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Title: Mega Man X6: False Awakening
Chapter: Stage 04 "...the embodiment of his hatred."

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Dense lines of data scrolled quickly over the screen, its flickering glow the only source of light in the room. The only sound was the hum of the machinery.

"I have a report to make," Isoc said quietly. "It's about one of the investigators."

The figure he was addressing, outlined by the screen's light, glanced over his shoulder before returning to the data. "I know," he replied. "He was destroyed by that Maverick Hunter. It's shameful to think that they can't even beat some mysterious old robot..."

For a moment, he silently contemplated the information in front of him, then turned sharply, revealing his face - the Reploid Alia had spoken to at Eurasia's crash site, Gate. "Isoc!" he commanded. "Keep an eye on that Hunter."

"Yes, sir," the other researcher replied, nodding deferentially.

"And how is the experiment proceeding?" Gate asked, turning away as if he had lost interest.

"Everything is going well. The effect is simply magnificent. We have achieved a 99.98% success rate," Isoc reported with a self-satisfied smile. "If you use High Max, you can take control of all the Reploids in the world in just minutes. Even that Maverick Hunter won't be able to stop you."

"No," Gate said simply. "Continue the experiment for now. I want you to keep gathering data."

"Yes, sir."

As Isoc turned to go, Gate called out, "By the way... how is your little side project doing? Or is it a lost cause after all?"

"Oh, no," Isoc replied with a strange smile. "He isn't some low Reploid that would die so easily."

"Isoc, I have been thinking about that," Gate said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You're obsessed with Zero, aren't you?"

"No, no," Isoc insisted, chuckling. "Nothing like that..."

"Then leave that old robot and focus on the experiment," Gate told him, his tone still mild and even, but the ultimatum clear in his words. Suddenly, tension permitted the cold air between the two researchers, and it was clear the two had no friendship or ties between them, just convenience and temporary cooperation.

Gate was the first to move, closing his eyes and shrugging lightly. "Hmm, well, it doesn't matter to me. You're on your own. I don't need Zero's body... Just do the work and keep an eye on X."

"Yes, sir," Isoc replied, hiding his smile with a shallow bow.

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X paced restlessly across the Hunter Base, uneasy and on edge with his enforced downtime. Although he had insisted he was still ready to keep going, Signas had refused to send X out again, citing regulations, the condition of his armor and the need to process the data they had gathered.

It wasn't as if X didn't understand his arguments. Regulations existed for a reason, which had to do with fatigue build up. And even Dr. Light's armor needed maintenance after weathering increasing Nightmare phenomena. Not to mention that Alia was already working overtime to try to make sense of everything he had seen and recorded.

But that still left X feeling like he was the only one not doing something in the controlled chaos of the Hunter Base. In the corridors, he was constantly passing other Hunters, every one of them intent on their own assignment, rushing somewhere with no time to waste. The Earth was in a state of crisis, and everyone - human, Reploid, Hunter - was needed to just pull through.

And the Nightmare phenomena - Isoc and his inspectors - were jeopardizing everything.

"At a time like this..." he muttered angrily.

With a start, X realized he was scowling darkly at a blank wall. The other Hunters were giving him a wide berth, as well as faintly worried looks. "You are the only one left," X remembered Signas's words. He was their only ace. The others knew he had been given a special assignment, and they were looking to him for some hint of what to expect, whether to brace for another disaster.

Consciously straightening his shoulders and putting on a calm, composed facade, X set off at a steady pace and tried to look like he knew exactly where he was going and would get there exactly when he needed to.

It was with great relief that he finally ducked out of the hallway and headed toward Alia's terminal.

The Navigator was hard at work; most likely, she hadn't stopped since he had returned from the last Nightmare area. X wavered, loathe to distract her and guilty for his own comparative uselessness. But before he could back out, Alia raised a hand, still typing with the other, and waved him over.

