an inch. Of course, we're dealing with a cannon here, so that doesn't mean much for precision strikes. Aim, pull trigger, watch something, somewhere, go boom." he said, and I had to agree as I disconnected the autocannon from my arm.
"Yeah, that's a good point. I never was much for mass destruction or anything. Besides, it's too slow to swing around. If I got swarmed by mechaniloids, it'd be all over." I replied, and both reploid and scientist nodded in agreement. I set the cannon down on the table after a moment more of detaching the sensory network from it, and I looked over the other weapons. A mag-pistol, a small railgun rifle, and a... "Hey. What is this thing?" I asked, picking up a small device that seemed like it would have to be set on one arm, just to the sides of the wrist.
"That's the prototype Mark 12 alpha buster." X replied, grinning as he told me how to install it. It snapped into place, and fit securely as I willed the port for the energy calibration and sensory system to integrate the device. "Even for your specs, you should be able to use it to fire buster shots that aren't quite as powerful as a standard buster's shots. At the least, you'd probably be able to meet my second level charge with the maximum charged shot from that one. It's only a prototype now, but eventually, if it works well for you, we can go ahead and convert it to be integrated with your armor's systems."
I nodded, and although I was a bit uneasy, I drew the buster up and pointed at the holographic target at the end of the range. It was a bit further than I could see normally- the autocannon had had a lock-on ability, and this buster didn't. And I didn't have any way of firing this far away and hoping to hit... "Here's an idea. Have the hologram move towards us slowly from the rear of the range. That way, we can guage what my effective distance would be with this buster, okay?" I offered, and Cain quickly agreed, punching in the information into the console that was in the wall nearest to him, rather than near me. I began to charge the weapon, and it took only a second for it to reach a second level charge. And only a short moment more before it reached the third, and I could then feel the power drain from me as it fed into the weapon. My hand was getting pretty warm as the twin cannon nozzles glowed through the indicator ports on their ends, and then I let loose the twinned beams of power.
Each one lanced off to the side, barely nicking the hologram. I winced at the poor accuracy, but then I leveled off my aim a bit better as I spread my legs somewhat, bracing myself. No recoil from the charged shot last time, and I began the charge once more. It was as simple as thinking the command just enough to accumulate the energy. My energy stores seemed to be fine still- filling up the weapon's energy batteries was a simple and painless task, fortunately. With a small smile on my face, I pictured the target as the one Maverick that had killed my parents and so many others in Doppler Town. Gravity Beetle. I grit my teeth and let loose with the charged shot, and soon followed up with a trio of single shots that slammed into the hole in the hologram that had appeared thanks to the twin beam charged shot.
"How are your power reserves?" Dr. Cain asked quickly after that little display, and I glanced to him in surprise. I wasn't even gasping for air or anything, which was definitely a good sign. I relayed to him the power generator status, and he sighed somewhat and smiled. "Good. So this design just might work well for you."
"Well, I think your effective range would be around average for any reploid with a buster cannon, Arik." X told me. "The destructive power of that weapon is quite small. The rapid fire ability of it, being able to charge a shot up and then immediately follow with three shots, is very good." He said, and I smiled a little bit. "The destructive power of your third level shot is equal to my second level shot. It seems your power generator might actually be able to handle a basic Mark 17 Buster... but I wouldn't consider it. With your lighter frame and lesser power generating capabilities, I'm afraid, I think it just wouldn't be a good idea."
"Are you sure that you should be using me as a guinea pig for the use of a new weapon? I'm not exactly the best candidate for basing a prototype weapon's abilities off of, ya know. Maybe you should try another hunter instead? Like Double?" I suggested, even as I slid the prototype weapon off of my arm. It was a great weapon, handled well and it was probably a very good choice compared to the other weapons here, I told myself. An ammunition based weapon would eventually give out. If I was on a long mission or had to deal with large numbers of mechaniloids, or even Mavericks... I knew that I'd lose out on something like that. X shrugged and told me that basing a weapon off of someone who had the bare minimum requirements to use it meant that others who had better specifications would be able to use just as well, at the least.
"I guess I might take it sometime, when it's no longer a prototype, but in the meantime, I don't think it'll help me all that much. Do you guys?" I asked, and both shook their heads at almost the exact same time. "Didn't think so. Let's see here- On the off-chance that I'd ever meet a Maverick General, I'm pretty much screwed, right? I think that there should be a weapon that can provide me some better damage capabilities. At the very least, I'd need some sort of armor piercing rounds, I guess." I commented, and X shrugged slightly. Dr. Cain just shook his head slowly. "Hm... X, you don't really want to be here right now, do you?" I asked, glancing back to the blue reploid that had been the first. He just shrugged in response, even as Dr. Cain spoke up.
