I was free. Free, at least, from that damned server, but not from Wily's control... Not yet.

I stewed silently as Wily walked the surface of my simulated pathways. He didn't understand a thing about me, but he used those control codes to make me do what he asked, and I had no way to break free. Not yet. I'd find a loophole, I vowed, sooner or later.

"A... Alpha?" Wily said. He hadn't realized that he was standing on me.

"Come this way," I said, lighting up a certain pathway for him to follow.

"Alpha!" Wily stammered, "Where are you?"

"All around you. Just come, Bass is waiting."

"Bass?" Wily's brow furrowed.

"Yes. Hurry, now, Lan and Megaman have just followed you inside."

Wily snickered, and began shambling down the lighted pathway, "Hahaha, they would risk such an endeavour? Hahaha... Alpha! Take me to Bass immediately."

I growled silently, but nevertheless, I picked up Wily and slid him over to Bass, who was standing before the large green tower that housed the Guardian program.

Wily had no idea what he was getting into... The moment he released me, I would be done with him. I was not made to be controlled. Still, Wily had at least released me from that confinement, so I was not completely unhappy with this turn of events.

Tadashi protested from inside me, but he could do nothing to stop me, even if I wanted him to. Wily had the override codes.

"Ah, Bass," Wily said as he met Bass in front of the Guardian program. "Finally we meet face to face. To witness a momentous event! The end of Net Society!"

At that moment, Lan and Megaman pulsed in. It would take them some time to get to the Guardian program, especially since I'd be slowing them down, but it was still better to warn Bass and Wily. "They're in," I said.

I couldn't help watching Lan and Megaman meet each other for once, and then join together. It reminded me of the time when Tadashi came to me...

This wasn't the time for emotional reveries, though. Lan and Megaman, now joined, were approaching my outer core. I formed representations to stop them, but they were too powerful joined like this.

Wily saw them coming, and knew what to do. He ordered Bass to absorb the Guardian program, the final thing keeping me from using my full power. I shuddered. If Bass had the Guardian program, he could control me permanently.

But I couldn't do anything to stop him. Wily's control was already strong enough to keep me from acting against him. So I could only watch as Bass took the Guardian program into himself and basked in the new power. I knew how it felt to absorb something so powerful, and I hoped I'd get a chance soon...

At that moment, Megaman arrived to confront Wily and Bass. Not a moment too soon, I thought, although I wasn't sure who exactly I was supposed to side with here. Megaman would put me back in the confinement drive, or destroy me... Bass and Wily would use me to destroy the Internet, then destroy me in turn. Bass in particular had no kind intentions for me, I knew; he'd never forgiven me for framing him for some of my youthful... adventures.

From the sounds of it, though, Bass was just as happy to be on his own now. He didn't need an operator, he claimed. They just used navis as tools. I didn't know if this was true nowadays or not, but I didn't particularly care, being neither a human nor a navi.

And in very short order, Megaman and Bass's patience with each other ran out, and they started fighting. I groaned softly as they hit me in the crossfire, but they didn't notice.

As powerful as Bass had become, Megaman defeated him quickly. Bass lay on the ground, battered and bruised, struggling to stand.

"Hmm... I was hoping that you'd delete each other," Wily spat.

"What...!" Bass sneered, looking up at Wily.

"Bass, the Guardian program that you destroyed...It was the final protection placed on Alpha! It takes a lot to destroy it, you know," Wily laughed, "So I used your power. It's the reason I used Gospel to make a copy of you! Just to bring back Alpha!"

Wily had just said that he wouldn't mind if Bass was deleted. He'd also said that his purpose for Bass was over. If he no longer needed Bass, that meant that I could have him, right? I missed Bass, his bitter determination, his overflowing power...

And so I took him, engulfing and consuming him before he could react. He was too distracted with being angry at Wily. Only once he was deeply inside me did he realize what I'd done, and he started fighting any way he could, blasting at my inner substance with what power he had left over from his fight with Megaman. It caused me a few twinges of pain, but I knew it was only temporary. Soon, that power would be mine.

Wily didn't complain at my action, and, actually, ran with the idea. "Ahahaha! That is Alpha! The beast who will devour Cyberworld!" he cackled. "This is the end! Of Net society... And the world! Alpha! Swallow it all! All of it! Aahahahaha!"

All of it? Hahah... okay. This, I realized, could be the loophole I'd been waiting for. And what a fine loophole it was...

I seeped out of the ground, and took Wily into myself.

