When X's systems came online he was confused. Confused because he distinctly remembered dying and last time he checked, he didn't have a body. So why was he getting status reports like he had one? Something was wrong, and he couldn't shake the feeling of dread he felt. He told his systems to go slow, carefully, check for bugs, check for anything out of the ordinary.
His systems didn't find any bugs, however, they did tell him that he was plugged into a device that could force him offline.
Now that didn't set off any warning bells. Within seconds, he had rerouted his connection to the device in such a way that it didn't register that he was disengaged from it but at the same time, it prevented the device from doing its intended purpose.
Nanites were wonderful.
There was also a connection to his main memory, one that recorded everything he saw and thought. The feeling of dread grew. That connection was blocked in a similar way as the device. However, he routed a repeating stream of thoughts to it, much like a looped camera recording, filled with mostly just confusion, in an attempt to keep whoever the hell was watching him so tightly off his damn back.
Because his systems were telling him that something was really wrong and his security was compromised.
There was another connection to his memory, one that sent files rather than viewed them. That one, off course, was blocked as well, despite already being inactive.
Otherwise, the other connections seemed relatively harmless, a connection for power, a connection for supplies. He blocked them anyways, because quite frankly, he didn't trust them.
He waited until his systems were fully functional and his buster was primed and ready to switch out with his arm in a moment's notice before triggering the pod to open. He was taking no chances. He had a really bad feeling about this.
"X?" a cautious and rather old voice called out. X's eyes snapped open and narrowed in confusion and focus. He recognized that voice, but it was so buried in memory files he wasn't sure who.
"X? It's me, Doctor Light."
The voices matched. Sort of. The voice he was currently hearing sounded a little bit younger. But how?
X sat up, eyes scanning the room completely before settling on the two other occupants inside of it. One, a tall yellow and black robot with an electric sort of theme. He prepped his systems to handle high voltage attacks. The other, looked much like the Light he vaguely remembered. But less old. How?
"X? Do you remember me?"
"Doctor Light?" he asked, cautious, wary, but still hopeful. "But how?"
Light smiled at him gently. "I never truly died. The Light you remember is nothing more than an altered memory file. I had to make myself appear much older than I was in order for the plan to work."
Altered memory file? What? Why? Was that the reason for the connection that sent files to his memories? And if so, how was Light still alive? He was ecstatic to learn that his father was alive even after all these years, all the wars. But it simply wasn't possible. There was no way. How? Years of combat experience kicked in, experiences of betrayal whispered in the back of his mind, forcing X into a higher state of caution than when he woke up. His face blanked. His second arm primed itself for battle. The thrusters on his feet charged quietly, discreetly, ready to bolt at a moment's notice.
Something was really wrong. His systems couldn't stop screaming that fact at him. Light's words echoed in his head. Never truly died. Never truly died. It was impossible. Unless Light had made himself a cyborg much like Weil. That was possible. But his scanners were telling him that the Light in front of him was human.
A clone?
The plan, his mind echoed back. What plan? Why?
"What plan? And how are you still alive? It's been centuries." X finally asked, cautious, tense. Caution was overwhelming his joy for finally seeing a familiar and welcomed face after all these years.
"The pod X," Light sighed. "It was designed to test you, to make sure that you weren't going to end up like Zero." X almost started. Zero? But Zero wasn't evil. Light paused before trying to cut straight to the point. There was no point in trying to hide the information, X was tense and alert, ready to fight and ready to bolt. He was disappointed, truly, that X was so cautious rather than being naïve and trusting like his predecessor. It only proved that X was not ready. Perhaps he should have tried to alter how the pod was teaching him things to sway the android into loyalty rather than allowing it to continue as it had.
"Everything you remember is a lie," Light said bluntly. "A test produced by the pod you were sealed in. The maverick wars never occurred. Neither did the Elf wars. Zero is evil. Everybody else you remember never existed. It was all a part of the test."
X's mind halted in its tracks. What?
"What?" X said weakly. sighed.
"I had to be sure that you weren't going to be evil. You are a robot programmed without the three laws. Anything could happen if I didn't make sure. I couldn't risk you going evil like Wily's android did."
X's mind sped up, going miles a second.
"What?!" he repeated, much louder. A lie? No that couldn't. . . . Could it? Something told him such a fact was correct. Pieces fell into place quickly, far too quickly. It would certainly explain how he was still alive. But there weren't many pieces and not everything was adding up.
"Nothing you remember is real, X," Doctor Light repeated again. Nothing? X's mind repeated. No Zero, no Alia, no Signas, no Axl, no Sigma, no virus, no wars.
His mind halted as realization and suspicion dawned. The wars. There was really no reason for him to believe Doctor Light so quickly but the back of his mind whispered that it was true. But was that really the back of his mind or yet another lie? He didn't know what to believe anymore. He didn't who to believe any more.
The wars. His mind repeated and he refocused on another train of thought. Wars his mind repeated. Plural. Multiple sets. Both the maverick wars and the elf wars.
If this truly was a lie and a set up made by the pod, a test to prove his "goodness", wasn't one war enough? Hadn't he proved himself after one? What was the point of the other wars? The hell he had to go through. Bitterness rose in his systems, but he forced it down. There was no need for that kind of doubt and anger right now. Questions first. He needed answers.
