The Next Age Chapter Two Part One
The alarm went off in the morning, waking Xavier from his sleep. Zero, however, managed to sleep through it without even flinching. Despite his temptation to wake him up, Xavier decided to let him rest. He was probably exhausted after last night. He'd tell Roll to save Zero some breakfast for when his friend finally did wake up.
Since it was early and Xavier was up on time for once, everyone was present at breakfast, even Rhythm who met Xavier in the doorway.
"Morning Xavier! Have you seen Zero?" She asked immediately.
"Yeah, he's in my room sleeping." He answered.
"Thank the Goddess, I was so worried!" Rhythm exclaimed.
"Yeah…he's pretty beat. Hey, did anything happen to him in Konranken?"
"No, not that I know of…." Rhythm replied a bit nervously.
"Okay.." Xavier said with a sigh and headed to the table, something told him she wasn't exactly telling the truth.
Xavier took his seat, noticing that Zor hadn't taken off for the lab yet.
"Morning brother." He said with a smile. "How did that trip go yesterday?"
"Hmmn?" Zor spoke, looking up at Xavier. "Trip?"
"The one you wouldn't let me go on."
"It was delayed, there was a storm in the area." Zor answered quietly, seeming a bit miffed.
"When is it rescheduled for?" Xavier asked, helping himself to breakfast.
"That's confidential, I'm sorry." Zor answered coldly.
Xavier sighed, he really wanted to go on that trip, but he knew better than to argue with Zor in front of his parents. Zor finished his breakfast quickly after that and excused himself to go to the lab.
"You forgot practice yesterday, Xavier." Rock spoke after Zor had left.
"I'm sorry…I was out looking for Zero and I guess I kinda skipped it. I'll practice twice as long today to make up for it." Xavier replied.
Rock nodded in agreement.
"Oh, mom? Zero was too tired to get up, he had a rough night. Could you save some food for him?" Xavier asked.
"Yes of course dear." Roll said with a bright smile.
At Xavier's words, Rock glanced over at Rhythm. He knew she had taken Zero to Konranken and he had a pretty good idea what had happened to Zero there as well. The thought made him sick but now was not the time to say anything, not in front of Xavier or the others and so he stayed silent.
After the usual chitchat, Xavier left to get to the lab early. He was in no mood to be a janitor today. Yoru was actually impressed with Xavier but, of course, Kari had gotten there earlier. The assignment wasn't that bad though. Xavier could live with being "floating assistant" for the day. It was better than mopping floors!
His first few calls of the day were normal, just the usual helping run files back and forth and aiding other techs. His fifth call brought him close to Zor's office to help file some papers while the secretary went off to attend to a personal emergency. Most of them were patient and experiment files but one caught his eye at the bottom of the pile. It was a file on the incident sixteen years ago. Xavier held it in his hands, knowing that he shouldn't read it but he was curious and that curiosity is what made him open the confidential file and begin reading:
July 5th, 2084
"Today my father, Forte and Blues accompanied me to Wily's fortress several miles outside of Haven after CentaurMan informed Rock that a passage had been found in the basement by two children.
We arrived at 2:40:16 PM, Forte guided us to the site from memory. It was a simple dirt tunnel cut into the earth leading to several separate rooms. Only one wasn't empty.
It was remarkable, there were implements of technology there that could not have belonged to Dr. Wily. I estimated their age at about two hundred years if not more judging by the decay. I didn't get the chance to collect a sample of the metal however so I'm not sure exactly what type it was. Most of it was rusted severely, far too much to have been new in Wily's time. It's possible that the tools could have been from an earlier era or could have unnaturally decayed for some unexplainable reason. This was not the greatest of my discoveries in the passage however.
Off in the back of the room, I found the remains of a mechanical creation. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I determined that it wasn't of any known design or technology by examining it and taking scans. It was also completely unmarked. Most remarkable was that although the body showed heavy damage, the metal hadn't decayed. I was unable to determine type of metal it was constructed of, it was not Lightanium. On page 6, I will detail the design of the robot and the damage I observed.
I also discovered two capsules. One bore Dr. Wily's mark and contained the deactivated body of Rhythm Wily. Blues removed her from the capsule and left for parts unknown as soon as he saw her. The other was much larger and was inscribed with ancient writings. This lead me to ask myself if perhaps this technology and the creation were leftovers from the ancient age sealed away and forgotten. It seems very unlikely that-"
"Xavier?"