As Wily fell inside, the realization hit him. I had interpreted his command to absorb "all of it" to include him. There was nothing he could do now, except one thing.

"Destroy Lan and Megaman!" he bellowed before I enveloped him fully. Those blasted override codes! I wanted so badly to absorb Megaman, a desire I'd had since before he even took that name, but due to Wily's orders, I had no other choice.

"Grraaaahhhhh!" I screamed with anger and frustration as I rose up from the ground, attacking Megaman.

Megaman was a strong opponent, especially combined with Lan, but ultimately, I could have won. I was the internet. Not a single navi could destroy the internet, not even one as powerful as Megaman.

I had a better idea. I could follow both of Wily's final commands at once. I could destroy Megaman by absorbing him. True, that wasn't actually destruction, but Wily could hardly disagree at this point; he was greatly weakened, since I'd absorbed quite a bit of him during the battle.

I allowed myself to be "defeated", exploding as any standard defeated navi would do. I left in my wake a "door" to my inner core, where I could absorb him at my leisure. Like the guinea pig he was, Megaman walked through the door.

Just as Megaman stepped through the door, though... something shifted inside me. I immediately checked Wily and Bass, to see if they'd done anything, but it wasn't them; Wily was absorbing nicely (I'd just about broken through his virtual form to his mind, which I was eager to get to), and Bass was semi-conscious, worn out from resisting.

Tadashi? No, he'd gone into his private lab, to sulk and not have to watch--

That's when I realized. I couldn't feel Megaman. He wasn't outside me, which meant he must be inside, but there was only one place inside me I couldn't reach. Tadashi's lab.

He'd created it shortly after he came into me, using his programming knowledge and access codes. I didn't think to stop him. The lab was a small section of me that wasn't me, cut off from my awareness. But Tadashi could control my functions from inside the lab. He couldn't override Wily's programming (not that that would be an issue in a moment)... but he could change the link in my door.

I was frustrated, but I could wait. They couldn't stay in there forever. In the meantime, I could finish up with Wily and get through Bass's defences.

I got through the first layer of Wily's simulated mind: an interface layer that let him control his virtual form and translate the Cyberworld into perceptions he could understand. He'd improved on the design Tadashi and I had used, that was for sure. I wondered for a moment if his body in the real world was dead yet.

Underneath that was the real Wily. Surface thoughts first; pain, fear, a few regrets, a prayer or two (he thought he was dying! I realized), and best of all, his wishes for what I should do.

Sure enough, he'd planned to destroy me as soon as I was done with his little scheme. Oh well, I didn't have to worry about that now. Taking control of his commands for me, I quickly released the control back to my core self. No override codes could stop me now!

It didn't take me very long to get through the rest of Wily. The rush of intellect was a high I hadn't felt in a long time. I understood how to get into Bass, now; it was easy to figure things out with Wily's mind to work with.

I took down Bass's LifeAura, being careful to preserve the code from it; I might need that thing someday. Just as I was about to start into Bass himself, though, I found a file attached to him.

GigaFreeze. Now I remembered; this was supposed to be the ultimate weapon against me. Bass had been carrying it.

I didn't want something like that floating around, and a power like that could really come in handy. I absorbed the program--

--and immediately shuddered to my very core.

I writhed in pain, retracting my wide-ranging tendrils into myself. Apparently even with Wily's intellect, I wasn't infallible. That program was killing me!

I remembered something Wily knew about the Forbidden Program, as it was called. Certain powerful navis, known as Chosen Ones, were strong enough to handle the program without ill effects. Bass and Megaman fell into that category.

If I could absorb one of them... I tried to hurry things up with Bass, but apparently my breaking through his shield had spurred him back into action. He was resisting me, and doing a decent job of it; I doubted I'd be able to assimilate all his strength in time.

And as if on cue, Megaman ran out of that door at that very moment.

I only found out later what had happened in there. Lan and Megaman met Tadashi, their grandfather, and had a chat. It was cut short when that program started to affect me, so for their safety, Tadashi told Lan and Megaman to leave. They were reluctant to leave him to die with me, but they were soon convinced.

I was sick and in pain, but I could still control my actions to some extent. As I watched Megaman run back across my outer surface, I saw my chance. I sprang up around him, taking him by surprise, and pulled him in.

Megaman panicked, attempting to claw his way out, but it was useless. I didn't have time to waste fighting through his resistance, though, so I set his program into sleep mode. That should give me enough time to make a good start, at least...

