Relic from the seas
By
Dr Facer
-9-
X stood motionless and in silence, watching Viktor Cossack and his wife work on Splash Woman. The Russian scientist was doing a great job, and X judged Doctor Cossack was far more skilled than Doctor Cain had ever been, but that was to be expected; Cain had been well versed in machine design, building and programming thanks to his degree in mechanical engineering, but the late doctor had been an archaeologist first and foremost, which limited his abilities with machines somewhat.
Mega Man X fixated his optics on the operating table and initiated a subroutine he devoted to watching the procedure that would warn him in case of trouble, this allowed him to dedicate his mind to other things, like wondering what would have happened if one of the Cossacks had found him instead of Doctor Cain. The Cossacks had all been roboticists for generations, all of them highly brilliant. Perhaps, if that had been the case, the reploid race would have been better made, and no maverick incidents would have ever happened.
The blue hunter discarded the thought right away, feeling guilty for disrespecting Doctor Cain. He had no right to wish for things to be different, and he was forever thankful that he was discovered by a decent, honest man like Cain. X almost shuddered as he imagined being found by a treasure hunter without scruples, he could have ended scrapped and sold in pieces to collectors, a prospect which sickened him.
Deciding he had no need to think about such a grim possibility, he instead recalled when Splash Woman was put into stasis. She had looked at him with what he recognized as fear. He couldn't really understand why she was so afraid. Being put into stasis for repairs was pretty much routine for reploids and mechaniloids, and he imagined it would have been the same for Robot Masters. Perhaps she was afraid because of how long she spent deactivated, and it scared her to think it could happen again.
The subroutine told him the procedure was almost complete, so X ended it and placed his full attention on what Doctor Cossack was doing. Viktor was now securing and resealing the lateral compartment on her neck that he had opened to install the new voice module, and once he finished this task, asked Nina to reactivate the sleeping Robot Master.
Splash Woman opened her eyes and moved to a sitting position. She spent a couple of seconds in silence, her left hand resting over her throat.
"Well, how are you feeling?" Viktor asked.
She ignored the scientist and instead looked at X.
"Hello, Mega Man X," she said with a pleased tone. "I'm glad we can finally have a normal conversation."
Splash Woman then turned to regard Viktor and Nina Cossack.
"Apologies. I wasn't ignoring you, I simply needed to greet X first," she explained. "As for your question, Doctor Cossack, I feel perfect. I Thank you and your wife for helping me, I am in your debt."
"Your… your voice is beautiful," Nina observed, honestly mesmerized by the melodic sound of the Robot Master's voice. "I had never listened to something like it… it's incredible."
"Thank you for the praise," Splash Woman said with a shy smile. "My voice was especially designed to be comforting, it helped people I rescued relax while help arrived."
"It's perfect," Nina Cossack said, feeling a little guilty for mistreating the robot before. "I would love to hear you sing sometime."
Mega Man X, who was now completely enthralled by the female robot's voice, could do nothing but agree with Nina's statement.
Splash Woman's voice was beautiful.
Notes:
Thanks to Adam for beta reading this chapter.
Well, Splash Woman finally has her voice box and can speak again. Something interesting is that according to official information, she has a fantastic voice and has turned down invitations (not orders) to be a professional singer for whatever reason, perhaps she is shy singing in front of crowds.
Now that this is done, the story will start moving in a direction that I hope surprises you. Thanks for reading!