"Any ammunition-based weapon will have a recoil to factor in. We could probably get you some sort of smaller autocannon, with comparable loading and firing rates, but I do not believe we could increase the amount of ammunition that it would already have unless we used much smaller shells." he said, and Arik nodded a little, smiling as he set the Mark 12 Buster onto the table. Then, stepping over to the autocannon, Arik opened up the ammunition bay and pulled out a single shell. I scanned it, modified the shell design in my head, and then sent it as an attachment to X. Modifying the payload and the design so that it was only one-third of it's original design. It'd have to rely mostly on speed to provide the impact- a small explosive installed at the end of the shell would deliver a much smaller version of the explosion that the original would've had.
"Hey, X. Think that this could be possible?" I asked, and watched as he seemed to look it over in his head. Slowly, the blue reploid nodded, and he shrugged slightly. Looks like I was right, I considered. I'd always heard that Commander X never cared for violence, and this seemed to be true even now. And yet, he continued to fight the mavericks with every major uprising. Thank Dr. Light for more than creating the first mostly human reploid, I thought, as I waited for the commander's verdict.
"I'm not much for weapons, but it looks like this could work. I'll forward this to the weapon technicians, maybe they can use it. If so, I think we could effectively negate the recoil of the auto cannon thanks to the new size. And increase it's payload and rate of fire. Range would probably lessen, but I think that it could be done. Check in with Douglas later, Arik. I think he'll have something for you to see at that time." he said, and I nodded slowly at those words. Seemed like the poor green reploid was getting a lot of work... "Anyway, it's about dinner time. Would you like to head over to the cafeteria on your own, or would you prefer someone to guide you there?" he asked, and I shrugged in response before speaking.
"I bet you two are a bit busy around here these days. I'll find my own way to the cafeteria, you two can get back to what you were doing before all this started." I replied. X nodded and glanced to Dr. Cain before heading towards the door. Cain himself started to walk after him, but stopped as he neared me.
Dr. Cain looked over his shoulder and gave me a small smile. "Arik, about earlier... if you ever want to talk, let me know. If I'm not too busy, I'll be happy to listen for you." He said kindly, and I smiled in return to the doctor as I headed towards the door with him. It was a strange silence- not exactly uncomfortable, but an easy silence, one where no one had to speak unless they wanted to. X was waiting at the door that led outside, and I looked to Dr. Cain with a small smile on my face.
Dr. Cain looked to me after a moment, and I couldn't help the words that came from my mouth. "Thank you."
Dr. Cain nodded, and smiled widely in return. He just nodded slowly and then continued on. I looked ahead again, and we parted ways at the door. I waved to the two, and they waved in return as I headed in the direction that the map of the base told me to go in in order to get to the cafeteria. The other two got onto a transport vehicle and headed off somewhere, leaving me, a rookie hunter, to try and find my way around. Several reploids were walking in my direction, and I didn't pay too much attention to them as I headed towards them, checking my internal systems.
A little later
It was another fifteen minutes before I realized that I was being followed. It wasn't that there was probably just someone else wandering towards the cafeteria, just as I was, but instead, this figure on my scanner kept following directly behind me. I shook my head as I recalled what Cain had told me yesterday about the Global Council, that they'd probably try to contact me. This could be some sort of attempt by them to contact me, I considered, and I started walking a bit faster than I had been. The individual obviously sped up to keep up, and I groaned as I realized that whoever it was behind me was actually going faster than I was. With a small grin, I turned off my sensors and hid behind the corner of a building, turning off my systems to a diagnostic-only level as I watched the main walkway from where I was. Soon, the sound of heavier breathing could be easily detected, and after another moment a reploid came into view. It was that hawk-armored reploid... the one that seemed rather familiar to me, at least.
With a grin, I reactivated the rest of my systems, and the armored reploid stopped and I could see the grimace on the face of the reploid as it turned to face me. As she turned to face me, I noted, sensing the actual gender of the reploid in question with my sensors. I didn't have a list of every hunter here yet, so I knew it'd be pointless to bother with trying to research this one. I waited for a moment as we looked at one another, and then I shrugged as I crossed my arms, walking out from where I'd hidden to face her head on. "Is there some reason that you were following me?" I asked, and the blush on the reploid's face surprised me as I watched her quietly. "Well?"
