Relic from the seas

By

Dr Facer

-19-

The capsule where Splash Woman had slept for over a century was slowly being lowered into a large steel crate. Eve-Y's parts, what was left of them at least, were already safely stored in smaller metallic boxes along with the rest of the equipment which had been brought here before to put together a temporary laboratory. Nina was busy supervising the Cossack Laboratories staff as they packed everything, paying close attention to how the material was being catalogued. Her husband, Viktor Cossack, was still working on his desk, looking at an old helmet Splash Woman recently found somewhere near the wrecked ship where she had been discovered.

"I still don't understand why you're going back to Saint Petersburg," Splash Woman commented idly as she waited for the scientist to finish analyzing the helmet.

"I've been here for long enough. I do have a company to run, plus there are other projects out there which require my attention; your spare body, for example," Viktor explained. "Besides, we also have to prepare your OS update, the installation of your new ports and most importantly, arrange your press conference!"

"W-what do you mean my press conference?" The Robot Master asked feeling alarmed at what that last part meant.

"We need to let the scientific community know that a functional Robot Master was found! That you are a Lightbot is an added bonus," the roboticist stated, still holding the helmet and trying to figure out if the information stored in the memory bank was undamaged and, if so, how to access it. "I expect you to answer a few questions."

"I-I'm not good with crowds…" Splash Woman said as she started pacing around the desk. "I can't handle questions in front of lots of people. I'll be so ashamed I'll probably shut down!"

"I suppose I can't force you, but I'd appreciate it if you did the conference," Viktor said. "I'd also appreciate it if you could tell me how to open the helmet's memory slots without having to do it by force. I am getting nowhere, I'm afraid."

She reached for the helmet and pointed at a small set of buttons on the inside. "See these? You just press the smaller one."

"We both tried that, it doesn't work," he reminded her.

"Of course it doesn't, the slots are rusted shut," the Robot Master explained with a sigh. "That is why I hoped you could do better than me. I don't know if the flash memory in the helmet is intact, but it may be. In ideal conditions it should last for at least two hundred years."

"It was at the bottom of the sea, I wouldn't consider that 'ideal conditions', Splash Woman."

"I know, but…" she made a pause and then nodded. "I could probably work on this on my own if I had proper tools, but your wife already put them in boxes."

"You can always do it in Saint Petersburg," he reminded her. "My main lab is there and you would have access to the best equipment available in the world."

"I don't really want to go," she sighed with no enthusiasm, knowing that going would make it difficult to avoid the press conference. "I guess if the city's still interlaced with canals and tributaries it may be tolerable, so…"

"It still is, you could even work supervising the aquatic mechaniloids my company has monitoring the canals," the scientist offered. "That way you could start earning money."

"But I don't need money," she argued. "Or maybe I do, I don't know… a lot in this world is still so strange to me, Doctor Cossack, but I guess you already knew that."

"You will get used to it soon, trust me."

"Perhaps," she sighed. "Fine, I'll go to Saint Petersburg with you… as for that press conference, I'll think about it, but I can't promise anything."

"That's good enough for me," Viktor agreed, hoping inwardly that she decided to do the conference. Otherwise he would have to present only Eve-Y's unusable parts, and while those were relevant enough from a historical point of view, they couldn't compare to a functional Robot Master.

"Can you please tell the Maverick Hunters that we're leaving Kovalyov Harbor, doctor?" she asked as she placed the helmet under her arm. "I'd hate it if X doesn't know where to find me."

=0=

Alia and X hadn't talked much during the flight to Russia. She had hoped they would; she had hoped many things, in fact, but none of them had happened the way she had expected. All she could do was stare out the window, the sea beneath them and the clouds surrounding them not helping her feel any better. Alia recalled then her recent failed attempts at conversation and leaned back on her seat, wishing she could sleep the way her sister could during long trips like this one. She simply couldn't understand why X was so worried about Splash Woman.

Alia looked out the window again, bored by what she judged was slow progress. She wished they could teleport, but because of the weather they couldn't. Sighing, she suddenly wished she could fly. It had been an errand thought, but it connected with something she had almost forgotten about, buried under the millions of files in her electronic brain. She closed her eyes and executed a search for 'fly', getting several thousand results. She settled on the oldest one and noticed it had never been accessed before. Unsurprising, since it had been there with her since before her first activation. She simply hadn't needed it before.

"What's this?" she thought as she went over the file, which described schematics for her that she didn't know about. "I-I can't believe this, my sister and I are compatible with…"

"We'll be in Saint Petersburg in a few minutes," X announced from the cockpit interrupting her thoughts. "I promise I won't take long, Alia, I just want to tell Splash Woman where we're going."

"That's alright, X; I can talk with my sister while you do that," she offered, closing the file she had been reading, deciding she could always finish studying it later.

=0=

He found her in a lab, wearing a white coat over her armor as she worked on something her body was hiding from view. He stood still for an instant after the door slid open to let him in, wondering about the best way to tell her everything that had happened recently. His hand went up to his neck and then he remembered that the scarf was safely inside a drawer back in Maverick Hunter HQ. He would have to tell her he forgot it, she would surely understand.

""Captain X, what an honor," one of the three human scientists in the lab greeted him as he approached, the blue hunter earning the attention of the two reploid researchers and of Splash Woman as well. "What can we do for you?"

"Hello…" X said feeling a bit flabbergasted as all eyes landed on him at once. He had hoped he could do this quietly. "I just want to talk to Splash Woman, if that's possible…"

"Ah, the amphibious model Viktor sent," the scientist nodded. "Of course, she's over there."