The voice broke his concentration completely. He looked around nervously a few times, afraid he had been caught before he realized it was coming from the call unit hooked to his belt.
"Xavier here, what is it?" He spoke into it as he picked it up.
"This is Tori on floor two, we need someone, are you available?"
"Um..yeah..just let me finish filing here and I'll be there in five."
"Alright. Tori out."
Xavier grumbled as he closed the file. He had just gotten to the good part! With a sigh, he put the file in it's proper place and went off to the second floor. The report was on his mind all day though. The ancients, the ancient age, a time when Robots had lived with humans in a utopian city called Arasa. The name itself meant utopian paradise in the ancient tongue. It was a legendary time when there was world peace but something had happened, a great cataclysm befell Meika and all technology was lost. The city vanished and no one ever found any remnants of it or of the glorious age it existed in, only the stories remained, some of which placed the ancient city on Hakari Island. Those tales of what was called "the first age of Robotics" had always fascinated Xavier. Maybe all that stuff Zor had found was from that era, maybe it had been a survivor from that age that had attacked and killed the Enforcers in self-defense. Now he was dying to know, he had to get a hold of Zor and convince him.
It was almost the end of his shift by the time Xavier ran across his brother. Zor looked like he was in a bit of a rush but Xavier ran up to him anyway, eager to talk to him.
"Hi bro! Did you go to that site yet?" He asked anxiously.
Zor shook his head seeming disappointed.
"The ground is still too wet, I'll try again another time." He replied.
"Can I go?"
"Xavier……."
"I've got to go…look, I saw the report and I read where you thought that technology was from the ancient-"
"You read a confidential report?" Zor exclaimed, stopping in his tracks. "That's against policy! Xavier, I'm going to have to suspend you for this."
"It was an accident. I was filing things and someone left it out. It doesn't matter anyhow, I'll come with you to make up for it." Xavier explained.
"You don't understand, this is a very serious matter and it's not a place for-"
"Kids? Yeah I know but I'm not a kid anymore. I'm eighteen years old, I can handle it!"
Zor let out a sigh of frustration, shaking his head.
"No Xavier, I can't let you."
"But-"
"No more! This is twice you've violated policy and been party to confidential information. I'm sorry Xavier but I'm suspending you for a week. Get your things and go home."
"But Zor!"
"Xavier, I have never seen you act this irresponsibly and over something you aren't even suppose to know about in the first place! You're dismissed. By the time you're off suspension, this matter will all be taken care of and you won't have to worry about it any longer."
And with that, Zor walked off in a huff. Xavier stood in shock for a moment. He just couldn't believe what had happened, he had never had to be disciplined before. Quietly he went to his locker and gathered up his belongings. Why was Zor uptight about this particular assignment? Xavier could understand him not wanting the public to know about the Enforcers and such but Xavier was family! He was so angry about the whole thing by the time he left that he didn't even bother to try to hit on Vyctori on his way out.
Zero's day began much later than Xavier's had. He woke up late in the morning, long after Xavier had left for his lab shift. He kinda wished he had gotten up before Xavier had left, he could've used a few words of encouragement. Rhythm was waiting for him and warmed up the food Roll had saved out. It was the same as every "morning after". Rhythm apologized endlessly for Blues using every excuse in the book., trying to somehow justify his actions. Zero had learned to shut it out long ago, he didn't want to hear it anymore. No use ruining two days after all. He just silently nodded, acting as if he understood when he really didn't. It made his mother happy…
After his "breakfast", he went off to Xavier's room to play some Video games for a while and kill some time, waiting until almost one o'clock to shut it off and head out into the hallway. Needless to say, he was surprised when he ran into Xavier on his way to the kitchen. Xavier didn't say a word, he stormed past Zero on his way to his room.
"Hey Xavier, what are you doing back? Did geek school let out early today?" Zero called to him but Xavier didn't reply.
Zero turned and followed his friend back down the hall. Xavier wasn't even acknowledging him.
"Who put the robo-bee in your helmet? Did Yoru give you clean-up duty again??" Zero asked.
Xavier marched straight to his room and went inside.
"Hey! Since I can't read minds yet it would be nice if you'd say something!"
The door slammed in Zero's face.
"Xavier!"
Zero opened the door a crack and stuck his head inside. Xavier tossed his backpack on the floor and flopped down on his bed. He looked very ticked off, the fumes were practically rising off him.
