Megaman X: Elysium Rising
Final Mission: Delete the Maverick Virus
Chapter 33: The Newborn
BGM: Van Halen – Top of the World
By Genoscythe
AN: Sorry Dragon man, a reploid can only be transferred, not copied. It was a good idea, though. Also, bonus points to Zero Asakura. Zero does still have the virus, so he can still interface with Elysium. Remember my hint about how the Master looks like Zero?
Stealth Claw sighed inwardly as Tempest broke into another maddened rant. Of the five mavericks that had made it aboard the life boat, he was the only one in the mood for talking. A better word would be shouting.
"Why the hell didn't they listen to me?" Tempest spat, referring to the mysterious green-haired people that had rescued Sigma from the downed airship. "They didn't even look at me!" His rants were met with silence. He looked fiercely between Stealth Claw, Tread Havoc, and the two virus-controlled soldiers.
"This was a mistake. I sign on with you defects and I nearly get killed!" His reptilian head whipped around to face Havoc. "Isn't there any way I can get out of here?" Havoc shook his head. "Great. I don't have any business on Fantasy Island in the first place. I'm supposed to be back in the real world killing people."
"There will be plenty of killing to come," Havoc said, the first words spoken by anyone besides Tempest.
"There'd better be!" Tempest said with a shrill laugh. "I'll kill all of you if I have to."
"Without any arms?" Stealth Claw put in, tired of hearing Tempest complain. With a look of contempt, the hybrid reploid lashed out with his knee at the nearest maverick soldier. A blade that had been previously hidden by his cloak imbedded itself in the reploid's chest, who gave no more than a shuddering final breath.
With two quick swipes, the generic reploid's arms were cleaved off at the elbows. "Now..." Tempest turned to Claw. "Help me put one of those on, unless you want me to use yours instead."
X sat waiting on the edge of Alia's former bed. Before he could even begin looking for Genoscythe, she had gotten a transmission from him instructing her how to use the aesthetic modifier. With no more than a discreet glance at X, she opened a door in the corner and stepped into a small room that seemed almost like a triangular photo booth from the outside.
Waiting for what felt like hours, X finally heard Alia's voice. It was her own again.
"X...?" She called, testing to make sure her voice sounded the same. "I need some clothes."
X looked about the room, and all he saw were rows of capsules containing unused bodies. "What's wrong? You didn't have any before."
"Well, I wasn't me before," Alia retorted, and some of the life in her seemed to have returned. "I don't suppose everything we packed was destroyed?"
"I can't imagine how anything could have survived."
"Then go find Genoscythe. He must know where to get some women's clothes."
"I'm sure..." X muttered. Aloud, he said, "Alright. Stay here."
The door opened a crack and Alia's hand appeared, motioning toward the door. "Then go! Shoo!"
X obliged, noting happily that her skin was now back to its original light hue. It seemed a bit darker than it used to, but X decided that it wouldn't be best to slight Alia's handiwork.
As the door slid open, X nearly ran into a man standing just outside the body storage room. After deftly stepping aside, the man looked X up and down with pale yellow eyes.
"Give this to the newborn," he said in a smooth voice, handing a tan dress to X.
"And you are...?" X queried, deciding it best to learn who his allies were.
"Purifier Lock," the Elysian replied. "You met my brother Trigger when you were on Terra?"
X thought it strange to refer to Earth as if they were no longer on it. "Yeah, unfortunately. You seem..."
"Different?" Lock cut him off. "We're a new generation of Purifiers, the first new androids made since we left the homeworld." The Purifier paced back and forth, his eyes alert and the muscles under his tunic taut. He wasn't the stiff, robotic creations X had seen thus far.
Lock turned to go, but X halted him. "How'd you know we needed clothes?"
The green-haired man paused a moment, as if deciding what to say. He finally settled on, "She's part of the collective now. We can feel her needs, and she can feel ours. Is it really so strange?"
X thought back to Genoscythe's earlier comment about ants in an anthill. "No...I guess not. Thanks." On cue, Lock resumed his trek down the corridor. X ducked through the portal again and slipped Alia's clothing under the doorway. Without a word, she changed and finally emerged from the small aesthetic modification room.
