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Title: Mega Man X6: False Awakening
Chapter: Stage 08 "Reploids are flawed."
Notes: You guys are lucky I already finished writing. Otherwise, I would have descended into writer's block from this "one review per chapter" thing. Mysteriousguy898, this post is to you. As is the last one. And the one before that, actually.

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"So that's how it is," Zero commented, irritation clear in his voice, once X finished his explanation of everything that had happened since Eurasia's crash.

Of course, the first thing X had done was to sheepishly disengage the Blade Armor and hand Zero his Saber back. Instead, X had switched to his Ultimate Armor. They were on the final stretch now. With Zero by his side, X would put an end to this nightmare.

"What happened to you?" X wondered, turning to his friend. "I searched everywhere for your signal or at least your parts, but I found nothing..." And before him, the Hunters had searched as well. Now that he knew the location of Isoc's lab, X wondered if they had simply arrived too late. Had the researcher hidden down here before the Hunters even arrived, taking Zero with him? He had had Zero all along, all while blaming him for the Nightmare phenomena, X realized, scowling furiously.

He quickly smoothed his expression into a calmer, determined cast when he noticed Zero eyeing him oddly.

"I don't know. I just woke up here a little while back and tried to find a way out," Zero replied with a shrug. "Well, there's no way I'd lose to Sigma, after all. I'm glad to see you alive, too."

"Do you want to return to Hunter Base?" X asked, realizing suddenly that he had no idea about Zero's status. Was he still damaged? Did he need repairs? Did he want to scan his systems, to make sure nothing strange had been done to him?

It wasn't as if X couldn't proceed on his own. Just knowing that Zero was alive made him feel that much calmer and stronger. A weight he hadn't realized he was carrying had been lifted from his shoulders.

Zero snorted. "No. I'm a Maverick Hunter, and there is a Maverick we need to face. Let's go." Stalking past X, he led the way deeper into the bowels of Eurasia's wreckage.

Not too longer after, X wondered if he regretted that decision. The two of them stared down into a pit filled with a writhing mass of Nightmare Virus. It pulsed disconcertingly, and as the Hunters watched, Nightmares gradually separated themselves out of the tangle, forming the familiar torsos and tentacles. Deep inside, a giant eye opened and stared at them malevolently.

"I think... this might be the source," X said, trying to swallow his revulsion. The two Hunters exchanged a long-suffering look.

"Don't even think of just staying here and sniping," Zero warned him, a igniting his Saber. "We're in this together, partner."

X glanced away sheepishly. (Ab)using the Ultimate Armor's aerial ability was probably out too...

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Gate stood alone in the laboratory, his white lab coat in stark contrast to the darkened room. He cut an inspiring, but also intimidating figure as he looked up at his incomplete creation, encased in one of the faintly-glowing capsules.

It took Alia a moment to work up the courage to approach him.

"You've really outdone yourself," she said, looking up at the in-progress Reploid as well.

"Just another step forward," Gate told her. "He's meant for the Recycle Laboratory. With his analysis of Maverick DNA data, we might be able to gain a better understanding of the Virus... and take another step toward countering it."

Glancing to the side, Gate caught her eye, and the two shared a smile.

"He should even be able to resurrect Reploids from their DNA data," Gate added, turning back to his creation. "Maybe I'll call him 'Prayer'..."

Alia's smile fell. "Gate, DNA resurrection is illegal," she said hesitantly. "And the rest of the Research Team is already on edge, since this one also can't be analyzed..."

Gate scoffed. "It's just because they are too incompetent," he said. "They can't understand my work, so they try to drag me down to their level... But that's not the way to progress. Nothing will be discovered like that. Someone has to be willing to go further. Doppler knew that. It's only thanks to him that we even know about the Virus, and about DNA programs at all."

Doppler ended up a Maverick, Alia didn't say.

Biting her lip, Alia didn't remind him that she couldn't analyze his programs either. Reminding him of the disparity in their abilities would only remind him of the growing disparity in their ranks. Alia had already hidden her latest advancement from him. There was no way she could admit to being given special assignments from the boss, while Gate became more and more isolated.

They still shared a dream, but the distance between them only seemed to grow wider.

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"Alia, that was unlike you," Signas said calmly, his gaze never wavering from the large screen in front of him. It was subdivided into many smaller displays, showing the progress of numerous ongoing Hunter missions. No doubt Signas was able to follow each of them even as he spoke to the Navigator in the room with him. That was the reason he had been made Commander.

X might have been out of contact, but the world didn't suddenly halt in its tracks and wait for him to return with bated breath. The Hunters had to carry on. They had work to do.

Alia nodded. She didn't have a reply for him. Providing X with the trace to High Max's destination without getting Signas's authorization was not technically wrong. With a Hunter in the field, a Navigator had a lot of leeway for independent judgement. She should have known not to let X follow High Max, but she wasn't clearly in the wrong.