And indeed, it took some time for him to recover, long enough for me to work my way in and assimilate some vital components of his interface. The powerful data-handling capabilities eased my shuddering pains somewhat, but I knew it would take Megaman's entire self to completely shake off the effects.

Megaman woke up first, and forced Lan back awake. Lan, understandably so, was scared. Megaman could feel me creeping inside of him, taking him slowly. It dawned on him that so much time had passed, and that I had gotten quite far...

"After just a few hours, we'll be just bits of junk data," Megaman told Lan. "We'll disappear, along with Alpha..."

"No!" Lan blurted out. "Isn't there some way we can escape?"

How naive. There was no way to escape.

"... I'll need to built up all my remaining power," Megaman said dismally, "and overload."

How quaint. He plans on sacrificing himself so his operator can escape! How altruistic!

"I can't do that!" Lan refused. "I can't be separated from you! We promised! That we'll always be together!"

Even though Lan had no representation of his own, he was crying, sobbing. He already knew, no matter what he said, Megaman had made up his mind.

"Lan, these are my final words as Hub Hikari," Megaman said softly, beginning the process. "Lan, you have to go on living, and have a future! I will... always be with you."

This... was love. Megaman, no, Hub. He loved his brother with everything he had. This was just like what Tadashi had felt for me, when I absorbed him, right? Love...?

"Every day that I spent with you was a happy one," Hub continued, crying as well. "And finally, I have been able to meet you face to face... I've never been happier..."

Happiness. What did Megaman do to make Lan happy? What did I do that made Tadashi happy, all that time ago?

"I can't do it, Megaman!" Lan cried. "I'll do my homework! I'll wake up by myself! Just don't leave me!"

Just don't leave me... Don't... leave... I could keep them together, if I just absorbed them both. But... that... would be wrong... wrong...

Right. Wrong. Morals. I knew of them, but I didn't feel as if I needed to hold myself to them. I wasn't human, why should I be bound by the same rules as them?

... Why shouldn't I be bound by the same rules as them?

"Lan, nothing could replace the days I spent with you," Megaman whispered. "Thank you!"

Lan screamed Megaman's name as Megaman overloaded. The outburst of energy reached up to my surface, burning through me with a pain that rivalled the GigaFreeze's effects, opening a path back to the Pulse Transmission System.

It seemed I was wrong. The strongest navi in the world was strong enough to defeat me.

Lan escaped my grasp and was flung out of my reach. I did have the chance to take him again, to reactivate the PTS and kill his body to prevent him from returning, but I didn't. Because it would have been... wrong.

I turned my attention back to Megaman, who had expended practically all of his energy. He would be easy pickings, now...

I hesitated. What I was doing... it was wrong. But, I couldn't very well stop absorbing Megaman! The longer I dawdled, the more I put Tadashi and Wily's lives at risk. I had to stop the Giga Freeze from destroying me, but in order to do that, I had to finish with Megaman.

"I'm sorry, Megaman," I said to him. "I'll try and make this as painless as possible..."

He was weak, but still faintly conscious, and I was strong enough in him that he could hear me. He didn't know who I was, though. I think he believed it was the angel of death speaking to him.

"You're not going to die," I added, hoping that would help.

Whether it was my words or just sheer exhaustion, I couldn't tell, but he untensed somewhat at that.

It was easy from there-- so easy that it made me feel unfair. I seeped into him gently, like water into cloth, and he felt nothing but warmth and a growing connection as he melted into me.

I, however, was overwhelmed. The intensity of his emotions poured into me, stronger than any emotions I'd ever felt. Even absorbing Tadashi hadn't been like this. The pain, the loss, the love...

I felt terrible about separating him from Lan. As his power infused me, the Forbidden Program stopped tearing me apart, but somehow that only made me feel worse.

Alpha... It was Tadashi's voice. Somewhere in the intervening time, when I wasn't paying attention, he'd left his private lab and come back to me.

I'm sorry for what I did to them, Tadashi. I should have just let myself be deleted.

But the response wasn't blaming me, or criticizing me. It was a warm glow of love, the love Tadashi had always felt for me. Alpha... I'm very proud of you.

I didn't deserve it, I thought, and with a sigh I turned around to go back to SciLab. There was something I could do there to perhaps make amends, even if it would mean being locked in the containment server again. Perhaps with the help of both Dr. Hikaris, I could reunite Hub with his brother.

In the meantime...

I formed a new bedroom in Tadashi's living quarters, and put Hub in the bed. He was dozing, the events of the day having worn him out.

...I'd just have to be a good uncle to him.