Soundtrack: Mega Man X 'The Zero Sacrifice' OC ReMix by Vigilante
Resurrection – Act 1:
—
Zero opened his eyes slowly. That dream, again—the one where I kill Dr. Wily…
Something felt odd, but he couldn't quite place it.
The dream was so real this time, usually it's just a jumble of images—but this was more like a complete memory…
Zero blinked.
Yes, it is a complete memory now—the fragmentation is gone. I remember everything.
Dr. Willy activated me, told me to kill Dr. Light—and then he infected me with the virus. It took over, and the next thing I knew, I was in an unfamiliar lab surrounded by the bodies of robots—only…
Only one of the bodies was human.
It did something to me, seeing that—smelling his blood on my hands. It awakened something inside me, and I lost control. I ran back to Wily's fortress, destroying everything in my path. I made my way to the lab—and I attacked him…
…but there was another robot there, a blue robot. It looked kind of like X, without his armor. It tried to stop me—there was something in its eyes, so sorrowful and desperate—but I was too strong, too adaptable, too…
… too human. It was just a robot, limited to pre-programmed attack patterns, and its power was nothing compared to mine. I tore him apart, and then I…
Zero stared up at the sky.
I've been rebuilt so many times. I always thought the holes in my memory were just a result of all the damage I've taken—but why would they return now?
A cloud passed slowly overhead, dyed blood red by the morning sun.
The sky…
Suddenly, Zero sat up. "What am I doing outside?" he asked aloud.
Looking around, he saw that he was partially buried in a pile of rubble. His head and one arm had lifted clear of the surface when he sat up, but the rest of his body disappeared into the twisted scrap. A moment of panic shot through his circuits, but an internal diagnostic confirmed he was intact even as he struggled to pull free.
It took far more effort than it should have to drag himself to the surface. For long moments he lay panting, trying to recover enough hydrogen to restore power to his systems. His energy level rose with agonizing slowness. Instead of watching the meter creep up from the red line, Zero focused on scanning the area—attempting to piece together what had happened.
As always, he watched for enemies. No one would catch him unaware, especially not in this condition.
Facts drifted in to his semi-awake brain, assembled by assist programs that operated independently of his consciousness: The debris stretched for almost a mile—probably the remains of a large structure. Whatever it was had collapsed, apparently with Zero inside it. He must have been injured, stuck in repair mode when the building came down. His autopilot program would have driven him toward the surface, towards air and sunlight.
Like most reploids, Zero needed a steady supply of hydrogen to synthesize into deuterium/tritium fuel. Without a hydrogen-rich medium like air or water to breathe, his fusion reactors would shut down. Solar or thermal power might be enough to keep his recovery nanites active, but there wouldn't be much of that under a pile of rubble either—and what was the point of being repaired if you didn't have the energy to start up?
It wouldn't be the first time that's happened. Zero thought grimly.
Centuries ago, Dr. Wily's death had activated a failsafe system in his fortress. It was supposed to look like a self-destruct, but was only intended to bury the fortress—allowing time for the automated systems to complete Zero's construction. But something had gone wrong, and he was trapped inside—without power—until a team of reploids had opened the ruins to air…
Zero shook his head. It was strange to suddenly have all this information. Disorienting. It was as if it had been there all along, but he could remember not knowing—being unable to remember who he was or where he had come from. Even his first battle with Sigma had been only fragments of data—now a part of him was analyzing his performance, looking for ways it could be improved…
I was so raw back then—but I'd been incomplete and barely conscious at the time. The virus was doing most of the thinking, and even it had dwindled to little more than a spark of malevolence after all those years of confinement…
Something was wrong.
Zero put a hand to his head. Even though his reactors were now reading one-hundred percent, his body still felt sluggish and his mind hazy—as if he were running low on power.
"The virus!" Zero shouted, realization finally dawning on him. He closed his eyes and checked his internal systems. There's the usual post-reconstruction upgrades, everything seems operational, but my combat system's been reset—and there's no sign of the virus in my systems!
A reset combat system was normal after major reconstruction. Zero's systems were constantly evolving, analyzing and adapting his software and mechanical systems to remain permanently state-of-the-art. But evolution had its dead ends. To prevent that, Zero's repair system would return him to a baseline state if he was ever critically damaged—allowing him to take another evolutionary path. His baseline schematics evolved too, but that was a much slower and more careful process.
It wasn't surprising to find that some systems had changed, but it was unthinkable to find the virus missing. It was the backbone of his repair system, and critically essential to most of his major functions. Without it he couldn't even maintain basic reactor efficiency—which was exactly what his diagnostic said was happening.
Zero turned his sensors outward, scanning a far as he could.
There's no trace of the virus anywhere!
Memories of the recent battle flooded back to him: The fight with Sigma, the virus that carried Dr. Wily's consciousness, the energy blast tearing through him—and X…
X! What happened to him?
Zero switched his scan to look for X instead of the virus—searching for the distinctive energy pattern unique to his systems…
Again he found nothing.
So X is gone. Zero thought, feeling strangely detached. The virus, Sigma, X—they're all gone. Every constant in my life has disappeared—except for me…
A faint breeze began to blow, like the whisper of a ghost, as Zero slowly got to his feet.
At any rate, I won't be here for long. Without the virus to help power my systems I'll gradually lose energy until I shut down. With the upgrades I get from destroying mavericks I might have been able to last another thirty years or so, but there won't be any more mavericks—just the occasional malfunctioning reploid.
A crooked, bitter smile spread slowly over Zero's face.
"The war is finally over." He said aloud. "I might as well head back to base and give them the good news."
With that, Zero turned and started walking back towards Maverick Hunter headquarters.
Next: Resurrection – Act 2