Unlike X.

Might as well go for broke, Alia thought. This... rebelliousness made her feel almost light-headed. "The transmission was heavily garbled by the Nightmare phenomenon," she said in a carefully neutral tone. "I'm not sure X was able hear us."

Signas sighed. He had apparently resigned himself to X's willfulness and her own support of it. Suddenly, Alia felt guilty for making things so difficult for him. Signas had been an exemplary commander who only looked out for his subordinates. Now, more than ever, the Hunters were relying on him.

"You don't need to defend him," Signas said. "I understand that X is in a difficult situation. We have placed unreasonable demands on him, so he deserves our support. I was simply surprised. You are usually more... rigorous about procedure."

"This situation... it's got me off balance," Alia explained. She hadn't been able to say her suspicions to Signas, but she had outlined the damning facts in a report. The clinical, emotionless words she had used let her keep her emotions detached from what she was writing. It was the only way Alia had been able to admit that Gate might be...

Signas nodded, not sympathetic, but not cold either. Somehow, he conveyed that his faith in her skills and her ability to do her duty remained unshaken. It was what she needed.

Suddenly, the screen in front of them flickered, and the data on the Hunter missions dissolved into static.

"Incoming transmission," Alia reported, her voice tense as she worked quickly through the incoming data. "It's going straight through our defenses; we can't block it!"

As the static cleared away, Gate's face appeared on the screen.

"Greetings, Hunters," he said, taking on a falsely-pleasant expression. "I congratulate you on defeating my stars... and finding my lab. That was your doing, wasn't it, Alia? You're superior as always. You always were at the top."

"No," Alia disagreed quietly. "Your talent was far beyond mine. I just did as I was told, and you didn't. That's the only difference."

"No matter how great your talent, it's meaningless if not used properly," Signas said, taking Gate's attention off her. "Just what is your intention?"

"I aim for an ideal nation of only high Reploids. That's why I'm eliminating all those low ones," Gate replied easily.

"And how do you plan to decide who deserves to live?" Signas asked. "Even Reploids are not perfect. I believe you know that quite well."

"I'll admit Reploids are flawed, and some go Maverick," Gate said, his expression turning bitter. "That's why I was misjudged. But I feel confident in my recent creations. Have you figure it out, Alia, the secret of the Nightmare?"

"Only you could have created such an advanced virus," Alia admitted. She hadn't been sure. There hadn't been enough data to back her up. But seeing Gate now, she felt certain of her guesses. "The Nightmare isn't just to cause Reploids to malfunction. If a certain code is used, the Reploid can be manipulated freely. The real purpose of the Nightmare is to control Reploids."

"Control...?" Signas repeated, his eyes narrowing as his mind took in this information.

"That's right," Gate said. "I will become ruler of the new world."

"Gate, don't you understand the situation? You might die too!"

"I know," Gate confided, his smile growing. "This is a golden opportunity, with so many lost to the Eurasia Crisis. Now, I can easily control everyone remaining. Finally, I can realize my dream!"

"Are you still holding a grudge? Is this your revenge?" Alia demanded. "Gate, please, delete the Nightmare!"

But he only laughed.

"Don't let him bait you," Signas cautioned her. "A world built on a virus won't last. This is your last chance. Surrender."

Gate sneered. "Don't preach to me when you use force too. And even you Hunters couldn't maintain peace! ...I can't forget... They murdered my creations instead of appreciating them. They were such wonderful Repoids. Aren't your precious Hunters the same? They can't be analyzed. They pose great risk. But you don't dispose of them... Well, we'll see how far those two relics can go."

"Those two..." Alia repeated, even as Gate's transmission cut abruptly. "I see. So Zero is there with X. I'm sorry, Gate... I should have supported you back then. But now, all I can do is support those two and help them stop you..."

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Notes: So I was listening to the Japanese voice acting in Zero and X's reunion. And... man. That line, "join hands and never let anyone sever us again." It's another great example of subtext (as interpreted by my fangirl mind), but it's actually totally different in Japanese? I'm reasonably sure X just continues his previous thought about how this is already a crisis situation, the Earth is going to be completely ruined if everyone doesn't work together, and he won't forgive Gate for interfering with that. It... has nothing to do with Zero, except the part where he says they'll fight the Nightmare together.

So, yeah. (:o) (:O) I fully support this translation decision!

I always kind of wondered at Gate's sudden human-hate. I mean, we get no indication that his colleagues at the research center were humans. Alia sure wasn't. It seemed like he couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to get revenge on "low Reploids" or get rid of humans. I guess maybe it's a sign of him being infected with the human-hate Virus...?

Only two chapters left! (And then the X5 special.)

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