Megaman X: Elysium Rising
Final Mission: Delete the Maverick Virus
Chapter 34: First Move
By Genoscythe
The last thing Sigma expected to hear was the voice of Tread Havoc crackling through his comm. link.
"Commander? Where are you?"
Sigma turned a sour glance at Eden. "I'm with the old man."
"Guard your tongue against the Progenitor, Sigma. He is the last surviving member of the Creators."
Deciding that a change of subject was needed, Sigma asked "How did you survive the crash?"
"Stealth Claw guided us to the life boats. We've almost made it ashore."
Sigma smiled. Stealth Claw was quickly gaining his favor since his daring assault on Cain Laboratories. He told himself to personally congratulate the soldier if they ever met again. "I think I'm in the large tower. Come to me immediately."
"Affirmative."
Sigma was confident that Havoc could find his way, knowing that the reploid was inhabited by an Elysian's mind. However, this train of thought brought a new question with it. He turned back to Eden.
"Havoc told me he's part of Elysium. Why'd you leave him behind?"
Purifier Omikron is expendable. His body is inferior, and his functions are nonessential. We could not carry both of you, so you were the obvious choice.
"Why? What do you need me for?"
The familiar rumble, which Sigma decided was a laugh, echoed around the room. When Zero blessed you with the Maverick Virus, he also transferred his Elysium Interface program. We need you to replace the Master, the rogue element in our system.
"And...how would I do that?"
First, the original Master must be disposed of. He has blocked himself and his supporters from the rest of the collective, so we will need to locate him. After we have found and eliminated him, you will transfer your consciousness into his body. After that, you will surrender control to me.
Sigma's eyes narrowed; he didn't like surrendering, and he definitely didn't like being controlled. "And you'll do just as Juno promised?"
Yes. The Carbon Reinitialization Program will be activated, and the Earth will be purged.
"I've been thinking," Sigma said, although he was still having trouble being on equal ground with an organic life-form. "Why rebuild the humans at all? Won't we just keep repeating this process over and over again?"
The entire purpose of Earth is to breed humans. It would go against our mission.
"We should leave that sad little planet's wildlife alone. They were there before any of us."
That is not our concern. Remember, we are activating the Carbon Reinitialization Program because we are trying to save humanity, not destroy it.
"But...if you have so much power, why can't you just make a planet for them, one where they can't hurt anything but themselves?"
Do not think that humanity can survive without the Earth to support it. Without animals, where would they get food? Without trees, where would they find shelter? Life revolves in a circle, Sigma.
"Not for humanity," Sigma growled. "They give nothing...and they take everything."
Have faith. They will see the error of their ways one day.
"After how many die?"
None too many. The price will be worth the end result.
"So you say."
Eden fell silent, its deep rumble leaving traces of vibrations in the air. Finally, Sigma turned around. "I can't stand the sight of you anymore; I'm leaving."
And where will you go?
"Anywhere but here."
Pyre Mystic was just dozing off when the door slid open. She glanced toward it, expecting the tall silhouette of the green-haired man. Instead, the doorway was empty. Getting to her feet, Mystic lit a flame in her palm to illuminate the room with. It was empty, save for her two one-eyed bodyguards.
A cold tendril of doubt snaked its way through Mystic's mind. Who could it be? Why'd they run? For a split second, she saw a ripple in the air behind her mechanical captors. Unconsciously, she backed away from them. The machines – Reaverbots, the man had called them – looked on in oblivion.
Not knowing why, Mystic clenched her fist and extinguished the flame in her hand. She prayed that whatever had snuck into her room couldn't see in the dark. However, her faint hopes were dashed as a Reaverbot erupted in sparks and keeled over. Mystic screamed, and the shadow standing atop the Reaverbot leapt onto the second. With three quick stabs, the Reaverbot fell and she was alone against the invisible assailant.
Impossibly strong hands clenched her shoulders and forced her against the wall. "Tell me something before I kill you," A disembodied voice hissed. Mystic instantly recognized it.
"Endymion...?"
"Shut up, bitch. Where's the cat?"
Mystic gritted her teeth. Endymion knew about her, but Stealth Claw was the one he really wanted. Well, he wouldn't have him.
"How would I know?" Mystic replied bravely. At that, Endymion disengaged his cloaking field and melted into existence not a hairs breadth away from her. Up close, his scars seemed even more ferocious than before. Releasing one of her shoulders, he raised a hand before her face. She jumped in surprise as a blade snapped forth from his forearm, wavering dangerously close to her forehead.
"Where's the cat?" Endymion repeated.
"He's here," Mystic blurted, losing her nerve at the sight of the blade. "Right here."
"Where here?"
"I don't know! Honestly!" Before Endymion could respond, he was knocked aside by a flash of light. Mystic looked to the source, and found Megaman X advancing through the doorway with Alia at his heels. She was wearing an exotic tan dress and her gait was uncertain, but it was definitely the same reploid that had piloted the Ride Armor during the hunters' attack.
X grabbed the fallen Maverick Hunter by the neck and hoisted him into the air. "Endymion..." X growled, his voice a low rumble. "I want an explanation."
"You already got my explanation," Endymion spat back.
"What are you doing here?" X specified.
"I'm hunting the cat."
X's eyes narrowed. "How do you know he's here?"
"He follows Sigma. He must be here."
"And if you're wrong?"
"Then I'll start killing until I find him."