"Xavier..don't ignore me. That's everyone else's job, remember?" Zero said softly.
Xavier looked up, his face flushed with anger.
"Go away Zero! I don't feel like dealing with you right now!" He growled.
Zero glanced down to the floor, a bit hurt.
"Deal with me? I thought you were the only person who didn't think of me that way." He sighed.
Xavier's eyes narrowed at Zero.
"Look Zero, just get out! I want to be alone!" He hissed and turned away.
"I..I'm sorry.." Zero apologized. "I'll go…"
He shut the door quietly behind him as he left, lingering a few moments in the hall.
"Zero? Wait…I'm sorry, I've just had a bad day alright?" Xavier spoke as he turned back, realizing what he had said to his best friend.
The door opened again and Zero poked his head in hesitantly.
"C'mon in, it's okay."
"You sure?" Zero asked.
"Yeah…" Xavier replied.
Slowly Zero let himself in, closing the door behind him and sitting down on the edge of Xavier's bed.
"So..today kinda sucked, huh?" He asked.
Xavier nodded and sighed.
"Can I ask why?"
"Well….." Xavier began, taking a deep breath. "Remember when Rock and Zor found your mom sixteen years ago?"
Zero nodded slowly. He had heard the story several times from his mother. Blues had found her "sleeping" in a capsule in the depths of the earth and he had carried her off in his arms to awaken her with his love. He had no idea if it was true or not but she certainly believed it was.
"Something weird happened out there, I really shouldn't say what but Zor found some interesting things at Wily's fortress and now he's going back there after all this time. I want to go and he won't let me…even though I know the whole story. I accidentally overheard everything and I know that I'd be perfect for the assignment. I'd love to go out to Skull Castle and look around but when I asked Zor about it, he suspended me! So? What do you think?
Zero shrugged his shoulders.
"I'd forget it if I were you. Sounds like a lot of poking through weeds if you ask me." He replied.
"I didn't think you'd understand.." Xavier sighed. "but it's okay. It just makes me so mad that they can still treat me like this! Zor is always telling me how much potential I have then he does something like this to me. They are going to find something incredible out there, I can feel it, and it just burns me up! Yoru is only four years older than I am and Koji is only twenty! They've both already gotten the chance to prove themselves, this sucks! When is it gonna be my turn??"
Xavier slumped back down on his bed and sighed in frustration.
"This is unreal……."
"Is this really that important to you?" Zero asked.
"Yeah.."
"Well..why don't you just go there on your own then?" Zero suggested.
"Are you nuts!?" Xavier replied. "That would be against policy, I'd get in mucho trouble!"
"Aren't you in trouble anyhow?" Zero reminded him.
"Not really…I'll probably just get the 'we're disappointed in you, son' speech for this but if I purposely disobeyed Zor and ran off on my own…ugh..they'd kill me."
Zero shrugged his shoulders once more.
"In Konranken, they say that if you want to do something you should just go do it and think about the consequences later." He remarked.
"No offense Zero, but that's how your parents got in the situation they're in."
"Yeah but that's how I got here too."
"And that's a good thing?" Xavier teased.
Zero punched Xavier in the leg.
"Cut it out, will ya? This is what I get for trying to give advice!" Zero said, pouting.
"Well, maybe if you gave good advice……" Xavier said with a bit of a smirk.
"You are so asking for it!"
"C'mon Zero, I dare you." Xavier taunted.
Zero grinned at his friend and tackled him, engaging in a mock fight, "roughhousing" as Roll would call it. It helped Xavier relieve some of his frustration over what had happened in the lab though he did have to remember to be careful with Zero as he was much larger and stronger than the smaller, thinner Proto-bot. They wrestled and played for what seemed like forever until both collapsed, laughing. That's when Xavier noticed the time and quickly leapt to his feet. It was time for practice!
"Damn! Zero, I've gotta go. I'll be back in a few hours, don't get into any trouble, alright?" Xavier said, hurriedly straightening himself up.
Zero looked up at him giggling and stuck out his tongue.
"I'll deal with you later." Xavier said with a grin and headed off for his lesson with Rock..
RockMan, Zero, Blues, Rock, Roll and Forte are copyright Capcom of Japan, not Capcom of America so too bad =P
Xavier, Hakari Island, Haven, Rhythm and others are copyright Roll-Chan Productions.
I make absolutely no profit off this book except for that million dollars Dr. Evil gave me for his cameo.
Only 525 more pages to go!
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