His vision again became clear, and the first thing he saw was a steel floor underneath him. He felt hands gripping his shoulders, and a stabbing pain still resonated through his body. He tried to lift his head again, but before he could, the hands holding him let go, and he fell to the floor with a thud. From his position on the floor, he watched two pale blue figures walking away from him.
He tried to feel his arms just as he had felt his eyes earlier, and only found one. He tried to move it, and found that he was able to, but not without some discomfort. He pushed himself onto his knees, which he found could also move. He chanced to move his neck again, and discovered that it was also in working condition. He glanced down at his shoulder where he had sensed no arm earlier, and found a short stump, twisted and gnarled by years of age. He found he could rotate the stump a small amount, but no more than that. Slowly, and very uncomfortably, he pulled himself onto his feet, and tried to walk around.
"Discovering our new body, are we?" Chimed a deep, arrogant voice from the hallway.
"Who are you?" He asked, surprised to find a deep, young man's voice coming from his own mouth.
"I'm surprised at you! Even though you're memories are erased, I expected you to remember your best friend!" He chuckled flippantly. "Oh well, my name is Megaman X, and I am the leader of the wondrous nation of Neo Arcadia."
"That was simple enough" Replied the other man, "So who am I?"
"You, my good man, are Zero, the legendary reploid(1) who saved the world with me countless times in the elf wars(2)."
"So why am I here now?" asked the newly dubbed Zero.
"To help me in my ideal." Replied X, an enthusiasm and awe coming into his voice, "You are here to help me wipe out the resistance, and create a Utopia for all humans here, with me in Neo Arcadia. We will serve the purpose of protecting the humans like we were originally meant to do!"
"Resistance? Who are they?"
"Oh, I forgot how little you know about our world. The Resistance is a small group of reploids who oppose use, believing that we have illegitimately labeled them the mavericks that they are, and retired them unnecessarily.
"Mavericks?"
"Goodness, you don't remember a thing, do you? A maverick is a reploid gone bad. They believe that their greater strength over humans entitles them to do whatever they want. They are evil, and must be wiped out."
"So how do I know if you're really the good guys? How do I know you aren't bluffing to get me on your side?" Zero did not quite know what was coming out of his own mouth, he just spoke with instinct.
"Ahahaha, we've lost none of our sharp wit, now have we?" X chuckled, "I suppose that you wouldn't be a worthy soldier without it. You can't trust me, Zero, not yet, but once I've shown you the ruination of this world, and the peace that ending the resistance will bring about, you will be among the most avid Neo Arcadians."
Zero saw no harm in seeing what X had to offer, but he decided with no hesitation that he would see both sides of the story. He didn't feel as though X was telling him everything. "So, are you going to do something about my arm?" He asked, deciding to at least take advantage of the resources in front of him.
"Ah, of course, please, come with me."
Zero was taken through a long maze of dark blue corridors, lined with doors, pipes, and consoles, to a long medical room, lined with empty cots(3) on one side, and operating beds on the other.
"I'll leave you here with Dr. Thais. Zero, come to the command room to see me after the operation is finished." Said X, turning to leave, "Don't kill him now, you hear doctor?"
"Ah' understand sir." Chuckled the stout little reploid who was apparently the overseer of that medical room. "Well, my, my, my, Ah' never thought Ah'd see tha' day tha' legendary Zero was brought back teh' life. But yeh'll be needin' a new arm Ah' reckon. Just lay on tha' Operation bed over there, and Ah'll take care of everthin' else." Zero, a little apprehensive, walked over, and lay down on the operating bed. "Don't worry, yah' won't feel a thing." Zero's last thought was that 'you won't feel a thing' wasn't very reassuring, before an electric anesthetic(4) was injected into his motherboard, and he slept instantly.
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"There ya' go, good as new." Was the first thing Zero heard as he opened his eyes. "'Twas a bit o' a toughie, yeh're an old model, Ah' was lucky Ah' had tha' right parts to put it together." Zero felt through his body, as he had done before, and found a new object protruding from his right shoulder. He gained control of it, and brought it up to his face. A long black arm, the front half covered by a red piece of brand new tech armor, and trimmed with gold, shimmered below the florescent lighting of the medical room.