"That sounds an awful lot like maverick talk, Endy."
Endymion let out a choked laugh. "Maverick? Me? X, I'm trying to kill a maverick, not become one."
"Then explain what's happened to you."
Endymion laughed again, even more strained. "I'm just following orders. Doing what I was told. The doctors want me to kill mavericks, and that's what I'm doing."
"You're obsessing over one maverick. That can't be part of your programming."
"He got away," Endymion said, changing the subject. "They're not supposed to get away."
"If I set you down, will you disarm and come with me?"
"I won't put you above my mission, X."
"Do it, Endy."
"Kill me instead."
"Do it."
"Kill me!" With a look of disgust, X threw Endymion into the wall. The silver hunter collided with a bang, denting the wall and slumping to the floor. Behind him, X could hear Alia's faint sobbing. "I'm a slave to my mission, X..." Endymion murmured, crumpled against the wall. "You should have killed me. It would have been easier on all of us."
Without another word, X turned around and, motioning for Mystic to follow him, strode out of the room and had Alia lock the door behind them.
"Tell them not to open that door until I say so," X said, looking to Alia. Her eyes unfocused, and a moment later she returned.
"You can't tell us what doors we can open," she said, speaking for whomever had responded first. X had gotten used to using Alia as a medium for his conversations with the Elysians.
"He's a reploid, and he's my concern."
"Your entire world is my concern, X."
"Then maybe you should leave the little details to your pawns, like you always do," X spoke harshly. It was difficult to talk so coldly to Alia, but he reminded himself that it wasn't Alia the words were meant for.
"Alright, X. You win," Alia replied. She hesitated before speaking again. When she finally did, it was with difficulty. "Just remember your place in all of this. You...are ours."
Every time Marx tried to speak, the words lodged somewhere in his throat. The news he had to give simply wouldn't be told. Zero, Axl, and Selene were huddled around Marx and Nephtis, who sat atop the pile of equipment they had managed to save. They were immensely relieved that X wasn't there, but it hardly made their story any easier to explain.
"Well, this is fascinating," Zero said dryly. "But aren't you supposed to be talking right now?"
That was it. Marx swallowed his revulsion and began to speak. "When we were leaving the crash site...we found Alia."
"What's left of her," Nephtis added quietly. An unbearable silence settled over the courtyard as everyone digested their words.
"She had...a piece of the cockpit stuck through her," Marx continued. "She'd been leaking fuel. I think she's been dead for at least a day."
"Way to lay it on them softly," Nephtis muttered in his ear. Marx didn't respond. Zero had turned away, and was now pacing back and forth across the immaculate grass. Selene and Axl were both shocked into silence, staring wide-eyed at Marx and Nephtis.
"On that happy note," Nephtis began, getting to her feet and pulling out one of the salvaged bags. "This is all we found in the wreck. I have a bag for Zero, Axl, X, and...Alia." Looking upon Alia's bag finally cast Selene into a fit of tears. Axl was still too inert to comfort her.
"And..." Nephtis now turned around to face the shadow looming behind them. "Alpha's gonna show us where we can set up camp."
"Why not here?" Zero asked, still looking away.
"The Alphas will find you here," the Purifier stated.
"Didn't you just say you're –"
"Don't ask, you'll just get confused," Nephtis cut him off.
"Follow me, we have secured an area for the seven of you."
"Seven?" Zero asked, his voice sounding hopeful.
"Yes. There were seven reploids on the plane, correct?"
"Yeah, but one of 'em died, right?" Zero seemed to be trying to pry an answer from the Purifier.
"Oh," Alpha simply stated. "Then the six of you will be staying in the secured area."
Zero's hopes fell, and Selene began a fresh wave of tears.
Fifteen minutes later, the five reploids and their chauffer entered a room that was shockingly different from all the others they had encountered thus far. On the right wall, four large video screens hung suspended in the air. On the other side of the room, computer consoles lined the edge of a raised platform, with another video screen above. Four Reaverbots stood guard on each side of the two entrances.
"This room will allow you to detect anybody in the nearby hallways, as well as monitor various other sections of the facility," Alpha explained. Four figures could be seen atop the command platform, and they became more defined as the group neared them. One was X, across from him stood Genoscythe, to his left sat Mystic on the edge of a computer console.
On his right stood Alia.
Selene burst past them, running up the steps to the command platform and grappling Alia in what could pass for a wrestling move. Everyone else stayed rooted in place, the shock of both losing and finding Alia together was too much for them.
"Hey!" X called out in greeting, sliding down the edge of a console to stand before their group. He seemed as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he wasn't yet used to normal gravity. "Relax. Make yourselves at home."
Axl raised a questioning finger at Alia, who was trying to pry Selene free. "Why is she being all...not dead?"
X chuckled, and briefly summarized how the Omegas had transferred her processor into a secondary android body. When he was finished, nobody spoke. "What'd you get from the crash?" X asked, oblivious to their shock. "Just set everything against the back wall," he continued, without waiting for an answer. "Genoscythe has a job for us."
"What kind of job?" Zero asked, always the first to recover.
"The kind we do best."
End of chapter 34
AN: It's too bad, I could've gotten this chapter out a long time ago. Several things, including but not limited to my computer being totally wiped, stalled the writing process. When I finally got back to work (about a month later), all I did was add half a page. Oh well, I'm still pleased with how things are going. The end is coming, but not for at least another ten chapters.