Chapter 30 - We Have The Technology

32 stepped briskly around the two metal tables set about a foot and a half away from one another in the middle of the room, and crossed over to where both Franco and PX were standing. He set a hand on one of their shoulders and turned them toward the door, speaking in a rushed tone.

"Franco, PX, sorry to just throw you two out, but we need the space. Once Aasterinian is finished with X, I want you to come back in here, Franco, so that we can get you repaired, and back out to Alpha and your brother."

"Alright.."

He hustled them to the door, which opened automatically, a metallic 'whoosh' resonating from the doorframe. He inched them out the door and into the hallway, giving them both a quick nod, "PX, you're brother will be fine." He swung his head back through the doorway, the door sliding shut behind him with the same metallic 'whoosh' as when it opened. He crossed back over to the table containing the limp form of Bread Man, assessing the amount of damage done to him.

PX watched the door close and then turned away from the gray metal surface. He reached his right hand up to the side of his helmet, his visor flaring into a sharp hue of green before dying down to its original color. He was so busy activating his visor, he didn't even see Franco walk down the hallway. PX dropped his hand to his side, setting them on his hips, swinging his head back and forth slowly, scanning the data displaying on his visor.

'There is something in this base that wants me to find it.. All I have to do is look..'

Franco stepped quickly down the hall, away from the stationary form of PX. He quickly made his way down the halls that they had come through earlier, back in the direction of the entrance of the base, and the laboratory that belonged to 32, where all the computers were set up.

'I need to check on Alpha.. He better still be alive, I'll be so pissed off if he's dead.. They were just Mets..'

PX turned his head down the hall slightly, a distinct and familiar energy spike displaying across his sensors. He took a step in the direction of where the Hunters have been staying, his feet moving his slowly toward one of the rooms in particular, the spike growing rapidly as he gets closer to the room. He set his hand to the identification panel and the small machine gave out a weak 'ding' to confirm his identity. The door slip open and he stepped into the room slowly, turning his head toward the familiar being in the corner of the room, who looked upon him with a great sense of love and compassion.

"My son.."

"Father.."

Enzan finished gathering the random repair equipment from the massive side-table, wheeling the trolley table back over to Aasterinian and 32, stopping it in between the two tables. He clenched down the wheel locks, keeping the trolley from moving.

"Here's everything that you'll need, 32."

"Mm.. Alright."

Enzan stepped away from the trolley, watching 32 reach to the pile of instruments and grab a short handled pry-bar. 32 turned toward Bread Man's still form, slamming the bar down into his chest plate, prying it away from the carbon rubber suit beneath it. It broke off, flipping away, and slamming against the floor, clattering loudly.

Aasterinian stepped away from the wall and made her way over to where X had laid down. She smiled down at him and opened her mouth to say something, but she lightly tapped X's manual shut down. His eyes faded out and his mouth hung open a bit. She closed his mouth and slid his eyelids down over his blank eyes. She lifted her hands up and a small device on her right wrist sprang to life, a green light emitting from the end of the device. The light slowly formed into that of a giant hand, shaped exactly as her hand was.

"This shouldn't take long. It's all external. Nothing is too badly damaged."

Enzan gasped upon seeing the giant green hand, and Aasterinian turned and gave him a soft smirk, returning to her work. He turned toward X and 32, who slammed his hand into the pry-bar, sending the last chunk of chest plate to the ground, each piece had clattered loudly upon impact.

"Alright. Enzan, pass me the mini-saw."

"Okay."

He turned from his view of the table and toward the trolley, reaching toward the middle and grabbing a rather small saw, about the size of two fists set together, with a blade about the same size attached to one end. He lifted it slowly, inching around the trolley and setting it into 32's hand, which held it easily.

'Wow, that was heavier than I thought it would be..'

He returned to his position on the other side of the trolley and watched as 32 clicked on the mini-saw, the small device whirring to life. The blade, which was heavier than the actual machine holding it, ate through Bread Man's chest, ripping easily through the rubber suit and digging down into his artificial skin, revealing the mechanical structure underneath.

"32.."

"Don't worry, Enzan. I'm very steady, the core will not be damaged."

"A-Alright.."

Franco looked about the hallway as he walked, he hadn't had the chance to look around when he came in with Bread Man's body. He sighed heavily, thinking back to Alpha and the massive horde of Mettaurs.