"Nice work doctor." Zero said, testing the flexibility of his new arm. He had no idea why he had taken so easily to the world he was in, but he found himself able to speak, listen, and even defend himself in a verbal combat easily. Zero walked very professionally out of the operation room, before realizing that he didn't know where he was going. The doctor laughed heartily when Zero stepped back in the room to ask directions. "Mastah' X should be in tha' command room, it's down the corridor, out of tha' medical wing, n' just 'round tha' corner from there."
Zero said 'thank you' again, and walked where he had been instructed by the doctor. He came into a large, round room, covered from walls to wall with glowing consoles, statistic displays, and ghostly silent operators. Zero was stunned by the sheer size of the room, which easily covered three hundred meters in diameter, and stretched far beyond visibility, becoming a black canopy that stretched an unknown distance into the sky. Zero reached an arm out to grab what he took to be a worker, or a menial of some kind, by the shoulder, and ask for directions.
"How dare you!" Screamed a high, shrill voice at the presence of Zero's hand on its body. Before Zero could even take the slightest account of whom he had tried to ask for directions, a hand placed itself over his own, grabbing it very tightly. He felt his arm twisted around, and found that his feet were falling out from under him. Before he knew it, he was on the ground, under a bright monitor, looking face up at, apparently, the wrong person to ask directions from. "Who do you think you are?" The same shrill voice yelled at him; he could not see her (he assumed it was a female) face, because the light from the monitor blinded him. "Who in hell gave you the right to touch the prestigious Leviathan, one of the four guardians of Master X?" At these words, a long, vicious looking red spear protruded from the shadows that hid his attacker. "I should kill you where you lie, and not breathe a breath of regret!" With every word the voice spoke, the spear made a mock thrust towards Zero's chin, as if toying with the idea of killing him.
"Now, now Leviathan, Mister Zero is only a few hours old, do give him a little time before threatening him just for touching you." Zero heard the voice of X coming towards him and his attacker, whose name was apparently leviathan, as well as saw X's shadowed figure approaching the shadowed one apparently named leviathan.
"Fine, Master, but if he ever touches me-" A slap cut her sentence short, and Zero slowly rose, as the spear had fallen off to the side with a harmless clang.
"You pompous little twit! You step out of line like that one more time, and you are the one to be killed!"
Zero stood slowly from under the monitor, and saw X standing, his hand still raised in a menacing position over a beautiful young woman lying on the floor.
"Wait; really, I was the one who was out of line." He said quickly
"Ohh, look at us, being all sensitive to the women. Don't get caught off guard though, She looks harmless enough, but your distance would be well kept." X said, swiftly turning and walking towards the center of the room.
"I apologize for earlier," Zero said, offering his hand to Leviathan, "I suppose it was improper for me to touch a prestigious lady such as yourself so abruptly."
"Well, well, aren't you awfully chivalrous, especially towards a woman you hardly know." Leviathan ignored Zero's offered hand, and launched herself off of the ground, sending herself high in the air with a simple flick of her feet. "In today's world, that can be a very dangerous thing." She continued after landing very composedly on her feet.
"I put my integrity and self-respect above my life." Zero replied, surprising both participants in the conversation, with a highly refined tone of voice.
"Well, you are an odd one, aren't you?" Replied the now intrigued, and somewhat flirtatious young girl as she twisted a lock of deep blue hair around her finger, and looking very innocent. "I think I would like to get to know you more, what say we find a private little place where we can be alone, hmmmm?"
Zero wanted desperately to go with her, after a single glance at her body; he had felt something he was not already accustomed to from his previous life, he felt a desire to hold her, to have her want him, simply to be near her. She had a perfect hourglass body; tall, slender, smooth, and covered by a small, tight, blue tech suit. She had deep red eyes that shimmered and sparkled like water, and long, soft-looking dark blue hair. But there was something else that Zero felt, he couldn't understand it himself, but he knew that there was something different about Leviathan. Zero wanted so desperately to go with her, but he knew he had to talk to X first.