"X, I'm still processing the data," Alia told him distractedly. "But it's been decided that you'll head to the Central Museum next. We're getting amazingly strong Nightmare readings from there. I've determined that the investigator there is Ground Scaravich. An ex-treasure hunter. He was devoted to the research of ancient sites and gathered a lot of data on ancient robots."

She looked tense. A troubled air had hovered around her since they had begun this mission. "Was he made by Gate, like the other three?" X asked. Alia's typing faltered for a moment. "Commander Yammark, Rainy Turtloid, and Blizzard Wolfgang, they were all created by your colleague Gate, right? And all of them were retired..."

"...Not exactly," Alia said after a moment. "He wasn't one of Gate's creations. Gate worked with him long ago. He was able to improve his work with the data Scaravich gave him." Alia paused, as if steeling herself. "Then Gate ordered him to go to a forbidden area. It was the place where you were discovered. I confirmed him entering that place... and I disposed of him. Gate didn't even seem to care..." Alia's shoulders shook as she repressed whatever she was feeling. She whispered, "I didn't want to remember this..."

"Alia..." X began, trying to think of some way to comfort her.

"When Gate and I worked for the Reploid Research Team," Alia forged on, "all of his Reploids were amazing. They made remarkable progress..." Alia shook her head. "Gate just continued creating more and more advanced Reploids. He wanted his ability to be recognized... but he went too far. Eventually, our boss... ordered that Gate's Reploids be disposed off... making it look like an accident. It was an order... But I participated."

"Were they really that dangerous?" X wondered, watching Alia hunch in her seat. The memories were painful to her, but he didn't know how to help.

"No, not really," Alia admitted quietly. "But Gate's programs were just too advanced. There was too much in them that could not be analyzed."

"That's all? ...That's the same as us," X noted. Neither he nor Zero could be analyzed by modern researchers, relics of a prior age. ...Though, it was only him now.

"He was fascinated by the two of you. He thought that the best programs were the ones that couldn't be analyzed. Both of us dreamed of creating a program that was immune to corruption and viruses," Alia reminisced wistfully. "He was much smarter than me... but I got ahead because I followed orders. Nobody gave him the recognition he deserved. So he grew isolated and left..."

"...Then Isoc revived Gate's creations because they are the most advanced modern Reploids?" X guessed, but even setting aside the issue of Scaravich, a simple explorer Reploid who only stood out for his connection to Gate, X could read between the lines of Alia's story. If Gate had been the only one able to create and understand those powerful Reploids, then the only one who could have revived them was also...

"Gate..." Alia said quietly. "When he left, he said, 'I swear... I'll get revenge on all of you!' I wonder.. if this is the embodiment of his hatred..."

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Notes: Pffft. You didn't expect me to actually go through every stage, did you? It's not like anything actually happens. Instead, we're getting a recap every few bosses/levels. And, of course, exposition. Who doesn't love talking heads?

(I never did really understand what was going on with Gate and his creations. Alia's explanation is amazingly confusing. Some of them clearly did illegal things, and were retired because of that, but others were betrayed. And then Alia implies that those Reploids also caused problems...)

You can see how I reshuffled the dialogue around, putting Alia's talk of Gate here, after a certain pattern was established. On the subject of dialogue, I've been listening to the Japanese voice acting to try to understand some of the more... unique English translation. You get interesting things. For example, when Isoc talks about "99.98% success rate", here I interpret it to mean that the control experiment with High Max has 99% success in tests and that Gate should go ahead and use it. But in the JP, Isoc seems to be saying that what Gate is doing now, with the Nightmare phenomena, has already fooled 99% of Reploids (!), and that's impressive, but Gate could just control everyone with High Max, so why not do that?

Also, I kinda skipped the scene of Gate going nuts, so go ahead and make your own assumptions about his mental and, uh, viral state. (Honestly, isn't the whole point of X and Reploids that they have free will? And then we get the Virus as a complete cop out regarding their culpability for their actions. "No, no, it's not their fault, the devil made them do it!" (:V) Nice.)

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