'I wonder how well he's holding up.. He's probably tearing through them like nothing, since he really is a rather strong Reploid.. It may not show, but you can tell..'

A beeping sound came to Franco's ears as he walked. He stopped and turned his head, looking into the closest room, which was 32's laboratory, where Franco first saw him and Enzan. He walked into the room, looking at the screen up near the ceiling. This screen was larger than all the other screens.

"Hey, wow. A map."

He leaned in close over the keyboards in front of all the lower monitors and stared at the screen. There was a small dark green dot blinking to the south of where the base was located. He glanced down and typed something into the keyboard, watching a small set of data appear alongside the dot.

'A deactivated Reploid.. Whose distress signal just started going off. Hmm. Might as well check it out, I doubt it'll be take too long. I should get back in time for that girl Reploid to fix me.'

PX stood stalk still, staring across the room at the hologram of Dr. Light. He looked exactly the way he had during the 20XX, except a little heavier since the last time PX had laid eyes on him.

"You can come in here, you know."

"Why are you kept inside of this room?"

"I keep another of my creations company.."

"A brother of mine?"

"Yes, I doubt you remember him.. Alpha X."

PX blinked for a moment, his memory banks searching for any personal memory or tidbit of information he might have accumulated about his brother, but nothing personal came to him. What came to him was all the information that the Maverick Hunter had put inside of his profile. He read through it quickly, all within the time span of a few seconds. He shook his head lightly, looking at his father from behind the dark shades.

"Built to destroy his older brother, in case of infection."

"They put that in the profile?" 'How did he know..' "I know many things, Proto Man X."

PX turned his head away from Dr. Light at the sound of his full name. He closed his eyes and walked over to the pod, setting his hands lightly against the top part of the pod, leaning against the outer edge of the blue light illuminating the hologram.

"Why does Alpha X keep you locked away in his room?"

"I am here for his final upgrade."

"Final?" PX tilted his head a little, while Dr. Light only nodded, "He was built at his peak, he needed no armor upgrades to fight. That's what I made him for. But through the years of X advancing in combat and mentally, I began to fear Alpha X would not be capable of destroying him. So I began creating an upgrade capable of destroying X if he became a threat."

"And Alpha X will receive this upgrade when the time comes."

"Yes."

Franco nodded lightly and turned away from the computers. He walked out of the laboratory and turned left, going up the two sets of stairs and out into the front entrance of the base, which was half-destroyed earlier from a Maverick attack, as well as Anode's buster. He activated his dash thrusters and exited the base at a quick speed. He jerked his body sharply and moved around the left side of the base, moving southward. He deactivated his thrusters, going into a quick running pace, turning down a small side-street.

32 switched off the mini-saw, staring down at his work. He pursed his lips and blew once, sending all of the small pieces of metal from the long tear in Bread Man's chest, displaying his power core easily. 32 set the mini-saw on to the trolley without looking.

"Hand me the Archtype Plasma Injector Mk. II, Enzan."

"Gotc-.. Wait, what's that?"

32 turned his head away from Bread Man's body and gave Enzan a cold, hard stare through his shades. He grabbed what looked to be a long syringe like instrument from the trolley.

"That's what this is."

He turned his back on Enzan and leaned back over Bread Man's body. He slid the small cylinder end down through the cut, pushing the point against the power core's outer protective shell. He pressed the button, the entire device beginning to hum lightly. He reached under the table and pulled out a tube, connecting against the back of the syringe-like instrument, pressing the second button on it. A light green liquid pumping into through the tube and into the instrument, filtering down into the power core.

"This should only take a few minutes."

Aasterinian had successfully removed each piece of X's armor and was busily working on each piece. Her instruments were more advanced than 32's, and seemed to do more than one function, so she had less switching time. She had already fixed the shoulder and chest armor, and was efficiently working on the helmet.

X was still laying on the table, but was in only his golden carbon rubber suit. His eyes still shut and his dark blue hair mashed down against his scalp. The big green hand emitting from Aasterinian's wrist set the helmet down beside X's head, completely repaired. The hand then grabbed the pair of gauntlets and laid them right into her awaiting hands.

32 pressed the second button again, the liquid immediately halting and sliding back down into wherever it was coming from under the table. He detached the tube and put it back inside the table. He pushed the other button, the syringe stopped humming immediately. He leaned in close and carefully slid the syringe end from Bread Man's power core.