"I'm sorry, but I just can't right now, X wanted me to talk to him, and after that little episode with you two," Leviathan rubbed her sore cheek resentfully, "I'm not sure I want to get on his bad side." Zero said with great reluctance.
"Fine, I know what it's like to be on the master's bad side, I suppose I'll see you around. G'bye!" she said in an exaggeratedly girly tone, and winked at him as she walked past.
Zero shook his head. He couldn't understand what exactly she was getting at, but it seemed like a guilty pleasure. Zero wondered if females were this hard to understand a century ago or not. Without even looking, Zero inadvertently saw the command screen, which was not hard, considering that it took up over one fourth of the circular wall. He spotted X standing and observing the statistical readouts on the wall, and went up behind him, and went to tap his shoulder.
"That was Leviathan, of the four most elite warriors in my army. She is arrogant and immature, but her combat skills are unmatched." Said the stern reploid before Zero had touched him, and without turning around. "As soon as someone better comes along, she's going to be gone."
"That's a little harsh, don't you think? She's programmed as a young female, and humans at that age are very immature and flippant. Give her a reprogramming if you hate her personality so much." Zero replied. This reply was met with the Arcadian commander's fist pointing straight towards Zero's forehead. Before Zero was able to even take in what had happened, the hand in front of his face pulled back, revealing a menacing cannon inside.
"You dare give me an order?" X snarled, "I tolerate insurrection from none, including you. You will never ever give me so much as a suggestion without my permission. Understood?"
"Master X, with all due respect, sir, please, allow me to take this one out. I haven't gotten to perform an execution for weeks! I'm just itchin' to kill sumthin'." Yelled an excited teenage voice near the edge of the podium-like stand that was raised on the far end of the room from where Zero had entered.
"That will not be necessary, because Zero here has learned his lesson, and will not be so insubordinate next time, now will he?" Replied X, lowering his cannon. "Now what are you doing here, Fefnir?"
"I came to report that the squadron of resistance members we found in the forest has managed to regroup and take out three battalions and a team of golems."
X's cannon was out in a flash, and within seconds, nearly fifty flashes of light had flown from the end of his arm, and left a two meter wide, smoking black hole in the wall just behind Fefnir. His eyes were glowing a dangerous red, and a look of rage that exceeded all comprehension crossed his face. "GET TEN SQUADS, TWO FULL GOLEM TRANSPORTS, AND ONE OF YOUR OWN SORRY ASSES IN THAT FOREST NOW! I WANT THOSE RESISTANCE MEMBERS ALIVE FOR QUESTIONING!" He roared to the burly red reploid named Fefnir beside him.
"Come with me, you don't want to hang around the master in one of his moods." Fefnir whispered to Zero, pulling him along off of the platform.
"And SOMEONE Clean up this mess in the wall!" X continued to fume.
"So you're new here?" Fefnir asked after making sure they were out of X's earshot. He wore a thick red and white tech suit that made him look far larger than he really was. A red visor covered his eyes, and apparently displayed combat information. His left arm bore a monstrous cannon that resembled a red and white wolf's head, and reached almost to the ground when he stood straight.
"And if I am?" Zero replied calmly.
"Whoa, whoa, no need to get defensive or anything. I was asking a simple question." Laughed Fefnir. "It's no problem being new, but you look nothing like any of the other soldiers, in fact, you look like a really old model. What year(5) are you?"
"Actually, I have no idea."
"How can you not know even your own model year? What happened to your motherboard?" Fefnir asked incredulously.
"All I know is I was suddenly aware of my existence, X took me here, and nothing else"
"Creepy. Well, if you feel the need to talk to me, ask any soldier with a red emblem on their shoulder." He said, as he turned and walked through a door that opened on it's own for him with a sharp hiss, and closed automatically behind him with a similar noise.
Zero was about to continue along the corridor before he realized that he had no idea where he was going. Zero was about to enter the door, when he was again stopped by a sign saying "authorized personnel only" Zero swore, and began to contemplate whether entering to find directions was worth whatever punishment he could receive. Just when Zero had decided it wasn't worth it, and he'd find his way on his own, the door hissed open again, and what was obviously a raw recruit stood in the doorway.