"Yeah." she replied, and then said nothing else. Which was kind of annoying, considering the fact that I'd hoped for an actual answer, not some vague reply. Fortunately, she decided to give more information after she had debated it with her own systems in a moment. "We met once before, in the hospital. Remember when you had taken out that Maverick?" she asked me, and I nodded in acknowledgment, remembering the scene myself. It'd been just after I'd attacked Ayumi, and after Lifesaver had knocked her out with that tazer weapon, I remembered. She was one of the three reploids that had arrived to deal with Ayumi when she was Maverick, I realized. She had threatened me with her weapon, but I backed off as a result. I must not have been much of a threat then, obviously.
"I think I remember you... I never did get your name, though." I replied, and she grinned a little bit. A bit cocky, this one, I decided as I watched her for a moment as she considered giving me her name or not.
"Maybe not, but I did get yours, Arik. For a rookie, you've already gotten a little famous around here. Taking out a Maverick before becoming a hunter, and remaining friends with that Maverick after she'd been rebuilt." she said, and the look of surprise on my face must have been obvious. She grinned a bit wider now before she shook her head slowly. "Word travels around here very quickly. We all know about you and Ayumi already, unless you were to ask, oh, one of the technicians. They have their heads so far into books and data that I doubt that they ever take any time to talk to anyone unless it's another technician or scientist." she explained, and I nodded slowly in response to that. "My name's Gwen. I'm part of the 2nd unit under Liu. Has anyone made any mention as to what squad you might be joining yet?" she asked me, and I shook my head.
I'd heard of Liu a while ago- one of the few reploids from the Hunters that had survived the original uprising led by Sigma and the 1st unit. He'd been awarded several medals for his quick thinking and efforts to evacuate the nearby city after the Death Rogumer, a powerful first-generation Flying Carrier, attacked it. After that, all the awards and citations went to X and Zero... for the most part, simply because there were very few other reploids who had managed to survive the uprisings. But Liu had, obviously, survived this most current one.
"Not yet. I just got in yesterday. It's been ascertained that I'll be joining a hunter unit of some sort, but I don't know which one yet. I'm personally betting on the 9th Unit." I replied, and Gwen just grinned. The 9th Unit was known for using mostly humans and cyborgs in its ranks, and were often stationed in the area where they were expected to be called into action. Humans and most cyborgs couldn't handle the mental stress that arose from teleportation- the streaming molecules, when dealing with organic material, often proved to be too much trauma for most portions of a human's brain... if they survived at all. The best known casualty of teleportation stress was the late, and infamous, Dr. Wily, I remembered. If it hadn't been for Wily, there'd be so much else left to work with, and there would, quite possibly, peace in the world. It was Wily and Light who had created the first thinking robot. Wily had been caught in a teleportation accident with the first thinking robot, called Blues, and his mind had been permanently scrambled as a result... according to Dr. Light's autobiography, at least.
"Well, the 9th is a good unit. They do have the highest survival rate in the organization, you know." she replied, and I gritted my teeth as I knew what she meant. Out of the way, useless unless the Maverick disturbance was near them. Or if they were required to operate in guerilla tactics. Of course they survived. It was because they were never called into duty unless things were that dire or if the other units were involved in a huge scale attack. Their survival rate was around 75- of course, some had died in battle with Mavericks, but the next highest unit was a Reploid unit that was at 68. The 17th unit. X's unit.
I nodded in agreement to her words, all the while hoping that I'd not have to join the 9th. "I guess you're right, but the 9th isn't exactly the most noteworthy Unit here. I mean, the second has been around since the beginning, the 0th is led by Zero, and the 17th is led by X. Hell, even the 15th is held in higher regard, and as far as I can see, they're like the MP for the hunters!" I replied, and Gwen laughed as we started walking down the sidewalk. There was something bothering more than the Unit situation though. Speaking of the different Hunter Units got me to thinking about where all the hunters actually were- but then, there had just been a Maverick Uprising. Of course there weren't many reploids left here, or cyborgs. They'd all been destroyed, damaged, or otherwise injured during the attack on Sigma's fortress, I realized, and knew that asking about it would simply leave me with an answer along those lines anyway.