She was the same...and she was different. Her hair was blonde once again, shoulder length and lightly curled. Her body was thinner, her skin lighter. Even so, an unsettling quality hung over her, as if she were a slightly imperfect imitation of Alia. "Well? How do I look?" She asked, an underlying hint of desperation in her voice.
"You look...fine," he answered. "I told you everything would be back to normal."
Alia seemed to tense up. Her synthetic muscles tightened in a surprisingly realistic manner. "I'm not normal, X. This isn't a reploid's body. There's...something inside of me!"
X stepped forward in alarm. "What do you mean?"
She grabbed his hand and pressed it to her breast. Something beat rhythmically inside her, like a metronome.
"It's a heart," X deducted, astonished. She then guided his hand to her neck, where he felt a steady flow of liquid up and down the veins there. She pressed his hand deeper, and his fingers touched something cold, metallic.
"What am I?" She asked, her voice trembling. "I'm not human...I've figured that out by now. But I'm not a machine either."
A paradise where humans and reploids co-exist... The words flashed through X's mind like a firebrand. Could it be?
Megaman X shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "I need to find Genoscythe. I – " He stopped, seeing the expectant look in her eyes. "We'll ask him about your new body." She smiled, satisfied. However, she refused to relinquish her hold on his hand as he made his way out of the room.
Their journey stopped short as soon as they were in the hallway. "I hope you know your way around this place better than I do," X muttered, looking up and down the corridor.
Alia's eyes fluttered and her body grew limp; X was afraid she would faint. Instead, she straightened again and pointed down the hall. "Keep going, I'll tell you when to stop." As they walked, X realized that they had never straightened out their problems from before the flight to Elysium. Steeling himself, he decided that he would never get a better chance.
---
"Alia, I know I made a mistake," he said, breaking the silence.
"About what?" She asked innocently. X was shocked; how could she forget about it so quickly?
"About everything. About us."
"Oh. That."
"I didn't think you would get mad at me, that night at the docks."
"Because I've always just smiled my way through it in the past, right?"
X cringed. He had rejected some of her more subtle advances, but both of them had pretended that none of it had happened. "I didn't know what to do. I asked Zero for advice."
Despite everything, a smile crept onto her face. "So I was right."
"Yeah," he said, grinning along with her. "The card and the chocolates were his idea, but I went ahead with it. I wasn't thinking clearly."
"X, if everyone thought clearly all the time, we wouldn't be having this problem. I don't hold it against you. Not anymore."
Where'd all this wisdom come from? He pondered, staring into her crystalline eyes. "Well, after you threw away my sad little apology, Mystic started hitting on me. It was impulsive, but maybe I just wanted someone to bounce back on."
"Hindsight's always twenty/twenty, huh?" Alia said, and X's eyes narrowed. That didn't sound like something Alia would say. It sounded more like...
"Genoscythe?" X asked sternly.
"He's been adding some commentary," Alia replied, giggling. She paused, her eyes taking on a faraway look. "He says you're doing great," she said at length, looking back at X.
"Tell him to get out of your head."
"We can't," Alia spoke, accompanied with a sigh. "Part of the collective, remember? I can feel their needs, and they can feel mine."
"Lock too?"
She paused, then answered "Yes."
"Alright," X said, stopping. "Tell everyone to leave us alone. This is between the two of us, not Genoscythe, not Lock, or anyone else that's listening in."
"Yuna," Alia added with a grin.
"Who?"
"Nobody." Alia's eyes went blank for a moment, but they soon regained their focus. "They're gone. What were you saying?"
"I was saying that I screwed up, and I've been unfair to you since the day we met. I never tried to hurt you purposefully, and I'll do anything I can to make it up to you."
"And?" Alia asked, looking up at him expectantly.
"And I love you."
Her arms swung around his neck, and she pulled herself toward him. "I've been waiting a long time to hear those three words from you, Megaman X." He could feel her breath on his face, hot and moist. It was a completely new experience, being so close to a woman like this. She emitted a kind of warmth and comfort that only an organic body could provide, but she was backed by the fortitude of a machine. Once again, X was reminded of human and reploid elements co-existing. The perfect being. A true paradise.
X's thoughts melted at the touch of her lips, and he stowed away his ideas for a more convenient time.