"Sir! Master Fefnir apologizes for his lack of courtesy, and would like for me to show you to the troop quarters, Sir!" He barked with a salute and a clap of his feet.
"At ease soldier, I'm no more superior to you than you are to Fefnir. At least, I don't think so." Zero replied, caught off-guard by the strict honorable bestowed him.
"Y-yessir." Replied the young man, apparently also caught off-guard by Zero's lack of formality. "A-allow me to show you to your quarters."
Zero followed the young man down a maze of blue corridors, passing innumerable branches along the way. They talked the whole way too. Zero learned that the name of his escort was Michael, and that he was a drafted human recruit, he also learned most of his life story, many quirky little facts, and that Michael was a very enthusiastic and animated person; it only took about a minute to reach the barracks. "These are the 1233rd infantry barracks, which is the newest regiment. This is where Fefnir told me you would probably be staying." He said, "If you ever want me to help you, I'm in the 1185th unit, so just ask Fefnir where to find us!"
"Goodbye, Michael." Zero said, somewhat glad to be rid of the talkative boy, as he turned in to the door, which hissed closed behind him. Zero was greeted by a loud noise from a rambunctious group of men mostly clad in their underwear. His reception was immediate silence as the soldiers stood stock still and eyed the stranger warily. Zero walked through the aisle of bunks in the long room, looking for anyone who might be in charge.
"Who are you?" called a tall, angry-looking man in a very contemptuous voice as he stepped out of the crowd of soldiers.
"Why is that of importance to you?" Zero replied, still advancing towards the man.
"Because I'm in charge here, and if you don't want to be reported, I suggest you explain yourself to those in superior positions to yours." Said the man, pulling a pistol out of one of the uniforms hanging over a bedpost, himself being in only an undershirt and blue jeans.
"You don't have the balls to shoot me." Zero said, still advancing, instinctively knowing he couldn't allow his adversary to get an edge up in the conversation.
"You sure you wanna test that?" the officer said, his finger closing more tightly around the trigger.
"And if I am?" The pistol let out a resounding WHOOM as it loosed a long, thin golden stream of energy that flew over Zero's shoulder. "Like I said, you don't have the balls!" He emphasized his last word with leap that sent his red-capped knee flying into the man's stomach. Zero's opponent was knocked two meters back into the steel wall with an echoing thud.
"You're a dead man now." Said the victim of Zero's assault as he stood from his position slumped on the floor, a drop of lubricant fluid leaking from the corner of his mouth,
"So you're a reploid, I suppose you literally have no balls." Zero replied arrogantly while his opponent stood, bringing a chuckle out of the human soldiers in the group around him.
"Shut up!" The man yelled as he lunged for Zero, forgetting the pistol that had fallen to the ground beside him, using his fists in a mad attempt to cause Zero all of the harm he could. Zero barely sidestepped the attack, and watched the man's fist collide with a white-gloved hand that immediately gripped it tightly, twisted it around, and threw the man to the ground.
"What is the meaning of this?" yelled the tall, slim reploid that owned the fist that took down Zero's opponent in mere moments. Thin, slit-like eyes looked at the man with contempt from under a highly ornamental green helmet. "You know Master X's rules about fighting in the barracks, officer Ferguson. I expect you to be the one to uphold them."
"I apologize Master Harpuia, I was provoked." Replied Ferguson as he stoos to brush himself off and address this 'Harpuia'.
"By whom?" Replied what Zero assumed to be another of X's guardians.
"Him." Replied Ferguson, pointing a finger at Zero.
"How did this happen?" asked Harpuia, continuing in his refined, very clean-sounding tone.
"I apologize, sir, I knew not the rules of these barracks, and will not repeat the offense." Zero replied in an instinctive military tone.
"You must be Zero." Harpuia spoke with a refined British accent, and in a very dignified manner, "I have heard of your presence here, and I must say, I am indeed honored to have such a legendary ally." He bowed very slightly, and brought himself back to meet Zero's gaze. "And I apologize for Ferguson over there, he most likely did not know to whom he spoke. And now, I would like to properly show you to your quarters; Master X sent me to fetch you after the cameras detected unusual behavior in these barracks."
