Ch. 12
Moving on
As Alia fainted, X reached out his arms and caught her, still grinning from ear to ear. "Well, that went better than I expected." Zero glared at his friend as he shifted back out of his armor.
"You mean you expected that type of reaction, or worse? What were you going to do if I hadn't been here? Or if Alia hadn't locked up? She's not completely helpless you know."
"She is where I'm concerned."
"Okay Mr. Ego, pardon me, but just what the hell makes you say that?" Zero asked, gesturing madly, obviously upset with the grinning X. His hair, now untied, shook and jumped along with Zero's gestures, making interesting pointers to go with his denunciations. It was too bad Crystal was the only one paying attention to such a detail.
"It's part of the routine tests we went through at MHHQ. And part of that test was to be confronted with someone you cared about, or a teammate if no one in HQ knew anyone you cared about enough. They set me up in front of Alia. She froze every time. She wouldn't dodge, wouldn't fire, couldn't do anything but stand there."
"And you?"
"...." X clamped his mouth shut, finally losing his grin.
"He's almost as bad," Signas stated from beside the two. "I'd say the only thing that made him dodge is battle experience. Not many people get shot or hit and like it a second or third time. His trigger gets about as bad as she does though. He won't fire for anything. You can even make the image shift in front of them and they still won't fire on it. As a matter of fact, only one person ever passed that test."
"And that was?" Zero asked, cocking his head to the side, wondering just who could pass such a test.
"You. And we didn't even have to actually do the test ourselves. That's why you don't remember it. You never 'officially' went through it."
"What??" Zero asked, stepping backwards.
"Don't tell me you don't remember Iris." Signas looked at Zero with confusion. " And for that matter, how is it that you're able to go without your armor all of a sudden?"
"Yes, I remember Iris, much as I might not want to at points. As to my armor, let X tell you, he can fill you in a little better than I can." Signas raised an eyebrow and looked over at X.
"He's not the original Zero."
"Oh...ok, he's- what???" Signas' jaw dropped. "What do you mean he's not the original Zero? I saw him standing there in his armor. No one else is good enough to impersonate Zero that well."
"Well, he's the original Zero too." X replied, wondering just who long this was going to take, and just why Zero had foisted it off on him. He remembered that he was holding Alia up and decided to set her on her back on the floor while he tried to explain to Signas, sitting indian style so he'd be nearby when she woke back up. "I'm not sure how well you're going to believe me about this Signas, but the best Maverick Hunter on the planet was at one point human. Or at least this incarnation of him was."
"I beg your pardon?" Signas grabbed a chair offered to him by Zenton, who happened to be wearing his armor for once. "Thank you....now wait a minute, just who the hell are you?" Signas burst out, obviously jumpy.
"The name's Zenton. I'm a friend of Seero's...well, I guess he's Zero now, but not like most people will ever know the difference." Zenton smiled, trying to keep his amusement to himself, though not succeeding by much..
"Okay then....anyone else in here that I didn't know about thirty seconds ago?" Signas queried while seating himself. Toronto stepped out of the shadows behind X, while Dr. Light finally allowed his face to be seen on the main screen again. "I guess I'll take that as a yes. I'm assuming you know all of these people X?"
"You'd be right on that."
"Good...I don't think my nervous system is up for any more shocks." Signas said, smiling weakly.
"In that case, maybe I should wait before I try to explain anything else." X said, pulling Alia's head onto his lap.
"Heh...you've always cared very much for her, haven't you?" Signas asked, watching as X moved Alia around gently to a more comfortable position.
"Yes, I made my mind up on that matter shortly before I went Maverick. Even after Sigma resurrected me, I constantly watched all the incoming channels for information on her."
"Sigma resurrected you?"
"Yes, I'm surprised you didn't already know of it. For a while I was what all the rebels feared. Not that it did the Mavericks any good. Even turned Maverick, I couldn't shoot directly at a human. All they had to do was be standing in a field, and they'd have been perfectly fine from me. Even the first time I went Maverick, when Zero fought me. I couldn't shoot directly at humans...we had a lot of skyscrapers still in one piece back then though."
"You mean, even when completely infected-"
"Yes, there's a reason I'm called humanity's defender by some. I can't shoot humans. It's not even remotely possible. Dr. Light programmed me entirely too well for that."
"Dr. Light? I've heard the name before." Signas looked down towards his feet.
"And now you're standing in the middle of my laboratory." Light spoke from his screen.
