Wow... it's been like... forever XD Don't shoot me! Life got all hectic and stuff and I thought I lost these files!
... And now, to update this thing for the first time in over a year...
Ch. 4 - Time to take some chances.
Slowly, still kneeling, I turned to find someone holding a charged plasma rifle to my head. "Hi?" Please don't shoot me, please don't shoot me, please don't shoot me...
"... stand up..." Okay, listen to the evil gun-wielding Maverick.. I think that's what he was, anyways... I stood up and fully faced him, arms some-what in the air. His silver armor glinted in the sun, which was beginning to set... "What's your name, Hunter?"
"Maverick."
"I think I know what I am... now what's your name?"
"No… My name is Maverick, what's yours?"
"Ruxad...interesting, a Maverick Hunter named Maverick..."
"Actually... I'm just a mercenary... and the Hunters seemed to have labeled me as being a Maverick, which is fine... except for the hunt-down-and-capture part of the whole deal..."
"Why do they simply want to capture you?" Oh man, think fast... think really fast...
"Cause I'm a... prototype! I can't be detected by scans, and have a wide variety of abilities!" Yeah, that would work! "They want to try to erase the virus from my systems and see if any of my programming can be useful, but..." He chuckled, though the cold smirk was still in his eyes as he lowered the weapon. Giving a sigh, I plopped down onto the ground, staring up at him. "So whatcha doin out in da middle of No-wheres-vil, hm?"
"..." He stared down at me, and I blinked.
"Whatsa matter? Like I've got anyone to snitch to." Shrugging, I closed my eyes. I heard him sit down as well.
"You seem different from other Reploids..."
"Told ya, I'm a prototype. Dunno what I'm supposed ta be able ta do, but fightin, travelin, and gettin the job done are my specialties."
"Your entire demeanor, and attitude, as well as speech patterns... you're almost human."
"Human?! Tch, waste of space, they are. Most are idiots or ass-holes that don't appreciate you for who you are. Even if we are machines, they created us with AI for a reason. They seem to think we're simply tools to be used to do what they want us to do, then they can throw us out like an old part. They don't seem to understand that we have feelings too, even if they are just strands of data..." Wow, insightful... whatever. Just keep talking. "The Mavericks, I think, are the robotic counterpart of the human race. They represent what the humans are going to end up acting like, what they're going to do. Mavericks are a warning; humans have to stop being such morons to see it. This world is going to get destroyed. If not by Mavericks, by humans, and there is nothing we can do about it except do what we do best and move on."
"You know what? You're right. I don't believe anyone saw it that way before; it took a prototype to point it out. Did you tell the Hunters?"
"No... as soon as they noted a virus in my systems, I ran. I'm not some fucking science experiment." There was a pause; I had said that straight from my heart... or whatever we Navis had in place of one...
Mav…? Are you okay…? Sai... she had been listening, and I felt a pang of guilt. She was human, and I had just ranted about how stupid they were... Mav-! Sai suddenly cut off, a panic began to stir within me.
Sai..?
No response...
Sai? Sai?! Sai!!
"Are you alright?" Ruxad asked me; I had apparently gone pale when Sai didn't answer...
"Yeah... no... Oh no... Ruxad, do you know where a teleporter is?!"
"Yeah, there's one in town, used for transporting supplies, why?"
"I need one... badly..."
"Then I'll show you where it is." He wasn't really a Maverick; he was helping me, wasn't he? Apparently, the whole 'piss-me-off-and-I'll-kill-you' thing was just a defense... We got up and ran to the nearest town, while he explained to me where it was. In a shop of sorts, usually guarded by and monitored by several humans.
"I need to set it to follow a particular data stream; is it possible?"
"Theoretically, yes. But I don't think they'd let you..."
"Oh, they'll let me... I can be rather... persuasive..." Once in town, we slowed our pace to a brisk walk. I noted the area's layout as he showed me to the building. Letting ourselves in, I found several humans just lounging around. Not dealing with them, I headed straight towards the main console next to the teleporting pad. I had seen Hunters using them in my brief game of cops-and-robbers throughout their base.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" One human cried, startling the others as they got up.
"Sorry, but I must use this teleporter; it's, as you might say, for science... and it could be a life saver..." I said, one of my internal programs analyzing the code on screen. My fingers flew over the keyboard as I backed it up and edited it heavily.
"You can't..!"
"Do not try to stop me; more than one life depends on this, and if I don't get this done, I will get very, very, very upset... Do I make myself clear?" My tone had an edge to it, Ruxad stared at me in surprise, my face like stone. At the moment, I seemed more like a Maverick than he was... They always said I should have been a military program... The humans, surprisingly, backed off as I worked for a minute. "Ruxad, do me a favor, and stay here in case I come back this way. Last time, I passed out for a few minutes..." Not waiting for his answer, I activated the teleporter and jumped in...
--SHWOMP--