"With all due respect sir, but Fefnir sent me here, saying these were my quarters." Zero replied, not quite fully understanding.
"One of the first things you must learn here: Fefnir is an Idiot. And besides, only hellspawn can live in a hellhole like his barracks, and even they have a hard time of it." The green-clad reploid both snorted in contempt and laughed at his own remark, Which brought many a dark glare from the soldiers around him. "Follow me, and I'll show you where you were meant to be quartered." He turned around, and headed out of the door.
Again Zero found himself heading through the alternatingly deeply shadowed and overly brightened corridors, someone leading him to another room. For the first time, Zero found himself having to look up to the person leading him, seeing as Harpuia was the first reploid to be seen by Zero that was taller than him. Zero noticed that they walked by the command room, and saw inside a different sight: first that a pair of extremely large doors had opened up on the opposite side, and a large, golden, and very boxy, tank-like vehicle was rolling onto the middle of the floor, which he noticed was now quite well lit. Lined up along the edges and around the small square rim just above the tracks was a horde of Pantheons, of which Zero had only glimpsed in the halls. Now they were out in full force, and Zero saw their true, cold terror. Many teams of Pantheons had gathered around, each standing lifeless and dead, awaiting further orders. Zero only glimpsed this sight momentarily, as he had to follow Harpuia, who had just turned into another corridor. This hall was highly garnished and far more refined than the others; it was crafted of polished white marble, with extremely ornate, nearly to the point of gaudy, trimmings. What few doors there were were old fashioned, and formed of rich mahogany or maple wood, with brilliant gold handles.
"Here we are." Harpuia said, stopping abruptly, and turning towards a door that looked much the same as the others. He opened the door for Zero, and bowed very stiffly as Zero walked past him into the room. "Please, enjoy the accommodations, and feel free to ask for anything you want." He closed the door behind himself as he left and headed further down the corridor.
Zero sat on the soft, luxurious bed, and closed his eyes, watching an internal display appear, showing all of his vitals and statistics. He watched the internal clock, displaying the time of day, and saw that it was actually quite late at night. He gave an internal command to change the display of the clock, and watched it tell him that he had only been awake nearly five hours. Despite this, and the fact that his energy displays were rather near full, something outside of his system, something he could not explain, and felt quite familiar to his feelings around Leviathan, told him he was exhausted. He reached up, grabbed his helmet as it released at his command, and dropped it to the ground. His breast plate and leg-pieces did the same, as well as his left arm, but the most he could do with his right arm was take his glove off.
"Idiots." Zero said to himself as he gave another order to his body, this time releasing his body from the confines of the tight undertech(6) around him. It fell to the floor as he slipped into the bed, and almost immediately fell asleep.
1 A Reploid is an android with their own abilities to think and make decisions. They were introduced after Megaman X was found by Dr. Cain, and replicated to create others. Since this, Reploids have become an invaluable part of modern society, becoming criminals, soldiers, and even political leaders.
2 2 The Elf Wars began after the Cyber-elves were created. The Cyber-Elves were designed to help humans and reploids alike, but they were fought over often, and eventually, wars broke out over them, and devastated the earth. More reploids than humans survived these battles, but the humans, who had more fragile bodies, were almost wiped out, leaving only a few million humans alive on the earth. Aftermath of the Elf Wars is evident all throughout the earth.
3 3 In this case, Cots refers to a pod-like structure in which reploids rest and recharge after sustaining injury.
4 4 An electric anesthetic is a depleted EMP (electromagnetic pulse). It shuts down all electronic energy going on within a certain vicinity, but, unlike an EMP, it does not wipe activated electronics.
5 5 Reploids, while not having models in the same way cars do, have certain features that define the time period they were built in, which can also define age. 22XX (current year) models are typically very practical, lacking in flare, and contain a thematic color; blues, reds, etc. These are due to lowered costs from the war. This is opposite to previous century 21XX style with impractically bright colors and many ornamental attachments, in almost a celebration of the end of the original elf wars.
6 6 An undertech is the thin, form-fitting suit that fits under the regular tech suit, and serves as a bridge between the tech suit and the reploid. Using microscopic conduits, it send information to and from the tech suit, enabling the thought commands available to most reploids