"I don't know you, but why would your name be familiar to me?" Signas asked, once more confused by the turn of events.
"Probably because you were one of Cain's second in commands. You probably overheard him talking to himself on frequent occasions. He did that quite often."
"Even so, what of it? I do recall hearing him mention your name, but other than that, I don't remember anything specifically linked to your name." Signas crossed his hand under his chin.
"You don't remember anything specific about me because Cain probably never mentioned anything specific about me. More than likely mumbled to himself about something I'd told him. As things stand though, you could probably look at me as the father of the Reploid race. "
"And why would that be, if I may ask?"
"Because, you're all based off of X." Light stated somewhat proudly.
"This I knew. What does that have to do with anything?"
"I'm the one who created X."
"Oh....well, that's certainly different then."
Alarms went off in the corners once more.
"Damnit, what the hell's going on now?" Zenton yelled.
"Give me a moment to assess the situation Zenton, and then I'll let you know." Light said as his face disappeared from the monitor to allow maps and schematics to show up.
"Doc, please tell me that's not where I think it is." X stated, agitation apparent in his voice.
"Afraid so X. Old New York City. One of the largest centers of the human population at the moment."
"Just a matter of curiosity Dr. Light." Signas stated. "But how are you able to determine exactly what the mavericks are doing? I know that you can't seperate them from normal Reploids at the moment, since just about all of the non-Mavericks are standing in this room."
"It's not the Maverick signature that I look for. It's the energy signatures from their weapons. It's becoming increasingly harder to manage though. They've been using a lot more hand-to-hand tactics than they used to employ."
"Probably got bad for the interior of their headquarters. That'd be a lot of plasma burns to be trying to clean off of the walls." Zero stated. It was now X's turn to hang his head.
"I suppose I asked for that one with the bunny comment before, didn't I?"
"Well then. I've lost Vile, Bass, and the X-hunters all in one fight. Not to mention I've finally lost track of those two Maverick Hunters. This is definitely not one of my better months. Not to mention the humans have supposedly been attempting to fight back in the old metropolises. I should've known I'd have to have them abandoned. Oh well, not much I can do about that now." Sigma mumbled to himself in his headquarters. "I've accomplished my goal though. I finally rid the world of the humans, or at least we're in charge now. X and Zero are becoming a constant thorn in my side once again. But that's okay, I've got a little surprise lined up for them. Oh yes, do I ever..." Sigma's face split into a feral grin. "Now to rebuild all those fools. That way I can put them to use once more."
"Doc. Have you figured out what the problem is yet?" Zero asked, Crystal still clinging to him.
"Actually, it was the funniest thing. You won't need to go anywhere yet." Light reappeared on the corner of the screen, allowing them to see what his probes had recorded. Overdrive Ostrich was busy chasing Wire Sponge all over town.
"Those two managed to set off the alarm?"
"Well, since the whole things started with sponge boy there accidentally nailing the bird in the ass with one of his wires, yeah, weapon discharge, definitely set off the alarm." Light responded, chortling most of the way through it. Crystal was the first to recover.
"You mean we've been afraid of idiots like these for this long?" She reached up and shoved Zero's mouth shut for him.
"Precisely. Unfortunately, these two are also a couple of Sigma's lower ranks. There's a reason they've never ascended far in his little hierarchy. Those two are usually at each other's throat. That's part of the reason Sigma usually sent them to seperate areas I think. What possessed him to leave them both in Old New York is anyone's guess."
"Do we know where Sigma keeps his headquarters Doc?" Zenton asked.
"Unfortunately I've not been able to trace them back to their headquarters. It's virtually impossible to trace someone once they've teleported."
"Say what?" Zero asked. "Then how the hell did X follow me back here when I first went out?"
"Short-range teleport. That one was all you. I didn't have time to lock onto you. X's armor's usually give him the ability to track short- range signals, which is part of the reason I told you to get out of there that first time. I knew he could track you, and that would bring him back in here."
"Ok, then, if you say so. But then how did Sigma get here?"
"Simple, went to the last place X was noticed being at."
"I hate you Doc." Zero stated monotonously.
"Bah, no you don't, you can't. No one can hate me. They just hate that I'm always right." Light had a huge grin plastered on his digital face.
"In any case, Doc, anything else you need us for?"
"Nah, but just a warning, I'm gonna move us around a bit tomorrow." Light said, still somewhat grinning.