"The wars," he eventually forced out through his mess of confused and chaotic thoughts. Light hummed.
"They never happened, X," Doctor Light repeated. X's mind scrambled and he forced himself to think clearly enough to speak again.
"Why plural?" X responded. Light sighed and struggled to think. There was no gentle way of saying the answer. He could lie, but he was unsure just how many of the skills X gained in the pod carried over and he couldn't risk X recognizing the lie for what it was. He would lose the android faster than he could say "it was Wily's fault".
"I was unsure. The war had ended rather chaotically and I wasn't sure if you were going to snap and go off the deep end after what you'd experienced. I let the pod continue in an attempt to truly determine if your morals were as they should be." The doctor, sensing where the conversation might lead, stepped over to the computer plugged into the pod and hovered a hand over its keyboard.
What? Was X hearing things right? There were so many things wrong with what Light had just said that he couldn't even begin to fathom just everything the doctor was implying at the moment.
"So you put me through another one," X surmised. He raised a shaking hand to his forehead.
"Just to make sure," Light repeated. Just to make sure.
"What about the third?"
"You continued to show insecurities," Light explained.
"The fourth?"
"Again. Insecurities." X took in a shuddering breath. Light frowned. This was not going a smoothly as he had hoped. If this kept up, he would be forced to shut down the android or if things went wrong, order Elecman to detain him and shut him down.
"And I suppose it was the same case with the fifth war?" X asked.
"Yes."
"And the sixth? And the seventh?"
"Yes, X."
"The eighth?"
"I kept the pod going because you kept showing insecurities. So yes," Light answered. X's breathing was borderline panicked now. Doctor Light made a signal with his hand and the robot master beside him tensed, waiting for his next command.
"Insecurities?" X hissed. Light tensed.
"X," he warned.
"Insecurities?!" X repeated louder. X's hand lowered and his green eyes focused on the doctor. "What the hell did you expect?!" he hissed. "You designed me to be human, doctor! It's war!"
"Elecman," Light ordered. The robotmaster nodded and began approaching X, who's eyes regarded him with scrutiny.
"And what are you going to do doctor?" X hissed. "I'm pretty sure another goddamn war isn't going to fix my fucking insecurities!" He watched Elecman's movements like he would with any dangerous enemy. Doctor Light typed a few things into the keyboard and frowned when nothing happened and errors appeared on the screen. X had already block his connection with the pod. Said android practically growled as his systems told him Light had attempted to use the device to shut him down.
"I was afraid of this. I'm going to have to resort to a clean slate. Elecman, continue," Doctor Light stated.
X's mind paused in shock as Light's words registered in his mind. Clean slate. Light was going to wipe his memory. Perhaps his personality too.
Hell no.
/X/ Something, a male's voice, cried out in his mind. It didn't come from his own. He instantly went on high alert and threw up every mental shield he had.
/Relax. It's Elecman. I don't want to hurt you, but I can't disobey the doctor's orders. Rock said your systems had upgraded themselves just as they had in the pod, so you should have an ice attack more powerful than Iceman's. Hit me with it. I'll be okay. I will lunge at you in a second, don't fight back any more than what I said just run. Go up the stairs on the right. Take a left down the hallway. Turn right at the opening. The door to the outside is just across the living room. Fire at the red switch as your leaving the door. It will cause the house to go into lockdown. That'll slow down Light and the rest of the robot masters enough that you can get away. There's a tracker on the inside of your helmet. Dispose of it somewhere. Run. Get as far away from here as you can. No one deserves a fate like the one Light has planned for you./
X decided to trust his instincts again because they hadn't led him wrong yet and trust Elecman. He searched his systems for Shotput Ice and engaged it, deciding to ponder how it got there later. Elecman lunged. X had never engaged his buster so quickly and fired in his life. Elecman hadn't even frozen completely before X was climbing the stairs, Light shouting after him. He passed a brown haired boy in the hallway but ultimately ignored him. Turn right at the opening. Across the living room. Open the door, fire at the switch. Close the door behind. Ignore the alarms blaring and get the hell out of there.
He was miles away before the other robot masters were notified of his escape.
He'd deposited the tracker in the sewer of a nearby city before taking off again. He hid behind an alley and dispelled his armor. He couldn't blaze across the land like he'd been doing. The media would track him. He'd be too noticeable. He walked to a nearby bus line that went out of the city, careful to hide his face from all cameras.
Years of breaking into high security maverick fortresses had to of taught him something. You couldn't go in guns blazing every time, sometimes you had to be more discreet.
The bus was leaving the city by the time the robot masters found the deposited tracker and began a city wide search for him.
Author's Note: A bit rushed but I don't have all that much time anymore. Sorry for the error when I first posted this chapter. I noticed it did it with the first chapter and fixed it immediately but I didn't think to check this one. I'm not really sure what causes it. It's fine up until I save and even then it doesn't do it all the time.
I am looking for a beta reader, preferably somebody who has more knowledge on the classic series than I do. If you are interested, please PM me and we'll work something out.
Thank you for reading!
