The smaller machine hissed loudly and steam billowed out from its top before splitting open and releasing Rock's head. "So Rock, how's your new skin feel?" Marie asked from across the small room.

Rock stepped out of the large chamber attached to the wall and stretched. He turned to the full-body mirror, and admired the bright, youthful face staring back at him. "The same titanium alloy that Reploids use, right?" he asked.

Marie nodded. "Flexible," she said, "and tougher than steel."

Rock ran his fingers down the sides of his neck, and immediately knew the exact temperature, diameter, and force exerted of his fingertips on his skin. "I can't even tell where my old skin begins," he muttered.

"Oh, that? We scraped all that grimey stuff off."

"What?"

"It's not just your new skin, it's your only skin."

Rock rolled up the sleeve of his T-shirt and pinched his shoulder. "Oh," he murmured, glancing briefly downwards with sudden worry.

"What's wrong?" Marie asked. Then, quickly catching on to Rock's concern, the said, "Oh, that. Yes, it is elastic enough."

"Well, that's a relief," said Rock a little sheepishly. "I'm surprised you Reploids know so much about human stuff, y'know, since you're robots and all."

"Shows what you humans know about Reploids like me," said Marie with a smirk, "Since Reploid factories were given to the Reploids to run, our creators decided that humans shouldn't be the only ones allowed to have so much fun."

Rock shivered. "You sure you should be telling me this?" he asked, "I'm still human, you know."

"What's left of you, that is."

Rock grinned. "Touche."

Just then the door to the small facility opened, and in walked three familiar faces. "Hey Rock," said the blonde lady, "it's been a long time."

Rock stepped forward to pat her on the shoulder. "Roll," he said with a smile, "how are you doing?"

"How's the new heart and skin working out?" asked the lean man in the back.

"Feels pretty good, Auto," said Rock, flexing his arms. "Blues, nice to see you too again."

The tall man in the back nodded. "Rock, we're not hiding underground anymore. There's no need to keep using our codenames."

Rock paused in confusion. "Codenames?"

"Isaac Bluffman," he answered.

"Huh. You know, I always thought Auto was a strange name," Rock said, looking over Roll's shoulder.

"Jay Heeler sounds a lot better huh?" answered its owner.

"Alice," said the blonde in front of Rock, "Alice Keyes."

"So Rock," said Jay, brushing by Alice, "remember your name yet?"

Rock shook his head. "Nope, nothing else has come back. But by the way, Aut- I mean, Jay, you've got all kinds of machines here, don't you have one that could dig up my memory for me?"

"Hey hey, whoa," said Jay, "implanting stuff in your brain is one thing, messing around with it is another."

"It may be possible," said Isaac, "but the risks are too great to ignore. We still need you."

Rock rolled his eyes. "So I heard," he said, tapping his forehead. "What's gone wrong now?"

"Rock," said Isaac, "How much do you know about the Maverick virus?"

"The Maverick virus?" Rock asked. "I thought Masterframe had that wiped out."

"And you wiped out Masterframe."

"Huh. So I did."

"Unfortunately," Isaac continued, "Contrary to what we had believed prior to Masterframe's malfunction, all traces of the virus were not contained and destroyed."

"Are you saying that's why Masterframe went bezerk?" Rock asked, "I thought you said someone hacked into it."

There was a brief, uneasy silence.

"That it was," said Isaac finally, "but Masterframe's influence only suppressed the virus, and any Reploid's willingness to contract it. And with Masterframe still being rebuilt, the specimens that were undetected have begun to infect Reploids again."

"Masterframe's still being rebuilt?" Rock asked. "It's been nearly a year since I totaled him."

"And it'll take another two years to reconstruct his neural circuitry and to upgrade his system security."

"Hey look on the bright side," said Jay, "If Masterframe goes crazy again, we know who to call."

"Nothing like knowing you're needed," Rock muttered as Marie cheerfully nudged him in his ribs.

"Back to the matter at hand," said Isaac sharply, "since Jay confirmed the first infection, several more Reploids have gone Maverick, including ones that oversee vital facilities."

"And lemme guess," said Rock, "They've shut down whatever it is they run, and you need me to fix that."

Isaac nodded. "Follow me to the briefing hall, Rock. I'll give you all the details there."