"Alright, now to fix the entrance. And to put his armor back on. Enzan."

"Uh huh?"

"Get to work on repairing his armor."

"Right on it."

"I can give you an upgrade as well, Proto Man X."

"..."

"I know that you hate getting help, but this is for your own good. This will activate your systems to be able to use the new Anti-Viral Armor incorporated to fit your systems. It will also give you access to use the Lencin Armor again, once it is repaired."

"Who will repair it?"

"Who else? I've always repaired my own work. X's armors are fully functional, he can use any of them as he pleases."

"..."

"I will also fix any other flaws in your design, if you'd like."

"Just make me able to use the armor.. Don't tinker with anything else, Father."

"Of course, my son."

PX moved his hands from the top part of the pod as Dr. Light's hologram vanished from sight. He hesitantly stepped into the large pod, closing his eyes as the blue light began to glow and shimmer brightly. It enveloped his entire body within its light. He began to twitch slightly, not comfortable with this whole set-up, when energy jerked through the pod, surging through his entire body. The light dimmed away and he stepped from the pod, a silent push coming from inside his mind.

"All is completed, my son."

Franco leapt over a row of bushes, landing in a crouch, right in front of a body. He reeled and fell over backward.

"Whoa!"

He landed inside one of the bushes, sighing heavily. His beam saber activated and ate through the leaves as he cut his way free of it. He climbed out and replaced his saber on his shoulder. He walked over to the body and crouched down in front of it, staring at the dead, empty eyes.

'He's a Hunter.. I think. But he doesn't have the insignia most Hunters have. Ex-Hunter gone Merc? It happens.. Eh, might as well take him back.'

Franco reached down and grabbed the Reploid by the hair, which was a light silverish color. He pulled the Reploid up to his feet, the dark green and gray armor contrasting horribly with Franco's blue armor. He threw the Reploid over his shoulder and made his way through the small path through the bushes, going back to the base the same way he had come.

"Hey wait.."

He set the body down in front of him, letting it stand on its own, like a statue. He tapped the side of his helmet once, a small green hue glittering across his eyes, before fading away. Data appeared over his vision, information scrolling down the right side of his vision. He read it like he would read a book and blinked.

"Mike Cain? One of the few Reploids that took on Cain's name, heh.. He must've been some kind of defect if he did that."

X's eyes shot open involuntarily, his vision slowly clearing. He shook his head as he sat up. His entire body was stiff, but he felt refreshed. He used to always shut down after a fight, not liking the thoughts that came to his head. He swung his legs from the table and glanced over at Aasterinian, who was standing off to the side in silence. The small device on her wrist was glittering green, but he had no idea why.

"Almost finished over there, 32?"

"You feeling any better, X?"

"I feel great. Thanks."

"Thank Aasterinian, she did all the repairs."

He glanced over at Aasterinian, whose face had suddenly flushed over with a soft hue of red. He got to his feet, walking over to her. He set his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly.

"Thank you Aasterinian. I appreciate it greatly."

"You're very welcome.."

32 worked the last piece of Bread Man's armor into place. The wound had been fixed quicker than it had been made. Enzan had done an excellent job on fixing the armor and piecing it back together. He hit the power on the welder and connected all the pieces of armor together, melting the armor together, so that it was a tight fit. Enzan switched on the sander to see if it was working up to par. 32 pulled the welder away from the last piece melted together.

"Alright, sander."

"Here."

Enzan passed him the sander and 32 pushed it down against Bread Man's chest, feeling the chest plate contour as one against it. He switched it on and ran it over the armor, smoothing out where he had melted the pieces together. After a few minutes, the entire armor was once again smooth. He set the sander down and nodded to Enzan, who activated Bread Man's power core.

Bread Man slowly opened his eyes, letting out a loud groan. He lifted his head away from what seemed to be a flat surface and set his hands against the sides of his head. He lifted away the helmet and sighed, sitting up. He looked around the room, seeing two familiar faces and two unfamiliar ones.

"32.. X.."

"Welcome back, my friend."

"Welcome back, Bread Man."

Bread Man smiled at 32, and then at X, swinging his legs from the table. His balance was shaky, but he didn't accept 32's help. He walked around the table slowly, standing in front of the door. He was alive again.

"I've got to tell you.. That hurt like a bitch."