"What do you mean, move us around a bit?" Toronto rumbled, interested enough to bother with speaking for once.
"I designed this base to be mobile. Most of the hillside above us has just grown there over time. I'm going to use some sonic waves to get rid of most of it so I can move this place around again. I'm sending Zero and X out to wipe out some of Sigma's sensor arrays. Then we'll be able to move out."
"Ok, takes care of my question." Zero said, heading out the main door with Crystal.
"Hey, Doc, you sure me and Tor couldn't possibly take care of a few of those arrays while we're at it?" Zenton asked.
"Actually, that was next on my agenda, Zenton." Light said, bringing up some maps. "These are some potential locations I've pinpointed. I was hoping you and Toronto would be so kind as to scout them out for me."
"I'm sure we wouldn't mind, right Tor?" Zenton replied quickly, looking at Toronto for confirmation. Tor just nodded his head.
"I'll be honest with you, getting us removed from this area is going to be a little trickier than I'm making it sound."
"You're going to need all of us to cause enough of a disturbance for you to move this place without Sigma noticing, aren't you?" X asked from the floor where he'd once again propped Alia on his lap.
"You're very perceptive X. Then again, I should know, I did program you." Light stated
"You might have originally programmed me Doc, but my programming's changed quite a bit over the hundred years or so I've been active."
"This is true, but then again, I wouldn't have programmed your emotions very well if they couldn't rewrite themselves as needed for the situation."
"If you don't mind me asking Dr. Light, I realize you must've brought Alia and myself here for a reason," Signas interrupted. "But I will be honest, Alia's best function is where she was, in communications and other related areas. She's not a war machine like the others and myself."
"As I recall Signas, you weren't much of a war machine yourself to begin with. I'd say most of your skills were gained after Zero and X were destroyed. It's for that reason that I'd like to install you with a few weapons training programs, or at least have you do some training with Zero. Either way would be fine, although the programs will take a while to kick in, so perhaps we could do both. I'd like to have you back in your command position, but I'm afraid I'm going to need you to battle quite a bit more than you're used to. I'm woefully short on bodies right now."
Signas stood and shot his arm out to the side, causing his saber to once more fly out to his hand and ignite. He brought the blade up in front of his face. "I'll be honored to so, sir."
Moving on
As Alia fainted, X reached out his arms and caught her, still grinning from ear to ear. "Well, that went better than I expected." Zero glared at his friend as he shifted back out of his armor.
"You mean you expected that type of reaction, or worse? What were you going to do if I hadn't been here? Or if Alia hadn't locked up? She's not completely helpless you know."
"She is where I'm concerned."
"Okay Mr. Ego, pardon me, but just what the hell makes you say that?" Zero asked, gesturing madly, obviously upset with the grinning X. His hair, now untied, shook and jumped along with Zero's gestures, making interesting pointers to go with his denunciations. It was too bad Crystal was the only one paying attention to such a detail.
"It's part of the routine tests we went through at MHHQ. And part of that test was to be confronted with someone you cared about, or a teammate if no one in HQ knew anyone you cared about enough. They set me up in front of Alia. She froze every time. She wouldn't dodge, wouldn't fire, couldn't do anything but stand there."
"And you?"
"...." X clamped his mouth shut, finally losing his grin.
"He's almost as bad," Signas stated from beside the two. "I'd say the only thing that made him dodge is battle experience. Not many people get shot or hit and like it a second or third time. His trigger gets about as bad as she does though. He won't fire for anything. You can even make the image shift in front of them and they still won't fire on it. As a matter of fact, only one person ever passed that test."
"And that was?" Zero asked, cocking his head to the side, wondering just who could pass such a test.
"You. And we didn't even have to actually do the test ourselves. That's why you don't remember it. You never 'officially' went through it."
"What??" Zero asked, stepping backwards.
"Don't tell me you don't remember Iris." Signas looked at Zero with confusion. " And for that matter, how is it that you're able to go without your armor all of a sudden?"
"Yes, I remember Iris, much as I might not want to at points. As to my armor, let X tell you, he can fill you in a little better than I can." Signas raised an eyebrow and looked over at X.
"He's not the original Zero."
"Oh...ok, he's- what???" Signas' jaw dropped. "What do you mean he's not the original Zero? I saw him standing there in his armor. No one else is good enough to impersonate Zero that well."