Sigma's eyes flickered to life, and he immediately cast them about his new surroundings. The room was dark, nearly devoid of light. The walls themselves were made of a dark gray material, etched with millions of tiny lines reminiscent of a computer chip. All along the walls and ceiling, red orbs watched him intensely.
Somehow, the room gave off the feeling of being high in the air, and Sigma had no doubt that he was inside the tower he had glimpsed from their falling airship.
You belong to us now, A voice in the darkness said, its low rumble shaking the room itself. Sigma got to his feet.
"Are you with the Alphas?" He asked, looking about for the source of the voice.
A roar, almost like the sounding of a massive horn, reverberated off the walls. I am the Alpha. I am Eden. Finally able to pinpoint the location of the speaker, Sigma turned his head and amplified the light in the room. What he saw shocked and enraged him.
Against the far wall, surrounded by a coiling mass of wires and cables, something stirred. It was withered, a corpse. Even so, its eyes shone with an ethereal light. What was worse, it was human.
"What?" Sigma barked, unable to believe it. "You! You're a human!" He advanced slowly on the man, who was pinned to the wall under cables three meters thick.
Keep your distance, Sigma, the echoing voice cautioned. I am surrounded by a protective field, and it will make short work of you.
"Liar," Sigma spat. "You're not Eden. You can't be."
But I am. Is that not enough evidence for you?
"I'm not going to serve a human," he growled.
Stop dishonoring me. I am no more human than the androids who tend to the flock.
Sigma glared at the man. "I know human when I smell it."
Is it really so difficult to bow to an organic life-form?
"Yes!" He roared. "Like bowing to a child!"
Quit the bravado. You are terrified of me.
At this, Sigma let out a disbelieving laugh. "You're joking, right? I have nothing to fear from you. Nothing."
Eden let out what could be passed for a sigh. There are more important matters at hand. You have been given a purpose, and I expect you to carry it out.
"Bring me Juno. I might listen to him."
Doubtful, in your current condition, Eden spoke. You are still recovering from the loss of your lieutenants?
At this, Sigma started. "What'd you do to them?"
Absolutely nothing. We rescued you from the wreckage, and no more.
"Why not?" Sigma growled.
They are unnecessary. We only need you.
"But I need them! Why don't I have a say in this anymore?"
You are a pawn, as you always have been. You were our first attempt at purging the humans, less pragmatic but better for the environment. Now, you are the key to unlocking our salvation. I know you are up to this task, Sigma. I only require your strength, of which you have plenty.
Sigma grunted, sitting back and resting his massive arms on the ground. "Pretty words. That's the best a human can do..."
Marx and Nephtis had volunteered to sift through the wreckage of the plane, looking for any baggage left intact. Surprisingly enough, several bags of personal belongings and a crate of ammunition survived the crash due to the protection radius of Darius's hat. The metool strutted about through the rubble, as if knowing he had done a great deed.
Nephtis tossed him the last bag, and she gave him a shrug. "Of course..." She began.
"...my stuff didn't make it," Marx finished for her. "I figured as much."
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll manage," she said, stepping over the debris and brushing up beside him.
"And why not?" He put an arm around her waist. "I've got everything I need right..." he paused looking her up and down. Then, out of nowhere, he grabbed Darius by the hat and pulled him up to a visible height. "...here," he finished smugly, focusing now on Darius.
She slapped him playfully. "Keep it up and I might just forget about what happened on the plane."
His proverbial heart danced at the mere memory. "Anything but that," he chided. The two of them picked up as many bags as they could carry, but they stopped short as they turned around. An Elysian stood before them, having appeared seemingly from nowhere. His joints were oddly stiff, his eyes somewhat vacant.
"Who the hell are you?" Marx queried, dropping one of his bags and reaching for his assault rifle.
"I am Purifier Alpha," the dark-skinned man told them. "I was sent to help you two."
Marx raised an eyebrow. "Alpha of the Omegas? Damn, this is gonna get confusing." Alpha didn't seem to comprehend. "What's with all the Greek crap?"
"What makes you think the Greeks invented it?" Alpha asked, grabbing Marx's dropped bag without hesitation.
"You know, I could make a pretty bad pun about Greek right now..." Nephtis said slyly.
"Thanks for not making it."
End of Chapter 33
AN: Yay for erratic updates!