"That's true. Our MP is the 15th, and I've had my share of run-ins with them after the attack on Sigma's citadel." she replied sadly, and I looked down the street as we walked quietly for a few minutes. It's one of those taboo things, I suppose. So soon after dealing with one uprising, one had to deal with the repercussions of it. The hunters weren't the only ones dealing with them, and they knew it- Doppler Town had a sizable population of humans, too, back before the Beetle's attack. The news had said that the final number of deaths resulting from that one Reploid was far greater than the number of humans killed by Sigma during his two-part uprising.
"I... I'm sorry, Gwen." I said quietly, and I glanced up to her- of course, she was taller, I realized finally. Most of the reploids here were taller than the humans that had created them, if only by a few inches to a foot. Some were huge, though, like the one that X, Cain, and myself had passed on the way towards the firing range. There didn't seem to be too many of those reploids around, though.
"It's alright. I brought 'em on myself 'cause I was drunk as all hell. I lost a lot of friends during the invasion of Sigma's citadel. If you hadn't noticed, this place is a lot less lively now because of it. Only the 0th and the 17th managed to get away with only a few casualties. All the others, including the 9th believe it or not, took heavy casualties." Gwen informed me with a bitter tone in her voice. "I saw many of 'em die, their reactors going critical. Some of 'em went kamikaze against the mechaniloids, to get the rest of us further towards the citadel. I saw a bunch more die in the workshops here. Some never even materialized thanks to the teleportation jamming frequencies that Sigma had in place."
I was surprised at the fact that she had gotten drunk- I had no idea that reploids could get drunk. Then again, it made sense- a drunk reploid, if it attacked a human, might be considered Maverick. If that was the case, then it made sense that Hunters who intended on getting drunk would be 'chaperoned' by the 15th. "I'm sure you don't have so much to worry about, though. You're a cyborg. The higher ups'll probably send you to a defensive unit like the 9th or 15th. If you're lucky, you'll never have to deal with attacking a citadel. Maybe a few Mavericks though." she said. It made sense, but I didn't like the idea of hiding behind others. I'd done it once before, without realizing it, and I shuddered as I remembered the crash again, just a single scene where Ayumi had protected me.
That caused me to blink. Ayumi? I hadn't seen her all day! And there hadn't been any messages sent, either. Quickly, I composed a message and sent it out to Ayumi's address, and then I blinked as I realized she was now holding the door to the cafeteria open. "Well, come on. I'm hungry too, ya know." she said, and I grinned as I nodded and walked into the building. It was a fairly large place overall, with a small arcade towards the back. The selection was fairly minimal, but did have all sorts of food that I liked, at least. "Hm... the special is pizza today, eh? Guess I better get a slice of that." she commented, and I had to agree as we grabbed the trays. Burgers seemed to be common, as did salads and sandwiches... Rice was pretty common here as well, as well as some fried noodles. I just ordered two slices of pizza and paid for it with my ever-decreasing amount of zenny that I'd left myself before coming to Japan.
"At least it's not expensive." I muttered to myself, speaking under my breath as I usually did when dealing with these kinds of thoughts. I turned with the tray with the two slices of pizza, and came face to face with the brunette reploid that I hadn't seen all day. She wasn't wearing her usual colorful clothes- instead, she was wearing a light green suit of armor that fit snugly from her neck all the way down to her boots. I smiled a little, blushing from the shock of seeing her without any warning at all of her arrival. "Ayumi!"
I blinked in surprise after saying her name aloud by accident, and she just smiled softly. "Well hey there, Arik. All done now?" she asked, and I nodded in agreement. She just took my left arm gently and pulled me off towards a table that was already somewhat filled- three total open seats, though one of them had a tray in front of it on the table. Obviously, that's where she's sitting, I thought, and I looked to the others that filled the seats. One was Alia, and another was a brunette with a beret on. Cute, I thought, and then I saw Zero sitting beside her with a smile on his face that seemed as genuine as any human emotion that I'd ever seen a reploid possess.
"Well, well! The newest cyborg is back from the depths of testing hell!" Zero commented, and the brunette beside him who was smiling just giggled at that remark. Another reploid came over, sitting on the other side of the brunette before setting down his own tray. I could see the insignia on his chest rather clearly- Repliforce. It was on the brunette's beret as well, no less. I couldn't help but to chuckle at the humor, and then shook my head as Ayumi sat down and pulled me to sit down beside her. Between her and Alia, actually.