X followed the man all the way to where Splash Woman already waited. She had turned around and had considered approaching him, but after noticing X was moving in her direction she decided to wait for him instead.

"I think it's best if I talk to Captain X outside," Splash Woman announced after putting what she was working on inside a drawer. "I will be back soon, Professor Aston, and apologies again for taking over one of your work tables. I promise I'll try to hurry."

The man smiled. "Don't mention it, we're glad our facilities can be of use to you. Are you progressing as you expected?"

"I already got the memory chip out of the helmet," she provided. "I was about to start analyzing it to see if I can find usable data."

"Excellent. I'll see that nobody touches your work," the man assured her when he noticed the way she looked at the drawer she had put that old helmet in.

"I appreciate that, professor," she smiled and then reached for X's arm. "There's a big garden behind the building, would you like to talk there?"

=0=

"…And that's all," X finished, staring at the many three-leaved-snowflakes in front of him, noticing that was the only kind of flower decorating the garden he and Splash Woman were sitting in. He found the detail a bit strange but quickly put it aside, the flowers were pretty enough so he guessed it was alright. X felt relieved that she hadn't asked about the scarf. She had instead told him how glad she was to see him safe, which reminded the hunter of the reploid most responsible for his victory. "If it weren't for Alia I wouldn't be here… Dynamo almost got me."

"I'll have to thank her, then," Splash Woman said with a relieved smile.

He simply smiled back, thinking about how much Alia had indeed helped him since he first met her. Without her, he may have failed during the fifth Maverick Uprising, and she had been essential during the sixth one. Alia was now an important part of the elite hunter team, and so far she had been the only one to replicate one of his armors and to figure out how to repair the ones which had survived his fights with Sigma. Alia was indeed very special.

"I didn't think Doctor Light would have the time to finish the armor upgrades he was creating for you," Splash Woman said. "The last I heard before what happened to me, he was just starting work on the first one."

X looked at her and felt a sudden need to ask. "What was our father really like? I've only met him through holograms and… I suspect some of those have limited AI, but…"

"Doctor Thomas Light was perhaps the most intelligent man in history," she stated, her voice full of respect. "His genius was only rivaled by one other scientist of his time, Doctor Albert W. Wily… But I must admit Doctor Mikhail Sergeyevich Cossack came close to them as well."

"I know that much. But I want to know more. I want to know how he was as a person. I've spent all my life wondering about father and…" X, lowered his eyes to hide the emotion in them. "I want to know if he could… if he could have loved me, Splash Woman."

He suddenly felt her fingers land softly over his face, and looking up he found her kneeling in front of him. "Of course he would have loved you, how could he not? You are his son and he loved all his children. Doctor Light was a very good man, the kindest I ever met. Don't you ever doubt his love, X! He loved you. And it's a tragedy you never had the opportunity to hear him say it as we did."

Mega Man X felt warm inside and leaned on her hand. He knew Splash Woman wasn't lying and he couldn't help but smile as he finally got the confirmation of his father's love that he had wanted to hear for so long. This was one of his greatest dreams come true, and X wished that this powerful emotion washing over him could last forever.

"Thank you," he told her. On a whim, he reached up and cupped her face in his hand. It felt nice and he smiled in a joyful, almost childlike way at her. "That is something I've always wanted to hear. I'm… I'm happy."

"I'm glad you are, X," she said. "And I'm glad I can help you feel that way. After all I've heard about your battles in the Maverick Uprisings, I do believe you more than deserve happiness and a peaceful existence, just as Doctor Light intended."

"Peace… now that's something worth fighting for, you know?" he commented after a few moments of silence. "Sorry, I… I have work to do. I came here to see you and let you know I'm alright, but I do have to go now."

"And where are you going?" she asked him as she stood up and followed him back into the lab.

"To a place I wish I didn't have to visit again," he told her. "Many bad memories there…"

"Let me go with you," Splash Woman offered. "My work here can wait until we're back."

"I don't think that's a good idea, you could get hurt," X said. "I wouldn't like that."

"Do you think I'm defenseless?" she asked and reached for her trident, which she carried attached to her hip. She extended the weapon to its full length and aimed it at a tree at the other end of the garden. "My weapon is more than enough to deal with anything that gets in the way."

"I still think that…"

"DLN-X, that's enough!" She scolded with frown. "I will go and that's final. Is that clear?"

"DLN-X?" the blue hunter asked.

"DLN-X. Doctor Light Number X," she explained, staring at him with interest, but still slightly annoyed at his refusal. "That is your official designation, did you not know?"

"No, I did not."

"Well, now you do," she told him as she put her trident away. "As for the other thing, I am going with you, and I won't accept no for an answer."

"But…"

She sighed and pressed her index finger on his chest. "I'm here for you now, understand? We are the last Lightbots, X, we have to help each other!"

"I… I was just thinking Doctor Cossack won't like it if you leave the lab."

"Maybe, but he doesn't have to know I left," Splash woman said with a wink and a mischievous smile. "And I trust you will protect me, so let me go with you. I promise not to get in the way. Please?"

X stood in silence for an instant as he considered his options. He could easily teleport and avoid Splash Woman, but she would surely grow angry at him and he didn't want that. In the end he decided the mission was safe enough since Gate's Lab was probably nothing but a deserted ruin by now. Besides, having her close would help him keep the ghosts of the past away from his processor, and she could even tell him about the original Mega Man while they explored. Maybe it would be alright to bring her along.

"Very well," he said at last. "You can come with me."

Notes:

Thanks to Adam for beta reading duties.

As far as I know X does not have an official designation number, but it wouldn't be surprising for him to have one.