"Well, he's the original Zero too." X replied, wondering just who long this was going to take, and just why Zero had foisted it off on him. He remembered that he was holding Alia up and decided to set her on her back on the floor while he tried to explain to Signas, sitting indian style so he'd be nearby when she woke back up. "I'm not sure how well you're going to believe me about this Signas, but the best Maverick Hunter on the planet was at one point human. Or at least this incarnation of him was."
"I beg your pardon?" Signas grabbed a chair offered to him by Zenton, who happened to be wearing his armor for once. "Thank you....now wait a minute, just who the hell are you?" Signas burst out, obviously jumpy.
"The name's Zenton. I'm a friend of Seero's...well, I guess he's Zero now, but not like most people will ever know the difference." Zenton smiled, trying to keep his amusement to himself, though not succeeding by much..
"Okay then....anyone else in here that I didn't know about thirty seconds ago?" Signas queried while seating himself. Toronto stepped out of the shadows behind X, while Dr. Light finally allowed his face to be seen on the main screen again. "I guess I'll take that as a yes. I'm assuming you know all of these people X?"
"You'd be right on that."
"Good...I don't think my nervous system is up for any more shocks." Signas said, smiling weakly.
"In that case, maybe I should wait before I try to explain anything else." X said, pulling Alia's head onto his lap.
"Heh...you've always cared very much for her, haven't you?" Signas asked, watching as X moved Alia around gently to a more comfortable position.
"Yes, I made my mind up on that matter shortly before I went Maverick. Even after Sigma resurrected me, I constantly watched all the incoming channels for information on her."
"Sigma resurrected you?"
"Yes, I'm surprised you didn't already know of it. For a while I was what all the rebels feared. Not that it did the Mavericks any good. Even turned Maverick, I couldn't shoot directly at a human. All they had to do was be standing in a field, and they'd have been perfectly fine from me. Even the first time I went Maverick, when Zero fought me. I couldn't shoot directly at humans...we had a lot of skyscrapers still in one piece back then though."
"You mean, even when completely infected-"
"Yes, there's a reason I'm called humanity's defender by some. I can't shoot humans. It's not even remotely possible. Dr. Light programmed me entirely too well for that."
"Dr. Light? I've heard the name before." Signas looked down towards his feet.
"And now you're standing in the middle of my laboratory." Light spoke from his screen.
"I don't know you, but why would your name be familiar to me?" Signas asked, once more confused by the turn of events.
"Probably because you were one of Cain's second in commands. You probably overheard him talking to himself on frequent occasions. He did that quite often."
"Even so, what of it? I do recall hearing him mention your name, but other than that, I don't remember anything specifically linked to your name." Signas crossed his hand under his chin.
"You don't remember anything specific about me because Cain probably never mentioned anything specific about me. More than likely mumbled to himself about something I'd told him. As things stand though, you could probably look at me as the father of the Reploid race. "
"And why would that be, if I may ask?"
"Because, you're all based off of X." Light stated somewhat proudly.
"This I knew. What does that have to do with anything?"
"I'm the one who created X."
"Oh....well, that's certainly different then."
Alarms went off in the corners once more.
"Damnit, what the hell's going on now?" Zenton yelled.
"Give me a moment to assess the situation Zenton, and then I'll let you know." Light said as his face disappeared from the monitor to allow maps and schematics to show up.
"Doc, please tell me that's not where I think it is." X stated, agitation apparent in his voice.
"Afraid so X. Old New York City. One of the largest centers of the human population at the moment."
"Just a matter of curiosity Dr. Light." Signas stated. "But how are you able to determine exactly what the mavericks are doing? I know that you can't seperate them from normal Reploids at the moment, since just about all of the non-Mavericks are standing in this room."
"It's not the Maverick signature that I look for. It's the energy signatures from their weapons. It's becoming increasingly harder to manage though. They've been using a lot more hand-to-hand tactics than they used to employ."
"Probably got bad for the interior of their headquarters. That'd be a lot of plasma burns to be trying to clean off of the walls." Zero stated. It was now X's turn to hang his head.
"I suppose I asked for that one with the bunny comment before, didn't I?"
"Well then. I've lost Vile, Bass, and the X-hunters all in one fight. Not to mention I've finally lost track of those two Maverick Hunters. This is definitely not one of my better months. Not to mention the humans have supposedly been attempting to fight back in the old metropolises. I should've known I'd have to have them abandoned. Oh well, not much I can do about that now." Sigma mumbled to himself in his headquarters. "I've accomplished my goal though. I finally rid the world of the humans, or at least we're in charge now. X and Zero are becoming a constant thorn in my side once again. But that's okay, I've got a little surprise lined up for them. Oh yes, do I ever..." Sigma's face split into a feral grin. "Now to rebuild all those fools. That way I can put them to use once more."