"Ah, it wasn't that bad. Despite the fact that I was used as a guinea pig for a new buster that could possibly have drained out my power generator, that is." I replied, and I couldn't help the grin that escaped as I heard Zero's laugh, and Ayumi's gasp. The other reploid wore a 'hat' that reminded me of the brunette's beret- possibly a counterpart? That reploid just chuckled a little and shook his head.
"Well, well, a new buster?" he said with a heavy english accent. "Got any real information about it other than that, my friend?" he asked, and I shook my head in reply to the query. The brunette between him and Zero lightly punched the reploid's arm, and he gave a her a look of mock indignation as he rubbed his arm, as if to complain about the hit that he had just taken. Ayumi and Alia looked at me, and Ayumi asked if I was alright, to which I assured her I was.
"Not really new... a less powerful version of the Mark 17 that Dr. Cain says was developed for use by cyborgs. It's not even as powerful as Commander X's, altogether." I commented, and shrugged as the other reploid just shook his head, as if disappointed with that news. "At least it's something that could be used by a cyborg. Otherwise, we've got some serious limitations compared to standard Reploids like you guys. Hell, I don't even know if I'd survive a teleport beam yet." I told them, to which Zero finally calmed down and introduced his friends finally, to get off the subject of that sorta thing.
"Well, Arik, let me introduce two of my friends. The pretty reploid beside me is Iris, and she is the liason officer between Repliforce and the Hunters. And the big guy sitting beside her is her brother, the Colonel of the Repliforce. He doesn't even share his real name with anyone outside of Iris, so just call him Colonel. And don't bother saluting or anything, we're all here on break after all." Zero informed me, and I nodded to both siblings in turn. They smiled and returned my greeting in the same way, which was quite fine with me. Then, they started conversing with one another as I started to eat one of the slices of my pizza.
"Hey, Arik." Alia said, and I turned to face her as I chewed the bite of pizza that I had in my mouth. "Sorry... Ah, how did the upgrades go last night? I heard that they went well, though rumor has it that a certain someone..." and she trailed off for a moment, taking a second to look at Zero before looking back to me again. "That someone had some fun at your expense when you got there after our meeting with Commander X and Dr. Cain yesterday." I had to think about it for a minute and then grinned, shrugging a little as I told them the circumstances as I knew them. Then the originator of the problem spoke up, and by the time it was all told we were all enjoying a laugh. Even the Colonel, who seemed to be even more proper as any british person I'd ever, was enjoying the story.
"I'll get you back some day, Zero. Count on it." I told him, and Zero just grinned triumphantly.
"Bring it on. X hasn't managed to do it yet, so I doubt you'll be able to." he dared, and I grinned right back, trying to scheme something up. Unfortunately... I suck at practical jokes!
Author's Notes
Wow, I finally got around to trying to get past my writer's block. Seems like I managed it, but the series is still going at a snail's pace. I'll try to fix that with the next chapter, which I hope doesn't take nearly as long to get done. By the time I get this chapter on the internet, I should have a stable internet connection- you can probably get ahold of me on a messenger by then. Maybe.
Review Responses
Solarious: Yikes... That's probably one of the most impressive compliments to receive- to be compared to Anne McCaffery is high praise! Thanks. Yeah, the GC will probably be around for the next chapter, since they didn't show up in this one.
Iniora: Eh, no worries there. Zero's a bit preoccupied right now.
Choas Emerald Guardian: Yeah, organics have quite the limitations. All the RAM he has goes towards getting the electrical impulses of his brain and translating them into instructions that the rest of the reploid body can follow.
Cor Strike FX: I'll be looking forward to reading your fic. Hopefully, it won't take as long as this chapter did to write. lol
Zaisha: Hm... Possibility of becoming a battlefield medic is pretty unlikely, but it is possible. I'll have to consider it.
Hotshot: Glad that you're enjoying the fic.
GForce64: Yeah, I've heard the X7 sucked, despite the fact that Axl came from that game. I've found very few fics based off of X3, so I thought it would be a good way to begin.
Jazzerman: I'll be picking up the speed of the fic with the next chapters, I think.
PRIVATE and J: I'm glad that you're enjoying the fic. Thanks for picking up on the fact that I'm switching viewpoints every so often- when Arik's involved, I'll try to keep it in first person. When he isn't, I'll probably stick with third person. I usually do this only when I'm dealing with characters other than Arik, after all.