"Doc. Have you figured out what the problem is yet?" Zero asked, Crystal still clinging to him.
"Actually, it was the funniest thing. You won't need to go anywhere yet." Light reappeared on the corner of the screen, allowing them to see what his probes had recorded. Overdrive Ostrich was busy chasing Wire Sponge all over town.
"Those two managed to set off the alarm?"
"Well, since the whole things started with sponge boy there accidentally nailing the bird in the ass with one of his wires, yeah, weapon discharge, definitely set off the alarm." Light responded, chortling most of the way through it. Crystal was the first to recover.
"You mean we've been afraid of idiots like these for this long?" She reached up and shoved Zero's mouth shut for him.
"Precisely. Unfortunately, these two are also a couple of Sigma's lower ranks. There's a reason they've never ascended far in his little hierarchy. Those two are usually at each other's throat. That's part of the reason Sigma usually sent them to seperate areas I think. What possessed him to leave them both in Old New York is anyone's guess."
"Do we know where Sigma keeps his headquarters Doc?" Zenton asked.
"Unfortunately I've not been able to trace them back to their headquarters. It's virtually impossible to trace someone once they've teleported."
"Say what?" Zero asked. "Then how the hell did X follow me back here when I first went out?"
"Short-range teleport. That one was all you. I didn't have time to lock onto you. X's armor's usually give him the ability to track short- range signals, which is part of the reason I told you to get out of there that first time. I knew he could track you, and that would bring him back in here."
"Ok, then, if you say so. But then how did Sigma get here?"
"Simple, went to the last place X was noticed being at."
"I hate you Doc." Zero stated monotonously.
"Bah, no you don't, you can't. No one can hate me. They just hate that I'm always right." Light had a huge grin plastered on his digital face.
"In any case, Doc, anything else you need us for?"
"Nah, but just a warning, I'm gonna move us around a bit tomorrow." Light said, still somewhat grinning.
"What do you mean, move us around a bit?" Toronto rumbled, interested enough to bother with speaking for once.
"I designed this base to be mobile. Most of the hillside above us has just grown there over time. I'm going to use some sonic waves to get rid of most of it so I can move this place around again. I'm sending Zero and X out to wipe out some of Sigma's sensor arrays. Then we'll be able to move out."
"Ok, takes care of my question." Zero said, heading out the main door with Crystal.
"Hey, Doc, you sure me and Tor couldn't possibly take care of a few of those arrays while we're at it?" Zenton asked.
"Actually, that was next on my agenda, Zenton." Light said, bringing up some maps. "These are some potential locations I've pinpointed. I was hoping you and Toronto would be so kind as to scout them out for me."
"I'm sure we wouldn't mind, right Tor?" Zenton replied quickly, looking at Toronto for confirmation. Tor just nodded his head.
"I'll be honest with you, getting us removed from this area is going to be a little trickier than I'm making it sound."
"You're going to need all of us to cause enough of a disturbance for you to move this place without Sigma noticing, aren't you?" X asked from the floor where he'd once again propped Alia on his lap.
"You're very perceptive X. Then again, I should know, I did program you." Light stated
"You might have originally programmed me Doc, but my programming's changed quite a bit over the hundred years or so I've been active."
"This is true, but then again, I wouldn't have programmed your emotions very well if they couldn't rewrite themselves as needed for the situation."
"If you don't mind me asking Dr. Light, I realize you must've brought Alia and myself here for a reason," Signas interrupted. "But I will be honest, Alia's best function is where she was, in communications and other related areas. She's not a war machine like the others and myself."
"As I recall Signas, you weren't much of a war machine yourself to begin with. I'd say most of your skills were gained after Zero and X were destroyed. It's for that reason that I'd like to install you with a few weapons training programs, or at least have you do some training with Zero. Either way would be fine, although the programs will take a while to kick in, so perhaps we could do both. I'd like to have you back in your command position, but I'm afraid I'm going to need you to battle quite a bit more than you're used to. I'm woefully short on bodies right now."
Signas stood and shot his arm out to the side, causing his saber to once more fly out to his hand and ignite. He brought the blade up in front of his face. "I'll be honored to so, sir."